NEWLY-MARRIED boxer Eumir Felix Marcial will be in the country for a while, and not just because he is still in the honeymoon stage with his wife Princess.
Marcial, who married his longtime girlfriend in a beach wedding in Batangas last Oct. 28, and fellow Tokyo Olympic Games medalists Carlo Paalam and Nesthy Petecio are set to join the national boxing team in bubble training in Baguio City, according to boxing secretary general Ed Picson.
“All three said they were just wrapping up some commitments and then they will rejoin the team,” Picson said.
All three were at the San Miguel Corp. headquarters in Mandaluyong City last Wednesday to receive their cash incentives from SMC President Ramon S. Ang, who awarded P5 million each to silver medalists Paalam and Petecio and P2 million to bronze medalist Marcial.
Picson said Marcial, who turned pro last year after signing a six-year deal with MP Promotions owned by Sen. Manny Pacquiao, will be with the national team until he gets a call from MP Promotions chief Sean Gibbons for a possible fight in the United States.
Fighting in the middleweight division, Marcial, 26, won his first pro fight on Dec. 16, 2020, scoring a unanimous decision win over American journeyman Andrew Whitfield in four rounds at the Shrine Exposition Center in Los Angeles.
Already checked in at the Philippine Sports Commission training facility inside the Teachers Camp in Baguio are boxers Rogen Ladon, James Palicte, Ian Clark Bautista, Jere Samuel dela Cruz, Marvin Tabamo, Junmilardo Ogaygre, John Paul Panuayan, Mark Lester Durens and Marjon Pianar for the men’s team.
Also in Baguio are Josie Gabuco, Aira Villegas, Riza Pasulit, Maricel dela Torre and Khrystal Malecdan for the women’s squad plus coaches Roel Velasco, Reynaldo Galido, Mitchel Martinez, Joegin Ladon and Gerson Nietes.
It is unlikely that Marcial would be back in the UST until after Christmas, considering the reported turmoil within the ranks of the Pacquiao-owned outfit.
World Boxing Organization bantamweight John Riel Casimero recently bolted MP Promotions and signed up with Probellum, the newly-formed promotions company headed by former Golden Boy Promotions chief executive officer Richard Schaefer.
