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| Nesthy Petecio lost a huge upset against Julia Szeremata. Reuters (file photo) |
MANILA--In what could be considered a major upset, Polish boxer Julia Szeremata scored probably the biggest win of her boxing career, stunning 2021 Olympic silver medalist Nesthy Petecio in the semifinals of the women's featherweight division of the Paris Olympics early Thursday (Philippine Time) at the Roland Garros Stadium.
Szeremata stepped up her game in the final two rounds to successfully swing the judges' favor to her after what some thought was a showboating did not work in Round 1.
Szeremata did some grandstanding a few times in the opening period, but Petecio's serious approach at the start gave her the nod of all five judges for that round.
Szeremata stepped up to the plate in the second round and eventually got four judges to give the round to her with Indonesian judge Muhammad Pohan still not impressed and gave the round to Petecio instead.
Both pugilists went all out in Round 3, scoring on various exchanges, but within the final 10 seconds, Szeremata connected on some late shots to finish the bout strong.
The last push might have helped in convincing all the judges to give the round to her, which ultimately led to the 4-1 split decision win.
Szeremata did not just assure herself of at least a silver medal but also denied a rematch between Petecio and controversial Taiwanese boxer Lin Yu-Ting for all the marbles.
Lin scored a unanimous decision win against Turkiye's Esra Kahraman in the first semifinal with all five judges scoring the bout 30-27.
Like Algerian welterweight Imane Khelif, Lin was also tagged in the gender-related issue that has hounded the entire Paris Olympics boxing event.
Lin also has a case of differences in sexual development in which she acquired XY chromosomes and a high level of testosterone despite being a cisgender female.
Lin was also wrongfully accused of being transgender.
Had Petecio won, she would have gotten a chance to get back at Lin after losing to her right at the start of their Asian Games campaign last year in Hangzhou, China.
Instead, Petecio will settle for the bronze as the Philippine boxing team's campaign ends with the Olympic gold still elusive.
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