PARIS — Philippines boxer Aira Villegas celebrated her 29th birthday in style by beating Roumaysa Boualam on Thursday to reach the quarter-finals of the flyweight category at the Paris Olympics.
A section of fans at the North Paris Arena could be heard loudly singing “Happy Birthday” as the 29-year-old scored a unanimous 5-0 win over her Algerian opponent.
“I’m very proud of myself. And of course, it’s very overwhelming,” Villegas told reporters.
“This is the best gift ever to myself. I will remember this for the rest of my life. This is a gift to my younger self and to my future self. I heard (fans singing happy birthday). I’m very grateful.
“At the moment, a medal is just only a dream. But I’m here. And I’m very proud that I can be here.”
Asked if her strict diet and training regimen would be set aside after the bout, she replied: Yeah, I can eat cake, but maybe not too much!”
Villegas faces Frenchwoman Wassila Lkhadiri in the quarter-finals on Saturday.
—Reporting by Aadi Nair, editing by Ed Osmond
