EUMIR MARCIAL announced his entry in the professional ranks by way of a unanimous decision win over Andrew Whitfield on Thursday morning (Manila time) at the Shrine Exposition Center in Los Angeles.
The Filipino middleweight, one of two boxers who are part of the Philippine Olympic team to the 2020 Tokyo Games, engaged the 29-year-old American in an entertaining four-round slugfest which Marcial dominated.
Marcial won in all of the three judges’ cards by similar scores of 40-36.
He later dedicated the victory to boxing legend and Filipino Senator Manny Pacquiao, who is celebrating his 42nd birthday on the same day Marcial officially turned pro. Marcial is fighting out of MP (Manny Pacquiao) Promotions.
The pro debut of the 25-year-old Marcial, a silver medalist in last year’s AIBA World Boxing Championships, is part of his training and preparation for next year’s Tokyo Games, where he is among the country’s bright prospects of giving the Philippines its first ever gold medal.
Marcial trained at the Wild Card gym in Hollywood for two months under Hall of Fame trainer Freddie Roach, who worked on his corner on fight night along with second Marvin Somodio.
Whitfield is now 3-2 (2 KOs) following the loss.
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