PARIS, France — The Philippines' Nesthy Petecio battles it out against hometown bet Amin Zidani in the Round of 16 of the women's 57-kilogram Paris Olympics boxing competition at the North Paris Arena on Friday at 8 p.m. (12 a.m., Saturday, Philippine time) with a quarterfinal seat at stake.

Petecio is expected to encounter a stiff challenge from Zidani, who will undoubtedly be buoyed by the support of the French crowd.

The 30-year-old Zidani brings a wealth of experience to the ring. She clinched the featherweight gold at the 2023 European Games; thereby, securing her place in the Paris Olympics. Moreover, her six-time French national championship title from 2016 to 2021 is a testament to her dominance in the domestic scene.

The Frenchwoman's journey to the Olympics was further solidified with a bronze medal finish at the 2023 World Championships, where she fell short against Italy's Irma Testa in the semifinals. Interestingly, Petecio had previously defeated Testa in the semifinals of the Tokyo Olympics.

But while Petecio, fellow Tokyo silver medalist Carlo Paalam, and debutante Aira Villegas remain in contention, the Philippine boxing squad has suffered setbacks with the early exits of Tokyo bronze medalist Eumir Marcial and Hergie Bacyadan.

Marcial was eliminated in the men's 80-kilogram division after a unanimous decision loss to Uzbekistan's Turabek Khabibullaev.

Meanwhile, Bacyadan's Olympic journey came to an abrupt end following a 0-5 defeat against Tokyo silver medalist Li Qian of China in the women's 75-kilogram category.