Olympics newcomer Hergie Bacyadan couldn’t overcome the experience and ring savvy of Li Qian, who has already won boxing medals in two Olympic Games.
Hergie Bacyadan fought bravely but couldn’t overcome the experience and skill of China’s Li Qian, dropping a unanimous decision in their women’s 75kg round of 16 bout on Wednesday at the North Paris Arena.
Li, the Rio 2016 bronze medalist, Tokyo 2020 silver medalist and reigning Asian Games gold medalist, proved too much for the Olympic rookie Bacyadan, who only recently took up boxing seriously.
Li established control early with an effective 1-2 combination that kept Bacyadan at bay. The Kalinga native wasn’t throwing too many punches, allowing Li to assert her overall ring mastery en route to a clean sweep of all rounds on all five judges’ scorecards.
In between the second and third round, Philippine boxing coaches Ronald Chavez and Don Abnett were overheard imploring Bacyadan to be more active.
“You have to hurt her in this round, okay?” Abnett said.
Bacyadan did find some success late in the bout, tagging Li a few times in a spirited display, but by then it was too late.
The Philippine boxing contingent is now down to three, with Carlo Paalam debuting later Wednesday evening in the men’s 57kg division round of 16. Nesthy Peteco and Aira Villegas had earlier won their round of 32 assignments.
Eumir Marcial, one of the brightest prospects of the 22-man Philippine delegation in Paris, was ousted early Wednesday morning in the round of 16.
Banner Image from the Philippine Sports Commission on Facebook.
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