Nesthy Petecio failed to defend her Southeast Asian Games title and absorbed a controversial loss against home bet Tran Thi Linh of Vietnam in the 31st SEA Games at the Bac Ninh Gymnasium in Hanoi, Vietnam Friday night, May 20.
Petecio, Tokyo Olympic silver medalist and reigning featherweight SEA Games champion, suffered a 3-2 defeat at the hands of Tran in the women's featherweight (57-60kg) division.
The 30-year-old Petecio trailed in the first round after staying on the defensive stance against her aggressive foe.
But the second round proved to be costly for the defending gold medalist as the Vietnamese earned the nod of the judges despite Petecio seemingly landing the clearer punches.
Petecio, looking for a knockout in the third frame, bounced back with hefty body shots and powerful hooks in the late game but couldn't get as many points needed to slice Tran's lead in the judges' scorecard.
Marjon Piañar wasn't as fortunate as well and yielded to Indonesian foe Sarohatua Lumbantobing, 4-1, in the semifinal of men's welterweight (63-69kg).
Petecio and Piañar settled for bronze medals.
Piañar lost steam in the second and third rounds as Lumbantobing was non-stop with his assault. The Indonesian pugilist also capitalized on several clinches and earned points by landing clean punches.
Meanwhile, Ian Clark Bautista and Irish Magno joined Eumir Felix Marcial and Rogen Ladon among the Filipino boxers who advanced to the gold medal rounds on Sunday, May 22.
Bautista only needed two rounds in the semifinal to overwhelm Sao Rangsey of Cambodia with his combinations in the men's bantamweight division (52-57kg) while Magno scored a convincing unanimous decision win, 5-0, against Indonesian opponent Novita Sinadia in the women's flyweight class (48-51kg).
Bautista, who was a bronze medalist in the 2019 edition here in the Philippines, came from all angles and won via RSC (referee-stops-contest) as Rangsey couldn't return any blows against the Filipino's continuous barrage of punches.
Magno, also a Tokyo Olympian and 2019 SEA Games silver medalist, showed poise and consistent boxing to haul as many points as possible against a much passive foe in Sinadia.