AN Olympic gold and a world middleweight title.
Those are two major goals in the bucket list of Filipino fighter Eumir Felix Marcial after bagging a bronze medal in the just concluded Tokyo Olympics.
Although he’s now expected to concentrate on his pro career following the Olympiad, the 25-year-old Marcial said he’s more than willing to do it all over again and train with the national team in his pursuit for a shot at a gold medal in the 2024 Paris Games.
“Pangarap ko pa ring makatuntong sa Olympics and makuha yung gold,” he said Tuesday during the virtual session of the Philippine Sportswriters Association (PSA) Forum.
Second Pinoy middleweight champ
And his other motivation is become only the second Filipino to reign as middleweight champion after the late Hall of Famer Ceferino Garcia, credited as the first well known user of the ‘bolo punch.’
“Gusto ko ding maging champion sa middleweight division,” added the native of Zamboanga, who had his pro debut last December following a unanimous decision over Andrew Whitfield.
Trained by the great Freddie Roach, Marcial knows the road on top is not going to be easy.
Gennady Golovkin, Jermall Charlo, Demetrius Andrade, Ryota Murata are among the champions and top guns in the 160-lbs division, although the four of them are already in their 30s.
But Marcial is ready for the challenge especially with the way he went to war against some of the top amateur middleweights in the world during the Olympics.
“Alam ko mahirap yun, alam ko mahirap na daan yung tatahakin ko. Pero yun ang pangarap ko,” he said.
Marcial did get the attention of international media during the Tokyo Games, where the middleweight was among the stacked divisions that elicited excitement among boxing fans.
Greg Beacham of the Associated Press referred to the middleweight class as ‘probably the best division at #Tokyo2020.’
“I think we’ll remember this middleweight #Boxing division at #Tokyo2020 for a long time. So much incredible talent and so many great fights,” he posted on Twitter.
“Feels like a bunch of can’t-miss pros were here: Sousa, Khyzhniak, Marcial, Amankul, Bakshi, Cedeno – every one a boss.’
And that’s exactly what Marcial wanted to be.
“Yun ang pangarap ko na balang araw magkaroon tayo ng champion sa middleweight division,” he said.