Eumir Marcial missed out on a chance to improve his previous Games finish with a stunning defeat against Uzbekistan’s Turabek Khabibullaev in the Olympic Games Paris 2024 Boxing men’s 80 kg weight class.
With the middleweight class scrapped for these Games in Paris, Marcial aimed to make his rise to the heavier light heavyweight class count when he took on the 20-year-old Uzbek in the Round of 16 match at the North Paris Arena on Wednesday morning (Philippine time).
With the third round being virtually a must-win for Marcial, the Filipino turned up the intensity and connected against the younger Uzbek, who was warned for passivity.
Marcial won the round, but getting the nod from three of the five judges was not enough to stop the upset by Khabibullaev.
The Central Asian started aggressively and connected against the more experienced Filipino boxer from a distance, eventually snagging the first round against Marcial.
The second round was more of the same. Even as Marcial was able to land his punches against the Uzbek, he got the nod from only one of the judges.
Khabibullaev eventually took a huge lead across the board entering the final round, setting up the shocker.
It remains to be seen if Marcial, who is also competing in the professional ranks, will go for another shot at Olympic gold four years later in Los Angeles.
Still, the 28-year-old pugilist will carry the fight wherever it may be.
