Marcial tipped to strike gold
By Joaquin Henson
PhilBoxing.com
Sun, 25 Jul 2021
The Associated Press has predicted that three Philippine athletes will land a podium finish in the Tokyo Olympics with middleweight boxer Eumir Marcial the only gold medalist. Weightlifter Hidilyn Diaz and featherweight boxer Nesthy Petecio were picked to bag a bronze each. Missing in the forecast were gymnast Caloy Yulo, golfers Yuka Saso and Bianca Pagdanganan, pole vaulter E. J. Obiena and skateboarder Margie Didal.
ABAP secretary-general Ed Picson said yesterday he’s upbeat about Marcial’s chances. “Eumir is seeded fourth (among 25) and drew a bye in the Round of 32 so it means he’s going straight to the Round of 16,” said Picson. “Just two wins and he’s assured of a bronze. Three wins, it’s a silver and four wins, it’s a gold. The training in Colorado Springs went very well. We sent coach Gerson (Nietes) to stay with him for a month and coach Ronald (Chavez) the last two weeks before flying to Tokyo. We pulled out coach Ronald from training camp in Thailand to go back to Manila and renew his US visa. Coach Gerson is back in Manila while coach Ronald went with Eumir to Tokyo.”
Picson said sparring at the US Olympic and Paralympic Training Center in Colorado Springs was productive. “Eumir sparred with Olympians from the US, Australia, Jordan and others,” he said. “When Jordan left for a camp in Russia and the US and Australia flew early to Japan, Eumir worked with US youth boxers, doing partner play in school, not competitive, sparring. It was also helpful in that Eumir got to practice defense, offense, positioning, footwork.”
Last December, Marcial made his pro debut and pounded out a unanimous four-round decision over Andrew Whitfield in Los Angeles. Picson said he was told that if Marcial was in the same condition after his Colorado Springs training, Whitfield would’ve been knocked out. “He’s very sharp, very strong,” said Picson. “His stamina’s good. The explosiveness is intact. But it still won’t be easy winning the gold.” The road blocks are Ukraine’s Oleksandr Khyzhniak, known as “the new Vasyl Lomachenko,” Russia’s Gleb Bakshi, Algeria’s Younes Nemouchi, Uzbekistan’s Fanat Kakhramonov and Kazakhstan’s Abilkhan Amankul. AP picked Khyzhniak to take the silver and Bakshi and Nemouchi, the bronzes. At the Strandja Memorial in Bulgaria in 2019, Marcial took a standing eight-count and lost to Khyzhniak on a third round disqualification due to an injured hand in the semifinals. That same year, Marcial was decked and dropped a 5-0 decision to Bakshi at the World Championships in Russia. In Tokyo, Marcial’s first bout will be against the winner of the Round of 32 contest between Nemouchi and Uganda’s David Ssemujju on July 29.
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Joaquin Henson.
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