Filipino boxer Aira Villegas won a bronze medal to round off her first Olympic run in Paris. Villegas' brilliant run came to an end when she lost the women's 50kg semifinal match at Roland Garros Stadium against Turkey's Buse Naz Cakiroglu via unanimous decision.
Villegas was no match for Cakiroglu, who easily prevailed with scores of 30-26, 30-26, 30-27, 30-27, 30-27.
Villegas also fell to the Turkish boxer by unanimous decision in the 2022 IBA Women's World Boxing Championship quarterfinals.
Unmatched
Villegas trailed early on in the scorecards after Cakiroglu delivered strong, accurate blows to the head that caused Canadian referee Wade Peterson to call a standing count.
Although Villegas struck her with a quick right hook to the head, which was later ruled a slip, Cakiroglu carried on being the dominant fighter in the second round.
Cakiroglu came into the tournament as one of the favorites to win it all as she swept all three of her Olympic matches by unanimous decision.
Even though she was eliminated, Villegas outperformed expectations in her first Olympic Games, becoming the second female boxer from the Philippines to earn an Olympic medal after Nesthy Petecio.
Remaining proud of defeat
After her match, Villegas spoke with OneSports and expressed her pride despite losing.
"Hindi naman po ako super disappointed kasi ginawa ko yung best ko. Talagang pinag-aralan po and aminado po na magaling po talaga siya," she said.
Villegas vowed to fulfill her dream of having the Philippine National Anthem sung at the arena one day.
"Nakapag uwi po ako ng medalya po. Sana po proud pa rin kayo sa akin. Sa younger self ko, I know that you are already proud of me. And to my future self, lalo ka pang magiging proud sa akin, gagawin ko yung pangarap ko na bago man lang mag retire sa boxing, patugtugan ako ng National Anthem ng bansa."
