Irish Magno made a rousing Olympic debut after winning over her Kenyan foe Christine Ongare, 5-0, in the Round of 32 of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics women’s flyweight boxing tournament at the Kokugikan Arena, Sunday.
It was a total domination as four of the five judges scored the bout in the Filipino’s favor, 30-27, leaving no doubt to the progression into the next round.
The remaining judge even saw the third round as a 10-8 round for Magno.
Magno was relentless throughout the bout, maximizing her size advantage over Ongare. The Filpino was so aggressive that Ongare could not handle the onslaught.
“She stuck to the plan and delivered with a flourish,” ABAP Secretary-General and COO Ed Picson commented on the fight.
It followed up the impressive win of fellow boxer Nesthy Petecio just the previous day as the vaunted boxing contingent remains intact for its Olympic gold hopes.
“Huwag muna tayo mag-aim high, step by step muna tayo,” said Magno as she sped off to her waiting shuttle service outside of the arena that originally plays host to the traditional Japanese sumo wrestling
The win, therefore, puts the 30th Southeast Asian Games silver medalist into the Round of 16 to face a familiar foe in Thailand’s Jutamas Jitpong.
Magno opened December 8, 2019 for Team Philippines with a split decision win over the Thai to punch her into the gold medal bout of the said event.
The 29-year-old stalwart will look to repeat against Jitpong when they face on Thursday at 12:24 p.m.
