Irish Magno became the first casualty of Team Philippines in the AIBA World Women’s Boxing Championships after yielding in the first round Friday night in Astana, Kazakhstan.
The 2015 Singapore Southeast Asian Games silver medalist lost in points to Mongolian Bolortuul Tumurkhuyag in the 54kg non-Olympic qualifying division of the said tournament.
Magno won the first two rounds, but lost in the last two, forcing the judges to review which boxer has the most number of connected punches to determine the winner.
Meanwhile, Josie Gabuco and Nesthy Petecio compete in their respective weight categories at presstime, with Petecio seeking a berth in the 2016 Rio Olympics in August.
Gabuco, who won the gold in the 2012 edition in China, is battling Bulgarian Sevda Asenova in the opening round of the 45-48kg light fly non-Olympic qualifying class, while Petecio is squaring off with Morocco’s Zohra Ez Zahraoui in the second round of the 51kg flyweight Olympic category.
Petecio is seeded sixth in her weight class and earned a first-round bye, while Zahraoui is coming off an opening round win over South Korean Nam Eunjin.
This will be Petecio’s last chance to qualify for the Olympics after failing to land a spot in the Asia Oceania Qualifying last March where she lost in the quarterfinals.