EUMIR FELIX MARCIAL stopped Mongolian Byamba Erdene Otgonbaatar in three rounds on Sunday in the Asia-Oceania Olympic Qualification Tournament in Amman, Jordan, to earn a ticket to the Tokyo Olympics—the third Filipino thus far to do so.
Marcial, 24, peppered his foe with hard left straights and right hooks to the face and body, forcing the referee to give the Mongolian two standing 8-counts in the third round before finally calling a halt to the bout.
“This is my and my Papa’s dream since I was a kid,” a visibly emotional Marcial, sobbing, said after the fight. “I waited four years for this—after I missed 2016 because of an injury.”
“And it’s nothing but the gold medal, for me and my Papa,” he said.
Marcial’s father Eulalio, who trains young boxers in their hometown of Zamboanga City, was his first trainer.
Marcial profusedly thanked the Association of Boxing Alliances in the Philippines—chaired by Manuel V. Pangilinan and headed by its president, Ricky Vargas—for trusting his skills.
“I also want to thank my coaches—coach Ronald [Chavez], coach Don [Abnett] and Coach Elmer [Pamisa],” he added.
Already earning tickets to Tokyo 2020 are world champion gymnast Carlos Yulo and Asian pole vault titlist EJ Obiena.
Four more Filipinos are targeting berths to Tokyo 2020.
On Monday, world featherweight champion Nesthy Petecio faces an old adversary, Japan’s Sena Irie. They are 1-1 head-to-head with Petecio coming off a vindictive victory at the World Championships in Russia last October.
Flyweight Irish Magno and lightweight Riza Pasuit are also one win away from an Olympic slot.
Magno has a tall order as she goes up against five-time world champion Meri Kom of India, while Pasuit faces the No. 3 seed in her division, Wu Yi-Shih of Chinese-Taipei.
Carlo Paalam, 21, has a score to settle with Amit of India in their own flyweight tussle for an Olympic berth. The Indian won close decisions over the Cagayan de Oro native—in the 2018 Asian Games and in the World Championships last year.
India’s boxing contingent enjoyed a perfect evening session on Sunday with Lovlina Borgohain, Ashish Kumar and Satish Kumar leading the charge.
Women’s welterweight Borgohain dictated the tempo of her fight for all three rounds to secure a unanimous decision win over Uzbekistan’s Maftunakhon Melieva at the Jordanian capital’s Prince Hamzah Sport Hall.
Borgohain will face China’s Gu Hong in the semifinals, while the other last four-encounter pits Chinese Taipei’s Chen Nien-chin against Thailand’s Baison Manikon.
Men’s middleweight Kumar, meanwhile, recovered from a slow start to get the better of Indonesia’s Maikhel Roberrd Muskita.