LOOKS can be deceiving.
So Eumir Felix Marcial is not taking veteran opponent Thoedsak Sinam of Thailand lightly when they fight on Saturday night in a light heavyweight eight-rounder at the 6,000 capacity Ninoy Aquino Stadium.
Sinam stood inconspicuously among the other boxers at the Rizal Memorial Badminton Hall early Friday before the weigh-in. The crowd let out a small gasp as it turned out the man in the corner wearing blue hoodie and grey shorts, several inches shorter than the 5-foot-11 Marcial, was the one set to take on the Filipino Olympic bronze medalist.
“I cannot take him for granted because I know he also prepared for this fight. A Thai opponent also fights hard up to the final bell, so I have to keep my focus,” the 28-year-old Paris Olympic-bound Marcial said.
“The goal is to win the fight, safe, and with no injury.”
Marcial tipped the scale at 165 lbs, while Sinam weighed three pounds heavier.
Marcial, also a four-time Southeast Asian Games gold medalist, qualified for his second Olympic stint last October after bagging a silver medal in the light heavyweight division at the Hangzhou 19th Asian Games—a continental Olympic qualifying tournament in China.
And fighting in front of the Filipino crowd is absolutely huge for Marcial, who is aiming to improve his bronze finish in the last Tokyo Games almost three years ago when he fights in the Paris Olympics set July 26 to August 11.
“It’s long been a dream to fight here in the Philippines again, but now I’m fighting in the main event. This is also a rare opportunity to fight in a historic venue filled with fans,” Marcial said, who last fought in Manila in the 2019 Southeast Asian Games where he won the middleweight gold medal.
“This fight is part of my preparation for the Olympics. After I qualified from the Asian Games last year, I never fought then. So it’s very important for me to win and gain experience for the Paris Olympics.”
Sinam, a 28-year-old boxer from Thailand brought by Filipino matchmaker Brico Santig, sports a 23-13 win-loss record with 19 knockouts, and he is coming in with back-to-back knockout victories.
Meanwhile, unbeaten Lienard Sarcon (11-0 with four knockouts) of General Santos City battles China’s Pong Huang (9-7-2 win-loss-draw with five knockouts) in the other main event organized by Manny Pacquiao’s MP Promotions headed by its President Sean Gibbons.