All roads lead to boxing for Hergie Bacyadan

ONE can't fight destiny — even if she's an Olympic boxer.

Boxer Hergie Bacyadan almost quit many times after absorbing every beatdown of life before punching a ticket to the 2024 Paris Olympics.

The 29-year-old pugilist initially competed in martial arts as she represented the Philippines in wushu and Vovinam tournaments, but despite thriving in those sports, she had an uncanny feeling that she was destined for a different sport.

Hergie Bacyadan, the last Filipino boxer to qualify for the Summer Games in Paris, trains at the ABAP Gym in Rizal Memorial Complex, Manila. PHOTO BY RIO DELUVIO

Perhaps her instincts were right.

Bacyadan first made it to the national team in 2016 through the sport of wushu, and when she shifted to boxing in 2019, she earned her first gold medal in the 2019 Asian Grand Slam Boxing (ASBC) Asian Championships.

But doubts kept her from pursuing her dream of competing in the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.

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«There was a time that I let go of boxing. I told myself, 'I don't know what is going on in my mind. I do not know if I still belong. I do not know if I still have a future in sports or if I am just playing it as a hobby,'» she said with a sigh.

«But I told myself that athletes dream of being part of the national team, that I have this privilege and opportunity, and I should not waste it,» she added.

The Igorot boxer said that competing in wushu was fine since she clinched two silvers after competing in China and Russia, but when she changed her sport and took her first gold in boxing, that was when she knew that she should stay on that path.

Bacyadan's life was a bunch of «howevers.» She won another gold in the 2022 Thailand Open and clinched another bronze in the 2022 ASBC Asian Championships. However, she opted to stop for a year.

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«I stopped again and did nothing for a year, and that is when I started playing Vovinam. I competed for 65 kg and shifted my focus there.»

After a successful run in the 2023 Vovinam World Championships — she was the Philippines' first Vovinam champion — Bacyadan was again pursued by destiny as she was tapped again to box.

«I told myself that maybe this is my sport, Vovinam. But after winning the