EUMIR Marcial survived three knockdowns before getting his act together and scored a fourth-round stoppage of Isiah Hart on Saturday in Las Vegas (Sunday, Manila time).
The Tokyo Olympics bronze medalist needed to pick himself up from the canvas three times in escaping his biggest test yet of his young pro career.
The end came with 47 seconds just gone in the fourth.
Marcial went down in the first round and twice in the second, but managed to get up each time, before flooring his American foe with a left hand in the fourth to secure the victory at the Virgin Hotels.
Eumir Marcial has a tough start but still comes up wth a big win.
It was the second victory as a pro for Marcial, one of the country's most decorated amateur boxers, and his first knockout win after scoring a unanimous decision against Andrew Whitfield in his first fight back in December of 2020.
But the 26-year-old middleweight found himself in deep trouble against Hart, a towering 6-foot-2 American who has a deadly right hand.
Marcial in trouble
Hart dictated the tempo of the fight after decking Marcial with a right straight early in the first round that stunned the Filipino.
And just when Marcial appeared to be finally gaining control in the second round by landing combinations against the American, Hart sneaked in another right for the second knockdown of the fight.'
The Filipino Olympian went down for the third time just before the round ended, courtesy of another right hand by Hart.
But Marcial shook off the cobwebs and began imposing his will from the third round onwards, eventually catching Hart with a left hand that had the American on wobbly legs, forcing the referee to stop the fight.
The 30-year-old Hart fell to a 6-3-1 record with 4 KOs.
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