Aira Villegas began the Philippine boxing team’s quest for an elusive Olympic gold with a well-fought unanimous decision, 5-0, victory against Morocco’s Yasmine Moutakki in the Round of 64 of the Paris 2024 women’s 50 kg category early Monday morning (Philippine time) at the North Paris Arena.
Carrying her dream of reaching the top of the podium and having the national anthem played for her, Villegas started aggressively against the African orthodox boxer.
The 28-year-old Filipino landed effective punches to Moutakki’s body, using combinations to open up her opponent’s defense and score points.
Although the African qualifier silver medalist found some rhythm, Villegas’ better quality gave her the round.
Moutakki used that first-round momentum to push Villegas out of her comfort zone and landed more of her shots to score.
While the Filipino also had her moments, three judges out of five decided to give the round to the Moroccan, effectively making the third and final round the ultimate decider.
With the contest hanging in the balance, Villegas and Moutakki cautiously approached each other before engaging in an exchange of punches.
Villegas eventually took matters into her own hands and scored with another combination to seal the deal as time expired.
The Olympic debutant from Tacloban City will battle second-seed and Moutakki’s nemesis in the African qualifiers, Roumaysa Boualam of Algeria, in the next round scheduled for Friday, August 2, at 2:16 AM (PH time) in the same Paris venue.
