Eumir Marcial poses for a photo while waiting for his flight to the United States at the NAIA Terminal. | Photo from Marcial’s Facebook page
CEBU CITY, Philippines — Tokyo Olympics bronze medalist Eumir Marcial will spend his training camp in the United States for his homecoming professional bout tentatively slated in March at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium in Malate, Manila.
The 28-year-old boxer, probably the lone middleweight prospect in the Philippines, flew to the United States on Friday, January 19.
In a Facebook post, Marcial said that his professional bout will form part of his preparations for the Paris 2024 Olympics.
“This campaign is one of the most challenging as I gear up in fighting some of my strongest opponents in the Paris Olympics—10 of the world’s outstanding boxers in my weight class have qualified,” Marcial said in his post.
Marcial wants to be more prepared as he could possibly face some of the world’s best middleweight contenders in the Paris Olympics such as Ukrainian Oleksandr Khyzkniak, two-time Olympic gold medalist Arlen Lopez of Cuba, Asian Games gold medalist Toqtarbek Tanatqan of China, and Australia’s Callum Peters and Abdelrahman Oraby of Egypt who both won gold medals in their respective continental meets.
To recall, Marcial lost to Khyzkniak in the semifinals of the Tokyo Olympics which resulted in his bronze medal finish.
This time, he won’t leave a single stone unturned by training in the United States, most probably at the Knuckleheads Boxing in Las Vegas of promoter and manager Sean Gibbons.
There, Marcial will get the chance to spar and train alongside not just fellow Filipino contenders but with natural middleweight boxers who can help him sharpen his skills.
Marcial keeps an unbeaten record of four wins and two knockouts as a professional boxer. He debuted in the pro scene in 2020. His last opponent was Argentinian Ricardo Ruben Villalba who he knocked out in the second round of their bout held in February 2023 in Indio, California.
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