CHICAGO - Eumir Marcial is a middleweight who campaigns in the 160-pound class. But nobody really knows exactly how much weight in hype and expectations the 25-year old from Zamboanga Del Sur carries.
The only thing clear is that Marcial is universally acknowledged as the newest, brightest hope for the Philippines to capture it's first-ever Olympic gold medal.
Which was why his pro debut last Thursday via Fox Sports 1 in the U.S. was appointment television. And it ended in an entertaining four-round unanimous decision win over Andrew Whitfield.
I had planned to evaluate the performance but my big, brown overeager eyes obscured an objective view. So I did the next best thing and solicited the expert opinions of three of boxing's brightest minds.
Unlike movie reviews, there are no rotten tomatoes here. Just peaches. some riper than others.
"With so much noise and such high expectations, he had not impressed much. His defense and movement were utterly lacking," said Dong Secuya, who founded PhilBoxing.com in 2005 and has covered most of Pacquiao's and other Filipino boxers' world title fights around the globe the last 15 years.
Secuya also pointed out how "very slow" Marcial was and that he was "hit flush in the chin several times."
And while he attributed jitters as the culprit for the lapses, Dong rolled his eyes when Marcial dropped his hands in the third and fourth rounds, acts which he deemed were "unforgivable in boxing."
"Obviously he has power on both hands but he should learn to deliver it in a sneaking fashion. A punch not seen is most devastating," concluded Secuya.
Dong graded Marcial a passing mark of 6 out of 10.
NOTES FROM "THE BIBLE." After a stint as sports editor for Rappler, Ryan Songalia now plies his trade as one of the most respectable voices of The Ring Magazine, boxing's preeminent publication.
"I was most impressed with his power. Marcial has a firm understanding of what fans want in the paid ranks and he looked determined to make an impression," Songalia told SPIN.ph.
Although fans would embrace Marcial's affinity for going toe-to-toe, this strategy may not necessarily be good for his personal development "at least at this stage in his career," Songalia said.
"Though it was apparent he had fun trading punches, he could have made it a lot easier if he used his jab, created space, and dominated Whitfield just as he did later in the fight."
Ryan scored Eumir a 6 and remained confident that the MP fighter will "show more of who he is next time, now that he's gotten that first fight out of the way."
THE HAYMAKER. Like Dong and Ryan, Ed Tolentino, a lawyer who moonlights as boxing columnist and broadcaster, has fallen in love with Marcial's power, especially the left straight and the wicked right hook, both thrown with malicious intent.
Tolentino cherishes Marcial's aggression and how quickly he has adapted to the physical, in-your-face nature of the pro level, which is a steep departure from the hit-and-run nature in the amateurs.
But he wants to see more combinations and more spacing to diminish his exposure from counter-punches.
Emphasizing that those flaws can be corrected, Tolentino graded Marical a 7.
"I love the truth," MP president Sean Gibbons, who is guiding Marcial's career, said of the mixed reviews that, hopefully, Marcial can learn from.
The focus is now on the Olympics but in the meantime he's giving Marcial and Jerwin Ancajas and the other guys a holiday break that will include a trip to the Grand Canyon.
What a fitting reward. A wunderkind seeing one of the seven wonders of the ancient world.
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