BOXER Aira Villegas of the Philippines advanced to the quarterfinal round after stunning Roumaysa Boualam of Algeria in the women's 50-kg division at the Paris Olympics early Friday morning (Manila time).

Villegas, who turned 29 on August 1, received favorable scores from the five judges en route to a unanimous decision win over No. 2 seed Boualam.

The boxer from Tacloban City was tactical in her moves in the first round after setting up the pace of the match and throwing counter punches to get the nod of the judges.

Boualam, the first female boxer of Algeria to represent her country in the 2020 Olympics, read the strategy of Villegas and turned on the heat in the second round.

The 5-foot-2 Villegas pranced around the ring to tire Boualam and threw angled shots, but the Algerian showed grit and connected jabs to take the second round.

"You don't hide, keep facing her. Stay in front. You need to win this round," coach Reynaldo Galido said to Villegas in Filipino at the corner before the third and final round.

He also told Villegas to throw more punches this time.

In the third round, Boualam tested the stamina of Villegas as she threw more jabs which the Filipina boxer anticipated and countered with jabs and hooks of her own.

Villegas continued to engage with her opponent in the last 30 seconds of the match to wear out the Algerian's boxer.

The five judges scored the fight 30-27, 29-28, 29-28, 29-28, 30-27, all for Villegas.

She is one win away from securing a medal, but it will not be a walk in the park as she will face Wassila Lkhadiri of France in the round of 8.

Villegas opened her Olympic bid with a 5-0 decision against Yasmine Mouttaki of Morocco last Monday.