EUMIR Marcial made short work of Omar Ulises Huerta by knocking him out in the third round that opened the door for his possible stint in the 20th Asian Games in Nagoya, Japan.
A crushing counter right hand by the Filipino middleweight sent the American of Mexican descent down to the canvas for good, and ended the fight at the 1:44 mark of the third round at the Pechanga Arena in San Diego, California.
READ Yulo, Obiena, Eala aren't the only PH gold potentials at Asiad
The quick end to the eight-round bout gave a lot of hope on Marcial's last-minute bid to join the Philippine boxing team in the Nagoya Asiad, where he's one of the country's top medal prospects.
The 30-year-old Marcial is entered in the men's 80kg class, where he won a silver in the 2022 edition of the quadrennial meet in Hangzhou, China.
Plan now is for the Zamboanga City native to take the next flight out of California to the Aichi Prefecture as boxing competitions begin on Sept. 21.
Action in the men's light-heavyweight class starts on Sept. 23.
The knockout win improved Marcial's record to 8-0 with 5KOs. It was his first fight as a pro this year after last climbing the ring during the golden anniversary of The Thrilla in Manila, where he settled for a majority decision against Eddy Colmenares at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
Huerta, 30 and a southpaw like Marcial, lost for the second straight fight and saw his record fall at 15-2-1 with 13KOs.
Get more of the latest sports news & updates on SPIN.ph
NOTICE ON UNAUTHORIZED AND UNLAWFUL USE, PUBLICATION, AND/OR DISSEMINATION OF SPIN.PH CONTENT: Please be notified that any unauthorized and unlawful use, publication, and/or dissemination of Spin.ph’s content and/or materials is a direct violation of its legal and exclusive rights to the same, and shall be subject to appropriate legal action/s.
