Why Petecio missed gold

NESTHY PETECIO did not fight a boxer yesterday. Who said she did?

So, stop wondering why Petecio lost. She fought a wrestler.

It was costly. She stepped into a booby trap. And missed a gold medal that would have been the country’s second Olympics gilt after Hidilyn Diaz’s weightlifting victory on July 26 in Tokyo 2020.

Petecio’s loss became evident right from the start.

Sena Irie kept clinching, holding and hugging. Had she chewed Nesthy Petecio’s ear the way Mike Tyson did to Evander Holyfield in 1997, that would have been also gone unnoticed.

The German lady referee was blind as a bat.

So badly refereed the fight was that Irie was absolutely given the freedom to destroy the rules of boxing.

Irie kept embracing Petecio at will that the only thing lacking in the Japanese’s illicit tools was a Manila rope to totally tie Nesthy up to one of the ring’s four posts.

The referee could have tossed in the cord herself to Irie and, given the fight’s dysfunctional direction, the German’s act would have been justified.

The referee did not give a single warning, even when Irie turned her back—a no-no in boxing. Irie did that more than once. No word at all from the lady ref. Crazy? No. As I said, this was wrestling.

OK, Petecio needs some rapping, too.

The Davao bet knew right from the opening bell that she was suddenly battling a boxer-turned-wrestler but then, sadly, she obliged.

She never tried hard enough to unhinge herself, never made a brave effort to untangle herself, from Irie’s clingy craziness. Irie’s ruse was as obvious as Pacquiao’s appetite to occupy Malacañang.

Was Petecio’s corner outwitted? Outstrategized? Outflanked?

Fall in, fellas.

Why no attempt at all on your part to call the referee’s attention that a bogus boxer had strayed into the ring?

Or, why the seeming failure to reconstruct Petecio’s mindset amid the bizarreness of it all?

Like, Petecio being told to unglue herself from the trap?

Push Irie back and then punch fast?

Alas, Petecio kept biting Irie’s bait. The empty stands couldn’t agree more.

Thus, the five judges were right. After giving Irie the first round, they kept their insanity intact by awarding the Japanese a unanimous decision after three rounds.

A well-judged match, indeed. Make that wrestling disguised as boxing.

THAT’S IT Boxing is not done yet. Flyweight Carlo Paalam and middleweight Eumir Marcial, already bronze winners, will gun for their silver medals, too, on Thursday. If they succeed—they should, I must insist—they aim for the gold on Saturday, August 7.