World champion Nesthy Petecio suffered an upset of epic proportions in the 2020 Asia-Oceania Olympic Qualification Tournament.
Petecio, the top seed in the featherweight division, sustained a tough unanimous decision loss at the hands of Japan’s Sena Irie, Monday at the Prince Hamzeh Hall, Sport City in Amman, Jordan.
With nothing to lose, Irie kept in step with Petecio, even eking out a 3-2 score to end the first round.
Gaining momentum, the 19-year-old Japanese kept countering Petecio in the second round. Frustrated, the 27-year-old native of Santa Cruz, Davao del Sur was even deducted a point in the round after holding on to Irie for so long.
Petecio went into full slugger mode in the third canto, but it was not enough to defeat Irie.
With this, Petecio will still have a chance to qualify, later in the year, via the UOQT.
