Tokyo Olympics: Carlo Palaam and Nesthy Petecio advance on good day for Philippines boxers

Two of Philippines’ boxing prospects successfully navigated the day’s early action at the Kokugikan Arena on Monday booking their places in the next round after impressive performances.

Earlier in the day, Carlo Palaam overcame Ireland’s Brendan Irvine on points 4-1, before teammate Nesthy Petecio edged a tight encounter against Taiwan’s Lin Yu-ting, 3-2 on points.

It was an impressive showing from flyweight Palaam the 2018 Asian Games bronze medallist. He took apart Irvine the former European Championship bronze medallist, who was appearing at his second Olympic Games.

Palaam will now face Algeria’s Mohamed Flissi in the last-16 on Saturday. Flissi is a former African champion and finished fifth at the Rio Games.

Petecio showed her battling qualities in the win over Lin, and her reward is a quarter-final meeting with Colombia’s Yeni Marcela Arias Castaneda on Wednesday.