TOKYO Olympics silver medalist Eumir Felix Marcial is out to hit two targets in the 19th Asian Games in Hangzhou, China– win it all and qualify for the Paris Olympics next year.
“This Asian Games is also an Olympic qualifying tournament. So, I am not thinking of the Asian Games as the Asian Games,” Marcial said. “I am thinking that this is an Olympic qualifying tournament. We really have to get to the final, so we can qualify for the Paris Olympics.
“So, my goal here is not to get a medal, or get the gold, but to qualify for the Olympics,” he added.
Based on the revised qualification process of the International Olympic Committee, only the boxing finalists in each Olympic weight division in the Asiad set Sept. 23 to Oct. 8 will qualify for Paris.
After the quadrennial meet, there will be two more world Olympic qualifying tilts in early 2024 where pugilists can punch their slots to the 33rd edition of the Olympiad in the French capital.
Qualifying for Paris has taken on greater significance for Olympic boxing bets from all over the world since the IOC has scrapped the sport in the 2028 edition in Los Angeles due to scandals that hounded the discipline in previous Olympics.
The world Olympic body has taken over the qualifying process from the International Boxing Association, forming its own group led by Japanese International Gymnastics Federation president Morinari Watanabe, who supervised the qualifiers for the Tokyo Games.
Marcial, 27, will be seeing action in the light heavyweight division.
It will be the first time the Zamboanga City pride, who turned pro in 2020, is fighting in the 80kg weight class, previously competing in the middleweight division in the Olympics.
“They removed the middleweight class for the Olympic qualifying, so my weight class is no more. I had to choose between 71 kilograms and 80 kilograms. I fought in the 75 kilograms (division),” Marcial said.
“If I go down to 71 kilograms, I do not know what my performance will be. That is why I went up to light heavyweight. Hopefully, and through the help of God, we can get the gold.”
