Aira Villegas takes home bronze medal in Paris Olympics

By Leobert Julian A. de la Peña

Filipina boxing star Aira Villegas delivered the third overall medal for the Philippine delegation in the ongoing Paris Olympics after wrapping up her women’s boxing campaign with a semifinal finish.

Despite falling at the hands of Turkey’s Buse Naz Cakiroglu via a 5-0 unanimous decision, Villegas was still able to bag the bronze medal in the women’s flyweight category.

Entering the fight against a familiar foe whom he faced during the previous world championships, Villegas was eager to clinch her first-ever win against the Turkish pug but things didn’t go her way as Cakiroglu displayed another masterclass when she dominated the Filipina.

Cakiroglu quickly opened the medal phase with a huge boost after scoring a standing eight-count on Villegas when she hit her with a solid right straight in the remaining 40 seconds of the first round.

That standing eight-count proved to be enough for the Turkish star to rake all scorecards in the first frame and gain the much-needed confidence heading into the next round.

Cakiroglu continued her fiery assault in the second and decided to go toe-to-toe with Villegas, planting both her feet in the canvas while refusing to backpedal everytime they met in the middle for a slugfest.

However, with only a minute remaining, Villegas thought she scored a knockdown when Cakiroglu fell to the canvas after their wild exchange.

The official match referee then shook his head and waived off any knockdown scores that prevented the Filipina from turning the scores for a possible 5-0 sweep.

During the replay, Villegas seemed to hit Cakiroglu with a snappy right hook counter but the referee may have ruled it as a marginal contact. In addition, one factor that might have led to the no-knockdown decision was the backward movement of the Turkish trying to evade the Filipina’s offense.

Now down 2-0 in the scores, it was now or never for Villegas as she stepped on the gas pedal in the final round, but Cakiroglu took the safer path and picked her spots to avoid further damage.

Three judges ruled the bout 30-27 all in favor of Cakiroglu while the other two scored it 30-26. With the loss, Villegas is yet to notch a single win on Cakiroglu and vowed to bounce back if she qualifies again for the next Olympic edition.