MANILA, Philippines, March 12 ------ Aira Villegas and Josie Gabuco encouraged aspiring female boxers to continue pursuing the sport even as they face prejudice and skepticism. Villegas and Gabuco both proved their doubters wrong, with the two making the national boxing team and bringing pride to the country by succeeding on the world stage.
“If you have a dream, you just have to focus on your goal and ignore what others say because outside noise is just a distraction to your goal,” said Villegas during the StrongHER Together event hosted by Atleta Filipina and Spartans Boxing Club BGC. She became just the second female boxer to win an Olympic medal for the Philippines after teammate Nesthy Petecio.
Meanwhile, the 37-year-old Gabuco holds the distinction as the first Filipina boxer to strike gold in the world championships, doing so in 2012. Gabuco also owns an Asian championships crown and five Southeast Asian Games gold medals, ruling for an entire decade from 2009 to 2019. “They said before, ‘You’re just a girl, you cannot do that.’ I always had in my mind, ‘One day, I’ll prove my skills and show that I can keep up with men.’ Instead of that being a discouragement, I used that as inspiration to reach my dreams,” said Gabuco.
Inspired by Villegas and Gabuco, the girls who attended the event were taught the basics by coaches of Spartans Boxing Club.
Source: rappler.com
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