EUMIR Marcial carried the Philippine boxing team on his broad shoulders as he provided its lone gold in the 33rd Southeast Asian Games in Bangkok, Thailand.
The 30-year-old Olympic bronze medalist scored a 4-1 win over Maikhel Roberrd Muskita of Indonesia to rule the men’s 80kg division of the biennial meet.
It was the fifth SEA Games gold medal for Marcial.
He was the lone Filipino boxer to salvage a gold as fellow Olympian Aira Villegas along with SEA Games newbies Jay Brian Baricuatro and Flint Jara all lost in their respective gold medal matches against Thailand opponents.
The Philippines finished with one, gold, three silvers, and five bronze medals after winning four golds, five silver, and a bronze during the 2023 edition of the biennial meet in Cambodia.
Marcial had to go all-out in the third and final round to secure the victory against the Indonesian, who was the gold medalist in the same weight category during the 2021 and 2023 SEA Games.
Muskita bagged the silver after earlier winning his semifinals bout against Yomkhot Jakkapong of the host country, 5-0.
On to the next for other Pinoy pugs
Earlier, Villegas fell against Chuthamat Raksat of Thailand, 5-0, in the 48kg finals.
“Hindi pa binigay ni God, so siguro marami pang kulang pero hindi pa doon natatapos ang lahat,” said Villegas, bronze medal winner in the Paris Olympics.
Nonetheless, the silver medal was a marked improvement from the bronze medal she won in her first SEA Games in 2019 in Manila.
After Villegas, Baricuatro and Jara followed suit and fell by the wayside in the men's 48kg and 54kg divisions, respectively.
Baricuatro lost against Thitiwat Phlongaurai, 4-1, while Jara suffered a 5-0 shutout against Thanarat Saengphet.
Thailand emerged overall champion in boxing as 13 of its 15 fighters who advanced to the finals won golds.
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