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| Right on the day she turned 29, Aira Villegas scored her second Paris Olympics win. Reuters (file photo) |
MANILA--On her 29th birthday, Aira Villegas scored probably the biggest win of her career.
The women's flyweight contender moved one step closer to an assured Paris Olympics medal after sending Algerian opponent Roumaysa Boualam home in their round of 16 showdown on Thursday night (early Friday, Philippine Time) at the North Paris Arena.
Boualam, who entered the tournament as the second seed, struggled to get things going against her southpaw opponent as Villegas got the nod from all five judges in the first round.
Villegas thought about going for the finish in the second round, but Boualam took advantage of Villegas' errors with her counter punches as the Algerian won the second frame according to three judges.
Villegas bounced back in the final three minutes and outplayed Boualam there to seal the unanimous decision win.
Roberto Servide and Pavel Pavlov both scored the bout 30-27, while Dmitri Meliss, Jeffery Verhoeven, and Susann Kopke all had it 29-28 for Villegas.
Villegas is one win away from an assured medal in the Paris Olympics, but waiting for her is the host country France's Wassila Lkhadiri.
Lkhadiri prevailed against the tough challenge of Ireland's Daina Moorehouse for a 4-1 split decision win.
The quarterfinal clash between Villegas and Lkhadiri is set for early Sunday (Philippine Time).
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