MARCIAL STOPS DARCHINYAN IN 1, ENTERS MEDAL ROUND!
By Dong Secuya
PhilBoxing.com
Sun, 01 Aug 2021
Marcial (L) connects at Darchinyan.
Eumir Felix Marcial of the Philippines lived up to his billing as a gold medal favorite when he knocked out Arman Darchinyan of Armenia in the first round of their middleweight quarterfinal bout in the ongoing 2020 Tokyo Olympics at the Kokugigan Arena in Tokyo, Japan.
From the get go, Marcial was throwing combinations with bad intention at Darchinyan who was forced to stay defensive. Midway in the round a flurry from Marcial that hit their mark, forced Referee Wilfredo Olivares of Columbia to give Darchinyan a standing eight count.
Marcial (R) connects with a right at Darchinyan.
Marcial continued to potshot Darchinyan as the action continues and a three-punch right-left-right combo caught Darchinyan on the chin that dropped him to the canvas. The referee, seeing Darchinyan's hapless condition, didn't bother to count for another impressive victory by Marcial.
Marcial, 25, and Darchinyan, 27, both had a bye in the round of 32. Marcial won by 1st round RSC over Younes Nemouchi of Algeria in the round of 16 while Darchinyan defeated Andrej Scemez of Slovakia in his own round of 16 bout.
Referee Wilfredo Olivares of Columbia helps the groggy Darchinyan stay on his feet.
Marcial and Darchinyan previously fought during the finals of the Konstantin Korotkov Memorial International Boxing Tournament in Khabarovsk, Russia on May 5, 2020 where Marcial won by unanimous decision.
Marcial and Dharchinyan have both turned pro with one professional bout each and incidentally were both trained by Hall of Famer Freddie Roach in their first fights. Darchinyan stopped Kendall Mayes Taylor (0-2-0) in round two of their 4-round scheduled middleweight bout on Oct. 27, 2019 in Hollywood, CA while Marcial won by 4-rounds UD over Andrew Whitfield on Dec. 16, 2020 in Los Angeles.
Marcial is all emotions after his victory over Darchinyan.
Marcial's win has assured the Philippines of two boxing medals, at least a silver by Nesthy Petecio and a bronze by Marcial, in addition to the gold medal already won by Hidilyn Diaz in weight lifting. Carlo Paalam could also figure in the medal column if he wins his quarterfinal bout against Rio Olympics gold medalist Shakhobidin Zoirov of Uzbekistan on Tuesday, Aug. 3.
Marcial will next meet Ukraine's Oleksandr Khyzhniak in the semifinals on Thursday, Aug. 5 for the right to fight for the gold medal. Khyzhniak earlier beat Columbian's Euri Cedeño in the quarterfinals, 4-1.
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Dong Secuya.
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