MANILA, Philippines – Pitted against one of the most decorated boxers in the division, Hergie Bacyadan suffered early elimination from the Paris Olympics.
Bacyadan failed to flip the script against highly favored top seed Li Qian of China and absorbed a unanimous decision loss in the round of 16 of the women’s 75kg class at the North Paris Arena on Wednesday, July 31.
Li, who won silver in the Tokyo Games three years ago and bronze in the Rio de Janeiro Olympics in 2016, lived up to her billing and scored a shutout win, with all the five judges scoring the bout 30-27 for the Chinese.
Also a former world champion and the reigning Asian Games titlist, Li practically sealed the win after the first two rounds as she used swift jabs to score and ward off Bacyadan, the Olympic debutant who never got a rhythm going.
Every time the pride of Kalinga tried to go in for an attack, Li fended Bacyadan off on the way to the quarterfinals.
It was a missed chance for Bacyadan to win a medal as the boxers in the division need just two wins for a guaranteed spot on the Olympic podium.
With Bacyadan bowing out, two of the Philippines’ five boxing bets have been eliminated, with Eumir Marcial getting a surprise boot in the men’s 80kg class.
Still in the running are Nesthy Petecio (women’s 57kg), Aira Villegas (women’s 50kg), and Carlo Paalam (men’s 57kg). – Rappler.com