HANGZHOU – Highly-motivated Eumir Felix Marcial sets his sights on the finals and an automatic slot in the Paris Olympics as he sees action in boxing’s semifinals of the 19th Asian Games Wednesday night.
The 27-year-old Marcial takes on Ahmad Ghousoon of Syria in the semifinals of the men’s 80 kg class at the Hangzhou gymnasium.
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The Filipino Olympian, a bronze medalist in the Tokyo Games, is already assured of a podium finish by making the semis, matching his previous finish in the 2018 edition of the Asiad in Palembang, Indonesia.
But winning the bout not only assures him of a seat in the gold medal match, but also gives him a return ticket to the Olympics next year.
“Buhos na tayo dito,” said Marcial.
The middleweight pro boxer is coming off a sensational second round knockout of Weerapon Jongjoho of Thailand in the quarterfinals in a match where Marcial survived an early standing eight count after being tagged by his former sparring partner with a straight right in the early seconds of the opening round.
“Yung tumama sa kanya sa first round, may tama siya talaga doon,” said head coach Ronald Chavez of Marcial’s quarterfinal outing. “Mas matibay lang ng kaunti si Eumir sa kanya.”
Ghousoon, a 5-0 winner over Shabbos Negmatulloev of Taijikistan, is an opponent to the liking of Marcial, according to Chavez, as the Syrian likes to engage a lot and doesn’t back down.
“Palusob,” said Chavez of the Syrian boxer, who served as flag bearer of his country during the opening ceremony of the meet.
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