Eumir Marcial’s stunning loss in the Asian championships in Dubai came out of left field.
Armed with a stint at the Wild Card Boxing Club of Freddie Roach, Marcial arrived in the Middle East looking as if the gold medal had already been placed in an expensive pouch for him to take home at his most convenient time.
Marcial, the 2019 world championships silver medalist and Asia-Oceania Olympic Qualifier champion, was seeded first in the middleweight (75 kg) class.
Seeded second was Iranian Mousavi Seyedshahin while third is Indian Kumar Asishi and fourth was Kyrgyzstan’s Omurbek Bekzhigit.
Interestingly, the Uzbek guy who pulled off a shocker — Saidjamshid Jafarov — wasn’t seeded at all. Jafarov eventually won the tournament by beating his Kazakh rival in the gold medal match.
Jafarov, rangy and cat-quick, scored a 5-0 win over Marcial in a battle of southpaws, an outcome that even the fighter’s most ardent supporter accepted.
Before flying to Dubai, Marcial ranted against the establishment, saying he was just by himself in his quest to put an end to the Philippines’ gold medal drought in the Olympics.
Those who heard him complain against the bigwigs sided with the Zamboanga puncher and criticized the government for not allegedly lending a helping hand.
And because he spent some time with Roach, many thought Marcial would just run roughshod over the opposition in Dubai.
But that experience under Roach didn’t have anything to do with his unimpressive showing.
You know why?
Well, when Marcial decided to come home and visit his family in Zamboanga in April, he didn’t map out his training camp well.
Perhaps, he thought all he needed was a place to train and everything’s going to fall into place.
He was wrong. Very wrong.
While a sports patron proudly offered him a place to stay and train, there was one (major) piece of the puzzle that was missing.
Marcial didn’t have anyone to spar against.
Gerson Nietes, the handpicked Association of Boxing Alliances in the Philippines (ABAP) coach sent to assist Marcial in Zamboanga, admitted that while every facet of the training camp was met, that crucial phase of the training — sparring — was absent.
Since Marcial is a heavyweight by Philippine standards, it was hard to find local fighters who could match him in size and strength.
Two-time world champion Gerry Peñalosa saw the fight of Marcial and said it was obvious his timing was not right. The lack of (quality) sparing, Peñalosa said, could be the culprit.
“He’s strong but his timing is off,” he said.
At the Wild Card, there was an overabundance of sparring partners.
It’s not sure whether Marcial is going to reconnect with Roach because the ABAP plans to send Marcial and three other Tokyo qualifiers to Colorado Springs for the final stage of camp.
This is an ideal venue for him to regroup because the ABAP was told that the camp will also be attended by Tokyo-bound fighters from other nations, assuring Marcial of plenty of sparring.
But if that camp doesn’t push through, there’s the Wild Card to help him regain his form since sparring will be plentiful there.
As for the scathing words Marcial has been receiving after his loss, enough, please.
Besides, Marcial posted a photo of himself yesterday straight from Dubai thanking the ABAP and the Philippine Sports Commission for giving him the chance to take part in the slugfest.
If you’ve got something bad to say, save them until after Tokyo.
That is, if Marcial ends up getting his butt kicked once again.
But if Marcial succeeds in bringing home a medal — regardless of color — give the guy the applause he truly deserves.
