Saying his preparations have paid off, Olympic bronze medalist Eumir Marcial overcame a very experienced rival in Argentinian Ricardo Villalba via technical knockout in the second round of their eight-round middleweight encounter on Saturday at the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas.
A powerful left to the body later in the first round floored Villalba, giving Marcial the confidence the rest of the way to score his fourth straight victory as a pro.
The Zamboanga City-born Marcial, who had two knockouts to his credit, dropped Villalba for the second time, with a right hook to the forehead, as the contest was halted on the 48-second mark of the second round.
“Glory to God! We are still undefeated! Humbled to have won the fight against a tough veteran, Argentinian Ricardo Ruben Villalba via KO after the 2nd round,” said Marcial.
It was the fourth loss by knockout of the 33-year-old Villalba, who went up in weight for the first time at 162 pounds.
“All my trainings have paid off and my hard work bore fruit of our labor. Like I said during interviews, I have learned a lot in my last three professional fights. I am most grateful to have had a very productive training with my camp and I am just happy to have showed the fans what I’ve improved on and prepared for over the last few months,” said Marcial.
Marcial said he is also grateful to businessman-sportsman Ronald Mascarinas and Chooks to Go Pilipinas for their support, along with Crown Royale Dental Center.
“More than our goal of winning this match, we are also going one step closer to our dream (of a world title), thanks to my team,” added Marcial.
The bout was the undercard of the main event, which saw O’Shaquie Foster claiming his first world title by beating Rey Vargas by unanimous decision for the previously vacant World Boxing Council junior lightweight (130 lbs) title.
Judges scored the fight at 116-112, 117-111, and 119-109, in favor of Foster.