Eumir Marcial is finally an Olympian.
The 24-year-old middleweight did not leave anything to chance against Mongolia’s Byamba-Erdene Otgonbaatar, scoring a third round referee’s stoppage win in the last eight of the 2020 Asia and Oceania Olympic Boxing Qualifiers, Monday (Manila time) at the Prince Hamzeh Hall, Sport City in Amman, Jordan.
In the third round, and despite getting a point deducted, Marcial did not stop his aggression against the Mongolian. He rocked his opponent with a solid right that led to a standing count.
Though Otgonbaatar survived that onslaught, a left hook by Marcial led to another count. He was not able to pull through this time around, booking Marcial’s ticket to the Olympics.
“I’m very happy. Four years ago, I did not qualify,” said an emotional Marcial.
Marcial advanced to the last eight after scoring a unanimous decision win over Australian Kirra Ruston in the opening round.
Marcial, a native of Lunzuran, Zamboanga City, will join gymnast Caloy Yulo and pole vaulter EJ Obiena to the Games.
“Like I said, four years, I trained hard to qualify for this. I’m going to give all my best. I know God will do the rest,” he expressed.
Prior to this tournament, Marcial already had momentum, winning silver in the 2019 AIBA World Boxing Championships before bagging gold in the 2019 Southeast Asian Games.
Still alive in the tournament are Nesthy Petecio, Riza Pasuit, Carlo Paalam, and Irish Magno.
