BOXERS BASK IN OLYMPIC GLORY

Petecio, Paalam, Marcial rake in medals for Team PH

- TITO S. TALAO

TOKYO — Four Philippine boxers came to the XXXII Olympiad three weeks ago looking to make some ripples. Instead, two went on to churn up big, silvery waves, with a third probably joining them in the frolicking if not for some unfathomable quirk in the scoring system.

Now Olympic silver medalists Nesthy Petecio (featherweight) and Carlo Paalam (flyweight), and bronze medalist Eumir Felix Marcial (middleweight) have their names etched in Philippine sports as the three PH athletes who joined weightlifting heroine Hidilyn Diaz, who delivered the country’s first-ever gold medal, in completing the nation’s first four-medal performance in Games history.

Petecio’s journey started with a 5-0 demolition of Marcelat Sakobi Matshu of Democratic Republic of Congo in the Round of 32 of the 54-57kg division at the Kokugikan Arena, home of traditional Japanese sumo wrestling.

The native of Davao del Sur followed it up by taking out top seed Lin Yu-Ting, a 5-foot-7 1/2 Taiwanese, via a 4-1 split decision.

The quarterfinals was up and a guaranteed bronze medal at stake.

Showing no fear against Yeni Marcela Arias Castaneda of Columbia, Petecio pounded out a 5-0 decision to assure the country of its first Olympic bronze medal in 29 years since light-flyweight Roel Velasco in Barcelona in 1992, and its first hardware of any color in 25 years after Mansueto Onyok Velasco, Roel’s younger brother, took the silver in Atlanta in 1996.

Petecio, of course, wasn’t through. Having given away at least three