Okay. So hours ago, I made a directionless blog. History is pointing in Carlos Yulo's direction and just like Carlo Paalam's crappy defeat (he should have won,) the gymnast rightfully had the spotlight for becoming the first Filipino to win two Olympic gold medals.
I am sorry, Nesthy Petecio.
Because with Yulo's campaign coming to a close, all eyes are back on our two boxers. Petecio and Aira Villegas had an identical route coming to the medal stages. They fought two gritty French powerhouses and now they are going to those sparkling jewelry on their necks.
Standing in front of Nesthy is Julia Szeremeta. While she looks like the pretty woman that is usually seen next to host Phil Keoghan and welcoming the contestants on the European stages of The Amazing Race, don't let her looks fool you. She is Aira Villegas but with an even weirder fighting style. She smiles while she punches. She has ridiculous footwork as if she's a dancer in a stage play. The fact that she upstaged the brash and cocky Ashleyann Lozada is a feat in itself.
SHE HAS A FANG-DESIGNED MOUTHPIECE!!!
SHE FIGHTS IN A SKIRT!!!
SHE IS BOTH BEAUTIFUL AND DEMENTED INSIDE THE RING!!!
If Lozada thinks she's loca, Szeremeta is even more unpredictable.
Meanwhile, Nesthy is simply not the person you'll mess with. She is experienced inside the ring and knows how to move around it. Against Xu Zichun, she got hip-tossed, arm-dragged, and rag-dolled but she just rammed her fists into her head to get the flawless victory.
Nesthy is going to need that against a fighter like Szeremeta.
It's like an older sister trying to put the youngest in her place.
But then there's a caveat with Szeremeta. In the dying seconds of the first round of her quarterfinal fight, Julia snapped when she got hit in the face by one of Lozada's bombs. All of a sudden, she went on a rampage. The pretty princess who was just hopping around a couple of seconds prior just went ballistic on the Puerto Rican.
This is basically what Petecio is going to do in their fight. Szeremeta has a 32-9 win-loss record in amateur boxing while Nesthy holds a record of 78 wins and 28 losses. She has won against Chinese Taipei's Lin Yu Ting and Italy's Irma Testa. She has also lost against Lin Yu Ting and Kazakhstan's Karina Ibragimova. Petecio is a grizzled veteran with grace under pressure and Szeremeta is an up-and-coming menace that got to the top real quick.
Of course, I am rooting for Nesthy Petecio. Again, she has an established reputation and she has a combo of speed and power. With that in mind, if Julia gets to do her act without consequences, then this could trigger something from the judges. We have seen these judges work their "magic" on Carlo Paalam. If they want to pit Lin Yu Ting for her act of zaniness, then Nesthy needs to stop this from happening.
The only way to stop Lin Yu Ting from winning is a decisive third match between our hard-hitting puncher. I may be discounting the awesomeness of Esra Yildiz Kahraman, but she's not much of a money matchup.
This is why Nesthy needs to frustrate Szeremeta and not vice versa. She needs to start strong and finish even stronger while protecting herself from Julia's precision shots.
GO FOR GOLD, NESTHY PETECIO!!!