SPORTSCLOPEDIA 30: EUMIR MARCIAL BATTLES RICARDO RUBEN VILLALBA IN AN EIGHT ROUNDER
By Maloney L. Samaco
PhilBoxing.com
Tue, 07 Feb 2023
Tokyo Olympic bronze medalist Eumir Felix Marcial will be making his first fight as an eight-rounder this Saturday, February 11, at the Alamodome, San Antonio, Texas, USA. The 27-year-old Marcial fights on the undercard of the O’Shaquie Foster vs. Rey Vargas WBO world junior lightweight championship.
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Marcial (3-0, 1 KO) of Zamboanga City who is now based in Las Vegas, will face a grizzled veteran in Ricardo Ruben Villalba (20-7-1, 8 KOs), age 33 of Buenos Aires, Argentina. Villalba was the WBO Latino and the WBO Asia super welterweight champion.
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Marcial made his professional debut in 2020, and since then he has a streak of victories, winning over Andrew Whitfield and Steven Pichardo by unanimous decision and knocking out Isiah Hart in the fourth round. He did not leave his amateur stint, including various international tournaments and the Tokyo Olympics.
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His second professional bout with Hart proved his mettle as a great warrior when he stopped Hart by TKO with 47 seconds left in the fourth round even if he was knocked down three times, once in the first round and twice in the second round, in a six-rounder.
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“Eumir has had a terrific training camp, and after consulting with Señor Capetillo, it was decided that Eumir was ready to move up to the eight-round level,” said MP Promotions President Sean Gibbons as quoted by World Boxing News. “Ricardo Villalba represents a big step up in opposition for Eumir in terms of talent and experience. But we are confident Eumir will pass this test with flying colors. We are very excited for him.”
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Marcial qualified for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics but was postponed the following year due to the pandemic. He fought against Algerian Younes Nemouchi in the Round of 16 as he won handily by a TKO. He advanced to face Armenian boxer Arman Darchinyan and won by a KO.
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In one of the most thrilling matches of the 2021 Olympics, Marcial and top-seed Oleksandr Khyzhniak of Ukraine, met in the semifinal bout and fought fiercely from the opening bell to the end. Khyzhniak won by the slimmist margin, a 3-2 split decision, and advanced to win the silver medal.
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Marcial won the bronze medal and together with Carlo Paalam (silver) and Nesthy Petecio (silver) ended the Philippines' 24 year Olympic medal drought in boxing. Marcial has also garnered a silver medal at the 2019 World Boxing Championships in Yekaterinburg, Russia.
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Marcial also won the 2011 International Boxing Association Junior World Championships three years after he trained in boxing for the first time. He was awarded the Best Asia Youth Boxer of the Year in 2013.
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Villalba is an experienced fighter but has lost in his last three fights. Marcial hopes to maintain a good record in the middleweight division. He has been training in Las Vegas under the watchful eyes of Jorge Capetillo and is promoted by MP Promotions of Manny Pacquiao.
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