It was not the haul they expected, but they delivered, nonetheless
The Philippine boxing team failed to match their five-gold haul in the previous Southeast Asian Games. Still, Eumir Marcial and John Marvin Tupas collected the mints to end the squad’s campaign, Thursday afternoon at the MITEC in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
Earlier in the day, Mario Fernandez lost his bid for a third straight gold, as Thailand’s Chatchai Butdee edged him out by way of decision.
Marcial and Tupas were thus left to rescue the country from a stunning gold medal shutout.
Marcial then took to the ring and stayed aggressive throughout the bout against another Thai, Pathomsak Kuttiya, in his own final. A standing eight count against the Thai in the third all but sealed Philippines’ 12th gold.
Unfazed by the hometown crowd, John Marvin Tupas knew what he wanted to do from the get-go in his light heavyweight final against of Malaysia. A flurry of punches from the SEAG debutant to the head dazed the hometown bet, forcing the referee to stop the bout after just 21 seconds.
Earlier, former champions Ian Clark Bautista and Charly Suarez lost their semifinals bouts to settle for bronzes.
