Philippine boxing

Olympic medal-winning boxing coach Nolito Velasco retires

Delfin Dioquino

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Olympic medal-winning boxing coach Nolito Velasco retires

BOXING LEGEND. Nolito Velasco (second from left) ends his coaching career by helping the Philippines end its Olympic boxing medal drought in the Tokyo Games.

Nolito Velasco Facebook page

Nolito 'Boy' Velasco, who guided his younger brothers Roel and Onyok to Olympic medals in the 1990s, also mentored Tokyo Games silver medalist Nesthy Petecio

The man who guided multiple Filipino boxers to Olympic medals will soon hang up his spurs.

Nolito “Boy” Velasco is retiring from the Association of Boxing Alliances in the Philippines (ABAP) national team effective December 31 after a decorated decades-long coaching career.

Velasco said in a letter to ABAP that he is “looking forward to enjoy my retirement with my family, as I give them the time and effort I missed because of working.”

The 58-year-old Velasco mentored Nesthy Petecio when she captured a silver medal in the Tokyo Olympics.

Under the tutelage of Velasco, Petecio became the first Filipina boxer to win an Olympic medal as she contributed to the Philippines’ biggest haul in the history of the Games.

Velasco also served as coach of his younger brothers Roel and Onyok when they bagged Olympic medals in the 1990s. (READ: Nolito, Roel, Onyok: How the Velasco brothers turned into Olympic heroes)

Roel clinched a bronze medal in the 1992 Barcelona Games, while Onyok settled for a silver medal following a controversial decision in the finals in the 1996 Atlanta Olympics.

The Philippines failed to win an Olympic medal in the sport since, until Petecio and fellow boxers Carlo Paalam and Eumir Marcial all landed at the podium in Tokyo.

ABAP president Ricky Vargas and secretary general Ed Picson accepted his decision to retire.

Vargas and Picson wished Velasco “well in your future endeavors.” – Rappler.com

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Delfin Dioquino

Delfin Dioquino dreamt of being a PBA player, but he did not have the skills to make it. So he pursued the next best thing to being an athlete – to write about them. He took up journalism at the University of Santo Tomas and joined Rappler as soon as he graduated in 2017.