Meet the country’s best bet for an Olympic boxing gold

PHOTO: JEROME ASCAÑO

[EDITOR’S NOTE: Get to know the 22 Filipino athletes bound for the 2024 Paris Olympics through SPIN.ph’s pre-Games preview]

EUMIR Marcial is a man on a mission in the Paris Olympics where he hopes to complete unfinished business in Tokyo four years ago.

The 28-year-old native of Zamboanga takes another crack at the gold medal that has eluded Philippine boxing for a century now as he’s entered in the 80 men’s kg class (light-heavyweight) as one of five Filipino boxers representing the country.

Marcial previously won the bronze medal during the 2020 Tokyo Olympiad when he fought as a middleweight (75 kg), a division which, unfortunately, has been scrapped in the coming Olympics.

Despite not competing in his previous weight class, Marcial is confident of performing well in the heavier division following a silver medal finish in the last Asian Games in Hangzhou, China where he fought for the first time as a light-heavyweight.

He lost to China’s Tanglatihan Tuohetaerbieke in the finals via unanimous decision, but the runner-up finish was enough to earn him a spot in the Olympics.

Like the rest of the boxing team that includes Olympic silver medalists Nesthy Petecio and Carlo Paalam and newbies Hergie Bacyadan and Aira Villegas, Marcial is now in Saarbrucken, Germany training for the Olympiad that officially kicks off two weeks from now.

The boxers are set to proceed to Metz, France – albeit a little late – to join the rest of the Philippine contingent in its training camp. Visa issues had something to with their late arrival in Metz.

“Nagkaroon mang ng problema sa visa, at least malayo pa sa laban kaya hindi din masyado ganuon ka stressful,” said Marcial of the travel woes.

Adversity is no longer new in the life of Eumir whose family lived in poverty in Zamboanga, where his father Eulalio was a barangay tanod and a part-time boxing coach. It was his father who introduced him to the sport.

But it was his cousin, Anthony ‘Rocky’ Marcial, a one-time sparmate of Manny Pacquiao and who once reigned as WBO Oriental Super-featherweight champion, who got him hooked on boxing.

It became his vehicle out of poverty.

To illustrate how poor the Marcials were, former national boxing coach Nolito ‘Boy’ Velasco recalled having a conversation with Eumir who told him how he would hang by the bars in the rear of jeepneys for a free ride to go to the gym because he had no money to pay the fare.

“Sabit lang siya para malibre,” Velasco said.

Humble beginnings

Marcial’s saga started in 2008 when he was discovered in the National Open in Cagayan de Oro City in 2008.

“Dun namin siya unang nakita, 48 kg pa lang yata siya nun. Sila (Romeo) Brin ang may hawak sa youth team noon,” said Velasco. Marcial was then invited to join the national youth boxing team.

The wiry and undernourished 15-year-old quickly gained weight. “Lumaki agad kaya light-bantamweight na siya sumabak sa World Junior,” Velasco said.

The 2011 tournament in Astana, Kazakshtan became the window that opened the possibilities for Marcial. He did jot disappoint his handlers when he won the gold against Cengiz Onat of Turkey, 9-7.

From there, it was one success after another.

In 2015, he won his first of four gold medals in the Southeast Asian Games. That same year, he bagged a silver in the Asian Championship. In 2018 he captured a bronze in the Jakarta Asian Games and then a silver in the World Championship in Russia the following year.

Then in 2021, he posted his best achievement – a bronze in the Tokyo Olympics. It was also there that Petecio and Paalam won silver medals for the most productive campaign ever by a Philippine boxing team in the Olympiad.

By winning an Olympic bronze, riches came in torrents for Marcial. He was given a house and lot in his hometown in Zamboanga thru former President Duterte, another house and lot in Tagaytay courtesy of Philippine Olympic Committee (POC) president Abraham ‘Bambol’ Tolentino, received P8.5 million in cash awards from the government and private sector, cars, Presidential citations, and other rewards and benefits.

“Noong nasa national team na siya, unit-unti nagbago na ang buhay niya,” said Velasco.

During his Olympic campaign, Marcial lost his older brother Eliver and he dedicated his achievement in his memory.

As he prepares for another Oympics, the memory of his brother is not lost on Eumir. He has an unfinished business in Paris and part of his motivation is to dedicate his campaign again in memory of his brother who had supported and loved him but was not there to see him in his finest hour.