ARMAN Darchinyan seemed to be claiming he was hit in the back of the head by Eumir Marcial in the men’s middleweight boxing quarterfinals in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
Darchinyan repeatedly pointed to the back of his head while waiting for the official result of the bout, won by Marcial with a first-round stoppage.
In an interview with Filipino reporters in Tokyo, Marcial said Darchinyan felt he was hit with a foul blow.
“Feeling ng kalaban ko, foul knockout dapat ‘yung pagkakatama sa kanya, pero may mga judges po tayo,” said Marcial.
Eumir Marcial
Television replays, however, showed otherwise as Marcial delivered clean hits throughout, with an early flurry prompting the referee to give the Armenian a standing eight-count.
Marcial put and end to the bout with a hook to the jaw.
Association of Boxing Alliances in the Philippines secretary general Ed Picson also doesn’t believe such allegations by Darchinyan more so since the referee didn’t call an illegal blow on Marcial.
“If there was a foul, the referee should have called it. Kung walang tinawag ang ref, di wala,” said Picson.
The scintillating win sent Marcial to the semifinals, assured of at least a bronze medal in the Olympic Games. He joins Nesthy Petecio in the quest for another medal for the Philippines, with Carlo Paalam still in contention.
Marcial also revealed what he said to Darchinyan after the bout.
“Nilapitan ko s’ya after ng laban at sinabi ko na ‘Maraming salamat sa laban na ito, alam ko na masakit ‘yung pagkatalo mo pero lahat tayo gustong manalo.’ Sports pa rin. Lahat po ng mga nakalaban ko, itinuturing kong kaibigan after ng match sa ring,” said Marcial.
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