Expectations are high as Nesthy Petecio and Carlo Paalam are tipped to win the country’s second gold medal in the Paris Olympics next year.
No less than Association of Boxing Alliances of the Philippines president Robbie Puno made the bold forecast, saying that both Petecio and Paalam are already ripe to emerge with a gold medal in the Summer Games.
Despite grabbing silver medals in the previous Olympics in Tokyo, Petecio and Paalam remain hungry for glory.
In the previous 32nd Southeast Asian Games, in fact, Petecio displayed her brilliance as she won the gold medal in the women’s featherweight division while Paalam dominated the men’s bantamweight event.
Now, they will make a return to the Olympics older, wiser and deadlier than ever.
“We’re hoping we can do that and look into the boxers that we have, this is as good a chance for us to get that Olympic gold medal,” Puno said, referring to the promise that they made in 2009 that they will win the Olympic gold on their “fourth Olympic cycle,” as boxing federation leaders.
“We have Nesthy. She’s 31 years old. Maybe one more go at it and she is probably our No. 1 chance to get the gold in the Olympics.”
Puno, a lawmaker from Antipolo, said the national team will travel to India to participate in a pair of training camps. Then, they will train in Hangzhou, China as part of their buildup for the 19th Asian Games, which also serves as an Olympic qualifier.
“On 28 July to 6 August, we will attend a multi-nation training camp in India and that’s going to be sponsored by the Indian Boxing Federation. From 6 to 20 August, there will be another training camp there sponsored by the Inspire Institute of Sport in India,” Puno said.
“We are going to maximize our stay there, then we will be back in the Philippines to stay for two weeks. We will fly to Hangzhou on 3 September and we will have a training camp there until 21 September.”
