Assured of P8M in incentives
TOKYO. – Eumir Felix Marcial lost to Ukraine’s Oleksandr Khyzhniak via split decision2-3on Thursday and settled for a bronze medal in boxing’s middleweight class at the Tokyo Olympics here.
Marcialengaged the illustrious Ukrainian punch-for-punch and got the nod of the five judges in the first two rounds. But Khyzhniak couldn’t be denied and rallied in the final round to escape with the close victory.
In the end, Marcial admitted he lost to a better fighter.
“Malakassiyana fighter, deserve niyangmanalo,” Marcialsaid of Khyzhniak, who won gold medals at the World (2017) and European (2017 and 2019) championships and looked primed to win the gold here.
Marcial’s bronze is the Philippines’ second medal in boxing after NesthyPetecio’s silver in the women’s featherweight and the third overall for the Philippines after Hidilyn Diaz’s historic gold medal in women’s weightlifting.
Carlo Paalam assured the country another silver medal in the men’s flyweight class after beating Ryomei Tanaka of host Japan earlier. Paalam battles Britain’s GalaiYafai in Saturday’s final.
The national boxing team’s Australian consultant, Don Abnett, admitted that Marcial lost steam against the seasoned Ukrainian.
“He (Marcial) only had six weeks training with us, although his Colorado (Springs) training helped him a lot,” Abnett said.
Marcial turned pro in September last year and trained for four months under world-renowned trainer Freddie Roach at the Wild Cary Gym. He won his first professional fight, a four-rounder, in December, but hasn’t fought a single bout until last May’s Asian championships in Dubai.
He exited the Dubai tournament in his first fight and agreed to join a training camp with the US boxing team in Colorado Springs.
As of Thursday, Marcial is assured of P2 million from the Philippine Sports Commission under Republic Act No. 10699; P2 million from the Manny V. Pangilinan Sports Foundation; P2 million from San Miguel Corp. President Ramon S. Ang; P1 million from Deputy Speaker Mikee Romero; P1 million from Phoenix Petroleum, through the SiklabAtletaPilipinas Foundation; 40,000 Mabuhay Miles per year for life from Philippine Airlines; and two years of free flights from AirAsia.
“I gave my all to win, but that’s the decision,” Marcial told an American journalist. “I know God has plans for me… for me, this bronze is gold.”
Marcial engaged Khyzhniak in a flurry of exchanges in the first round, his right cross and uppercut occasionally hitting their targets to narrowly win the opener.
The second round turned out almost exactly like the first, with Marcial sneaking in 1-2 combinations to the Ukrainian’s face while at times unleashing three to four rapid punches to Khyzhniak’s stomach.
But Khyzhniak, who ahead of Tokyo has won all his 60 fights since 2016, brought all the experience, boxing wit, and punching power to the Kokugican Arena to dominate the third round and escape with the victory.
In the end, Marcial said he needed to learn from the loss.
“May kulang pa, kinaposakosahangin,” he said.
