The four boxers who made it to the Tokyo Olympics will get PhP250,000 each or PhP1,000,000 from a former city mayor and a scion of family that owns one of the biggest schools here.
Nesthy Petecio, Eumir Felix Padcual, Carlo Paalam and Irish Magno will be receiving PhP250,000 for their efforts in making it to the Tokyo Olympics.
“It is not the school but from the company (Naktaynay) of which I am the president,” said former mayor Reinaldo Bautiista, Jr.
Bautista, Jr. who was mayor of Baguio from 2005 until 2010 ,is referring to the school founded by his grandfather Fernando Bautista, Sr. in August 8, 1948, University of Baguio.
Naktaynay, named after his grandfather and grandmother, Rosa, and the seven Bautista kids, owns the property where UB is located. It is run by seven representatives of the seven sons of the UB founders and he is president.
Bautista, Jr. teaches in UB’s school of hotel and restaurant where the 30-year old Petecio is enrolled.
“Whether they get a gold, a silver or brnoze, they remain to be UB students,” said Bautista as he said that each of the four athlete will get PhP250,000 each.
“This is the least that the school can, the guys really struggled to get into the Olympics and now they fight for medals,” said Buatista, Jr.
Petecio is set to fight Sena Irie of Japan for the gold women’s featherweight.
Though the underdog, her coaches believe that she could make it to the top.
Last Saturday, a much taller Irma Testa of Italy used height and reach advantage to the hilt and run away with the judges’ decision in the first round before Petecio made a gallant comeback in the next two rounds en route to a 4-1 win in the semifinals of Olympics women’s featherweight at the Kokukigan Stadium in Tokyo.
Four judges saw the three round bout 29-28 in favor of the Filipina and one judge gave it to Testa, 29-28, as the 2019 Southeast Asian Games featherweight champion marches to the finals. Petecio faces Sena Irie of host Japan who decided Kariss Artingstall of Great Britain also last Saturday.
Petecio tries to even out against Irie who she lost to twice and won against once – in the Amateur International Boxing Association finals in 2019.
Among the defeats of Petecio against Irie was last year’s Olympic qualifier in Amman, Jordanthat denied her a slot in the Olympics. Last May that Petecio was cleared to fight in the Olympics when the last qualifier in Paris, France was cancelled due to the Covid-19 pandemic and the world ranking was used to determine the full slot in the summer games.
Petecio is nine minutes from claiming the country’s second gold after Hidilyn Diaz and first for boxing. She is also responsible for giving boxing its first medal since 1996 when Mansueto Velasco lost to Daniel Petrov of Bulgaria in the finals in the Atlanta, United States Olympics.
She is also the third Filipino boxer to have won a silver in the Olympics after Velasco and Anthony Villanueva in men’s featherweight in 1964.
Last Saturday, three of Filipinos were successful with Ernest John Obiena clearing 5.75 meters in his third attempt to book a ticket to the finals of the pole vault also today, August 3.
Carlo Paalam clearly paved his way to the quarterfinals with a 5-0 win over a much experienced Algerian to make up for the defeat of Irish Magno last Thursday. The two fight in the same weight category – flyweight.
Paalam methodically dismantled the world’s number three Mohammed Flissi in a display of firepower that landed him a quarterfinals seat and a possible medal in men’s flyweight.
Paalam will face the reigning Olympic and world champion Shakhobidin Zoirov of Uzbekhstan in the quarterfinals also slated today at 10:05 AM.
