Japan’s Sena Irie earns a 3-2 decision over Britain’s Karriss Artingstall in the women’s featherweight semifinals on July 31, allowing her to compete in the Aug. 3 final with Nesty Petecio of the Philippines for a gold medal at the Tokyo Olympics.

It will be the first time for a Japanese female boxer to vie for an Olympic medal ever since the women’s boxing was launched in the 2012 London Olympics.

Boxing at the Ryogoku Kokugikan Sumo Arena, the 20-year-old Irie occasionally landed left jabs and left hooks to the head while landing accurate counter rights to her southpaw opponent’s head and body. All the five judges had it 10-9 for Irie.

Aware she dropped the first round, the 26-year-old Artingstall began to rally visibly from the second round, landing chiefly straight lefts. Irie, however, tightened her guard and exchanged blows with the desperate-looking British.

In the third and final round, Artingstall showed everything she had in her arsenal by landing straight lefts while the gusty Japanese managed to land counter lefts and rights by moving side to side.
Three of the five judges scored the fight 29-28 for Irie while the remaining two had it 29-28 for Artingstall.