Nesthy Petecio was born in Santa Cruz, Davao del Sur to parents Teodoro and Prescilla Petecio.[4][5] Petecio came from a poor family; her father was a farmer while her mother is a housewife. At a young age, Nesthy and her siblings had to aid their parents in the farm to earn a living. She recalled selling manure as fertilizer just to earn money.[6][7] According to Petecio, boxing paved way for her to be able to attend college in Rizal Technological University in spite of financial problems and considers it her "way out of poverty."[7]
Amateur career
Early years
Nesthy Petecio and her siblings were taught boxing as a means of self-defense. Petecio and her siblings went on to join inter-barangay boxing competitions to help their family financially.[5][8]
Petecio had a big break in her boxing career at age 11, when she joined a boxing match at the Araw ng Davao in Rizal Park, Davao City. Although competitions were usually arranged by gender, Petecio's opponent was male with a bigger build and more experience than herself. However she was able to win the match, which drew the attention of Celestino Rebamonte who in turn endorsed her to the Philippine women's team coach Roel Velasco.[8] She was then able to compete at the 2007 Smart National Youth and Women’s Open Boxing Championships in Cagayan de Oro where she won gold. As a result she earned her a berth in the national boxing team.[7]
After a break, Petecio made a comeback by winning a gold at the 2019 Thailand Open International Boxing Championship.[8] At the 2019 AIBA Women's World Boxing Championships in Ulan-Ude, Petecio won gold in the featherweight division after defeating hometown bet Liudmila Vorontsova in the final.[10] She ended the year with another gold medal, this time at the 2019 Southeast Asian Games. It was a sweet victory for Petecio after failing to bring home the top prize in the biennial meet in her three previous attempts.
Petecio was able to qualify for the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, Japan due to her high ranking, after the world qualifiers was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[11] Competing in the women's featherweight event, Petecio's first fight was a 5:0 victory against Marcelat Sakobi Matshu of the Democratic Republic of Congo.[12] In her next bout Petecio defeated Lin Yu-ting of Chinese Taipei (3:2) to advance to the quarterfinals,[13] where she defeated Yeni Arias of Columbia (5:0) to secure at least a bronze medal and become the first woman to win a medal in Olympic boxing.[14][15] She then defeated Irma Testa of Italy (4:1) in the semifinals to secure her place in the gold medal bout.[16] Facing her amateur rival Sena Irie in the final, Petecio lost by unanimous decision (0:5) to take home the silver medal, the first Olympic boxing medal won by a Filipino boxer in 25 years.[17][18]
In 2021, Petecio made a virtual appearance in Pinoy Big Brother: Kumunity Season 10 when she gave a message to the Celebrity housemates, and declaring the Pinoy Big Brother Games 2021 open.[20]
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