JAKARTA—Nesthy Petecio lost to China’s Yin Jun Hua in a controversial women’s featherweight bout that could go down as one of the ugliest decisions in amateur boxing history—not only in the Asian Games but also in the world championships and Olympics as well.
The Chinese booked a close 3-2 decision on Friday night at the Jakarta International Expo Hall, earning herself a berth in the quarterfinals, while denying Petecio a fair chance of taking a shot at the gold medal in her second Asian Games after Incheon 2014.
“It was very ugly,” national women’s team coach Nolito “Boy” Velasco told BusinessMirror. “In my experience as a national coach, this one goes down as the most controversial that I have ever seen or experienced.”
Velasco, eldest brother to Olympic silver medalist Mansueto “Onyo” and bronze medalist Roel, is a certified authority on boxing—he has seen them all, having been a boxing coach for 38 years—almost all of them he spent with the national team.
“I’m sorry Nesthy,” Velasco told Petecio in their corner moments after the decision was announced. “It’s not your fault. It’s them [judges and referee] who have wronged us.”
Petecio burst into tears after the loss prompting Velasco to seek the Philippine delegation’s sports psychologist to attend to his boxer.
“She cries each time someone talks to her,” said Velasco, admitting he himself could not help but cry over the defeat.
JUDGES’ SCORES
NESTHY PETECIO was the obvious aggressor and tactical fighter in the bout, connecting punches that hit their targets. But each time the Filipina connected, Yin Jun Hua would simply turn her back or stoop low to avoid further beating.
“The Chinese employed dirty tactics. She turned her back all the time, magulang talaga,” Velasco said.
Yin was penalized in the second round for head butt, giving Petecio a point. But in the end, the decision emerged otherwise.
Korea’s Kim Jongin and Bulgaria’s Pavel Pavlov scored it 29-27 for Yin, while Turkmenistan’s Ishanguly Meretnyyazov had it 29-27 and Japan’s Katsunori Hanabusa 30-26 for Petecio.
France’s Johany Maden saw it 28-28 with a point deducted from the Chinese. But because International Amateur Boxing Association (AIBA) rules do not honor ties, he was made to choose whom he thought won—he picked Yin.
OFFICIALS ARE BLIND?
NOLITO VELASCO couldn’t help but slam the judges.
“It’s too much. It appears that they didn’t watch the bout at all,” he said. “Are they on the payroll?”
Velasco said he was confident Nesty Petecio would beat Yin Jun Hua.
“Nesthy beat her the last time they fought,” said Velasco, referring to their clash in the semifinals of the Korotkov Memorial Cup in Russia last May.
Petecio, Velasco said, even knocked down Yin in the first round. The Filipina went on to win gold in the tournament.
BOXING MAFIA AT WORK?
IT took uncomfortably awhile before a decision was announced—a little longer than normal. And when the stadium barker announced the winner, Nesthy Peteshy could noticeably be seen looking at someone just below the ring in front of her, uttering some words as if complaining.
“Nesthy was looking at the official whose task is to raise one of two ping-pong paddles—one red and the other blue—to eliminate any mistake by the referee as to whose hand he would be raising,” Nolito Velasco said.
“The official was about to raise the blue paddle, but the announcer [or barker] said ‘red corner,’” Velasco added.
Velasco wouldn’t confirm nor deny what BusinessMirror has learned—a “collusion” has allegedly been forged among China, Korea, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan to influence the boxing results.
BusinessMirror was told that right from the draw, the competition has already been marked with controversy—boxers from the four countries were drawn in such a way that they won’t be clashing in the earlier rounds, thus paving the way for their smooth entries to the gold medal rounds.
DECISION IS FINAL
NOLITO VELASCO said they have no choice but to accept the decision.
“We have no choice,” he said. “Besides, we have five more boxers fighting in the next few days. Anything we say may backfire and compound our woes.”
Bantamweight Mario Fernandez, lightweight James Palicte, flyweight Rogen Ladon and women’s flyweight Irish Magno fight on Saturday and flyweight Carlo Paalam and middleweight Eumir Felic Marcial climbs the ring the next day.
According to Association of Boxing Alliances of the Philippines Secretary General Ed Picson, protests are not allowed in the Games.
“An appeal will be made that the judges in Nesthy’s [Petecio] bout be barred from being assigned in the coming fights of the other Filipinos as judges or referees,”Picson said.
The other Filipino boxer, Joel Bacho, lost to Iran’s Sajjad Kazemzadeh, 4-1, on Friday night.
ADDING LOG TO THE FIRE
BOXING has been walking the tightrope in as far as its inclusion as a medal event in the Olympics is concerned. This is because of controversial decisions that officials, judges and referees of the AIBA have ben accused of even in high level competitions.
And Nesthy Petecio’s controversial loss could add to the AIBA’s woes.
“There’s really nothing much we can do,” Ed Picson said. “It’s just so sad that at a time when boxing is fighting hard to retain its spot in the [Summer] Olympics, something like this happens. It’s heartbreaking.”
“I will try to talk to the fight supervisor tomorrow [Saturday],” he added. “He even emphasized that we could expect fairness in this competition.”