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Friday, March 29, 2024

Filipino boxer Marcial nails Olympic berth

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Top seed Eumir Marcial has made it to the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. 

The reigning World Championships middleweight silver medallist beat Byamba-Erdene Otbonbaatar of Mongolia in the Asia/Oceania qualifying tournament in Amman, Jordan last Sunday.

 Eumir Marcial

Because of this, Marcial not only advanced to the semifinals of the tournament, he also clinched a berth to the Tokyo games. 

He joins gymnast Carlos Yulo and pole-vaulter EJ Obiena as the three Filipinos, who so far, have booked tickets to the Olympics.

Marcial is one of five Filipino boxers who are still seeking Olympic berths over the weekend.

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“Tomorrow, 4 more Filipino boxers- females Nesthy Petecio, Irish Magno & Riza Pasuit & flyweight Carlo Paalam attempt to join him in the continuation of the Asian Oceanian Olympic Qualification Tournament here in Amman, Jordan,” said Association of Boxing Alliances in the Philippines Executive Director Ed Picson.

The 24-year-old Marcial came away with a Referee Stopped Contest win over Otbonbaatar.

This was after Marcial unleashed a mean left in the first round, before hurting the Mongolian some more with left and right combos in the second.

Despite getting a point deducted in the third round, Marcial stunned the Mongolian with a big left-handed punch, and this led to a standing eight-count by the referee on Marcial's opponent.

Picson, who heads the delegation, said that having five of seven boxers in the quarterfinals is more than satisfactory.

“We didn’t get the draw we were hoping for. Ian faced Butdee early and James Palicte had the 2017 Asian champion Uzbek Abduraimov in his first fight, but that’s the way it is. Now we have five, so we will aim for 5 qualifiers for Tokyo. But none of the five fights will be easy,” explained Picson.

Petecio is set to face Japanese Sena Irie, with whom she’s 1-1 head to head, while Magno clashes with five -time world champion Meri Kom of India, and Pasuit battles no. 3 seed Wu Yi Shih.

On the other hand, Paalam is up against no. 1 seed Amit of India.

The Filipino boxers only need to win their respective quarterfinal matches to be assured of a berth in the Tokyo Olympics.

The team coaches are Ronald Chavez and Elmer Pamisa for the men, Reynaldo Galido and Roel Velasco for the women and Donald Abnett, foreign consultant.

Sports psychologist Marcus Manalo and PSC masseur Herbert Manlangit are also part of the team.

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