KUALA LUMPUR—The Philippines sent three boxers to the finals, led by a spectacular stoppage win by an emotional Eumir Felix Marcial in the middleweight division Tuesday night in the Southeast Asian Games.
Marcial didn’t hide his tears when he faced reporters after stopping Malaysia’s Indran AlRama Krishnan in the first round using his pet left hand.
“I want a clear victory. I want to avenge my teammates who lost here by questionable decisions,” said Marcial in Filipino.
Mario Fernandez and John Nobel Tupas Marvin also turned in convincing decision wins in bantamweight and light heavyweight categories, respectively.
“It was tough, Very tough. He took the fight to me,” said Marvin, who is making his debut for the national team after serving in the British Army team.
Fernandez had Nat Siek Nin of Cambodia under control the whole time, using his vaunted punching might that saw his foe getting a standing eight count.
But tainting their wins were the defeats suffered by Ian Clark Bautista in flyweight and two-time champ Charly Suarez in light welter.
“It’s not my time. I give it to him,” said Suarez, visibly upset over the split decision loss to Wuttichai Masuk of Thailand.
The match was very close with both fighters trading strong punches in the first round. But that was until the taller Thai felt Suarez’s power and started using his longer arms to fend off the Filipino attacks.
Bautista, the defending champion, lost steam against Tanes Ong Junta of Thailand to yield another unanimous decision.