A stacked roster in the light-heavyweight class awaits Philippine boxing's top medal bet Eumir Marcial in the Paris Olympics.
While the 28-year-old Marcial is the only seeded boxer out of the five Filipinos competing in the Summer Games, the road to the gold medal is definitely a rough one for the Tokyo Olympic bronze medalist.
Even if he gets past Turabek Khabibullaev of Uzbekistan - a bronze medalist in the Asian Games last year in Hangzhou - in his first bout in the round-of-16 of the men’s 80kg class, Marcial faces a tougher foe come the quarterfinals.
READ Sam Catantan's brave stand not enough vs world No. 2 Errigo
Right in his path is reigning light-heavyweight gold medalist Arlen Lopez of Cuba, who like Marcial, is now also fighting as a professional.
Lopez, 31, holds a 2-0 record (2 KOs) since turning pro in May of 2022 or almost a year after winning the 80kg gold during the Tokyo Olympics.
Also a gold medalist in the 2016 Rio De Janeiro Games as a middleweight and the 2015 AIBA World Championship in Doha, Qatar in the same weight class, the Cuban is set to face Kaan Aykutsun of Turkey in the round-of-16.
Aykutsun beat Salvatore Cavallaro of Italy in the round-of-32 on Sunday, 4-1.
An early showdown with Lopez, seeded No. 2 in the division, understandably worries former national boxing coach Nolito ‘Boy’ Velasco.
“Kapag lumusot siya sa Uzbekistan, Cuba ang sunod niyang kalaban. Medyo dadaan siya sa butas ng karayom,” admitted the now retired Philippine boxing coach.
Assuming he gets past the reigning Olympic champion, two more formidable foes stand in the way of Marcial in top seed Tuohetaerbieke Tanglatihan of China and Ukrainian punching machine Oleksandr Khyzhniak.
Tanglatihan is the No. 1 seed to win the gold after beating Marcial in the gold medal match during the Hangzhou Asian Games last year, while Khyzhniak beat the Filipino by the skin of his teeth, 3-2, in a memorable semifinal battle at the Tokyo Games.
'Kaya n'ya 'yun'
While the two both had Marcial’s number, Velasco said the Filipino enjoys one distinct advantage over the rest of the remaining 16-man field.
“Si Marcial ang malakas sa timbang niya, kaya tingin ko kaya niya yun,” said the older brother of Olympic medalists Mansueto ‘Onyok’ Velasco and Roel Velasco.
Marcial will have his fight against Khabibullaev on July 30 at 9 p.m. Manila time.
He holds a perfect 5-0 record (3 KOs) as a pro fighting out of MP Promotions
Get more of the latest sports news & updates on SPIN.ph
NOTICE ON UNAUTHORIZED AND UNLAWFUL USE, PUBLICATION, AND/OR DISSEMINATION OF SPIN.PH CONTENT: Please be notified that any unauthorized and unlawful use, publication, and/or dissemination of Spin.ph’s content and/or materials is a direct violation of its legal and exclusive rights to the same, and shall be subject to appropriate legal action/s.
