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    COLUMN: Eumir Marcial's Olympic bid on the ropes as standoff drags on

    Let's pray middleweight hope Eumir Marcial finds a middle ground in his standoff with ABAP - before it's too late
    May 5, 2021
    spin zone

    CHICAGO - While training at the Wild Card gym in Los Angeles to sharpen his combinations for the Tokyo Olympics, Eumir Marcial was suddenly overcome with loneliness.

    The punches dulled. The footwork slowed. And his mind was no longer as laser-focused to the task at hand.

    After his brother, Eliver, passed away suddenly, unexpectedly at age 39 last October, Marcial's 71-year old father, Eulalio, was recently rushed to the hospital with a plethora of health concerns.

    Despite Eumir's facility to absorb punishment, this latest family crisis proved so much more pain than the boxer can bear.

    And that is why last week, after calling for help from the prominent Navarro family, Marcial slipped quietly back to the Philippines and moved the final stages of his Olympic preparations in Zamboanga City.

    Happiness soon followed.

    "Inspired siya dito," said Joven Jimenez, the coach and trainer of IBF super flyweight champion Jerwin Ancajas, who is helping out Team Marcial.

    The comfort of familiarity, being around loved ones, peers, former coaches and other familiar faces, have boosted Marcial's energy and reinforced his will. His camp told me they have all the tools they need in so far as training is concerned.

    THE ABAP RESPECTFULLY DISAGREES.

    "He is not better off training in Zamboanga," ABAP president Ricky Vargas told me during a telephone interview last Monday night.

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    Vargas is losing sleep over what he fears are "unsupervised and unstructured" activities and dreams of Marcial embracing the discipline that made him successful.

    "We need him to go back and train within our program where he will benefit from the structure already in place. The ABAP has nutritionists, strength and conditioning coaches, a sports psychologist, and other resources that will enhance Eumir's chances of capturing an Olympic gold medal," Vargas said.

    Vargas wants to make it implicitly clear that he was "never at odds with Eumir" and he wants "nothing but the best for him."

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    Vargas is imploring Marcial to head to Dubai and prepare for the Asian championships where he can gain more exposure to international competition and perhaps box with some of his potential would-be opponents in Tokyo.

    I also spoke to Marcial over the phone after my conversation with Vargas and the decorated fighter revealed he will be in Zamboanga for a few weeks before eventually flying to Dubai.

    He is having the time of his life in Zamboanga and told me a story about running one morning and getting so exhausted he wanted to quit. But someone recognized him and yelled "idol!!"

    The encouragement willed him to summon his second wind. These emotional bursts of adrenaline do not happen in LA, he narrates.

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      AND WHILE THERE CAN BE NO PLACE LIKE HOME, THERE ARE PERILS, TOO.

      "I think he really misses home. But everybody knows the drill. You train home and there are so many distractions. Your focus tends to drift," noted boxing analyst and lawyer Ed Tolentino said.

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      Without going into specifics, Marcial expressed his disenchantment with both ABAP and the PSC, feelings I suspect are behind this awkward phase.

      "Di na ko sa gobyerno," (I don't want to deal with them anymore), he said in reference to the two sports governing bodies.

      It's not a knockout blow. But with 79 days to go before the Olympics, this is a worrisome standing 8-count.

      I hope both sides go back to their respective corners and make peace, or at the very least call a ceasefire.

      As Vargas correctly, succinctly pointed out, "let's do it for the country."

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        I am fraught.

        On one hand I am sympathetic toward Marcial, his plight as an athlete and his travails as a person whose life had been ravaged by loss and longing.

        On the other hand. I stand beside Vargas and ABAP and the sensibility of having Eumir back in their arms and on with the program.

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        I hope somehow, somewhere, while it's not too late yet, the middleweight can find a middle ground and touch gloves with ABAP.

        One country.

        One goal.

        One gold.

        Get more of the latest sports news & updates on SPIN.ph

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