Four years ago, Eumir Marcial, then a welterweight, fell short in his bid of making it to the London Olympics after losing a box-off.
Four years later, Marcial, now a middleweight, has achieved his dreams of making it to the Games.
“I’m very happy. Four years ago, I did not qualify,” the 24-year-old native of Zamboanga City told the Olympic Channel after beating Mongolia’s Byamba-Erdene Otgonbaatar to punch his ticket to the Olympics.
“All of this, I dedicate to my father because he worked hard for me. He trained me because he wanted to be in the Olympics.”
Eumir’s dad Eulalio, fondly known as Nong Lito, pushed his son harder than ever after that fateful night in Qian’an, China.
Despite nearing the age of 70 during that time, Eulalio still woke up early, jogging with his son and training him.
It has resulted in a magical run for Eumir.
During the last three months, Eumir won his third gold in the Southeast Asian Games, placed second in the World Championships, made it to the Olympics, and won the entire Asia and Oceania Olympic Boxing Qualifiers to boot.
And come the Tokyo Olympics, Eumir vows that he will go for broke for his dad.
“I want to win gold. I’m going to win gold. I have a couple of months to train and get that gold in the Olympics,” he shared.
“For my father, all of this if for my father — I dedicate this to him. I want to get the gold in the Olympics and give it to him as a gift.”
