Marcial solid gold prospect in Vietnam

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BOXING officials yesterday remained confident that middleweight boxer Eumir Felix Marcial will still be one of the country’s solid gold medal contenders in the Vietnam Southeast Asian Games despite suffering three knockdowns in his last pro fight.

“Despite those three knockdowns, we will consider Eumir one of our best bets for gold. We have full confidence in his abilities,” boxing chief Ed Picson said in the Philippine Sportswriters Association virtual forum.

Picson also said the three knockdowns should not be a cause for concern.

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“But personally, I am concerned. I have never seen him go down three times in a fight. I have seen him go down a couple of times in a fight pero hindi ganyan,” Picson said.

Picson, the Association of Boxing Alliances of the Philippines president, was among those who were worried after witnessing the Zamboanga City fighter decked thrice by Isiah Hart before rallying to knock out the upset-conscious American in the fourth round last April 9 at the Virgins Hotel in Las Vegas.

“This is why I told our coaches who are now with the team in Thailand to try and find out what gives,” said Picson, who graced the public sports program with ABAP secretary general Marcus Manalo.

Manalo said he had a private chat with Marcial, who has joined the rest of the Pinoy boxers training in Thailand, about the incident and revealed the boxer had painfully learned his lessons from the experience.

“I believe he has learned from his last fight, which may also have had a positive effect. My advice to him is to stay in the present and not live in the past. The present is having a sound fight plan and that is all you need to pay attention to. Learn from it and focus on what is in front of you,” Manalo said.

Manalo, who will leaving for Vietnam on May 13, said he has been keeping tabs with Marcial and the rest of the boxers training at the Thai National Boxing Center in Muak Lek, Suraburi Province outside of Bangkok.

“Coming from a recent fight, Eumir is in shape and the task now is for him to get used to Olympic-style boxing again,” he said.

Picson said Marcial should learn to pace himself properly since he is expected to be up against several tough boxers in the middleweight division, including a crack fighter from Thailand.

“Don’t forget that Vietnam has also improved a lot so our boxers cannot take anything for granted,” Manalo said.

Although the Pinoy pugs faced a lot of challenges during the pandemic, Picson said they are “proceeding with a lot of enthusiasm and focus, hoping that we can maintain the same kind of excellence we showed in Manila three years ago.”

Filipino boxers emerged overall champions in the 30th SEA Games boxing championships three years ago among nine countries with a grand haul of seven gold, three silver and two bronze medals at the Philippine International Convention Center Forum.

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