Olympians Rogen Ladon and Nesthy Petecio kicked off their bid for slots in the Paris Olympics on a sizzling note as they clobbered their respective foes in the 1st World Olympic Boxing Qualifying-Busto Arsizio 2024 in Italy last Monday.
Ladon, who represented the country in the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics, defeated hometown bet Federico Emilio Serra, 4-1, to advance to the Round of 32 of the men’s 51-kilogram division.
The 30-year-old Ladon is determined to book a return flight to the Olympics as he and Petecio are coming off successful campaigns in the 2024 Boxam Elite Tournament in Spain last month, where they emerged with gold medals.
Ladon has to advance to the semifinals of the Italian tourney if he wants to join middleweight Eumir Marcial in the Summer Olympics set from 26 July to 11 August. He is battling 2022 Mediterranean Games silver medalist Said Mortaji of Morocco at press time.
Meanwhile, Petecio also flaunted her deadly form as she turned back Andela Brankovic of Serbia via RSC (referee-stopped-contest) in the Round of 64 of the women’s 57-kg event.
A silver medalist in the Tokyo Olympics in 2021, Petecio unleased a flurry of body shots on the hapless Serbian, forcing referee Bachir Abbar of Morocco to stop the match at the one-minute and two-second mark of the opening round.
With the win, Petecio arranged a Round of 32 duel with Maria Claudia Nechita of Romania for a win that will put three wins away from returning to the Summer Games.
On the other hand, Riza Pasuit bombed out of contention following a 0-5 loss to Krisanry Rios of Venezuela in the Round of 64 of the women’s 60-kg class.
After Ladon, Petecio and Pasuit, set to wade into battle are Mark Ashley Fajardo in the men’s 64-kg event and Ronald Chavez Jr. in the men’s 71-kg class.
