Eumir Marcial’s stint at the Wild Card Boxing Club under Freddie Roach may have done something counterproductive to the Filipino’s gold medal quest in the Tokyo Olympics, according to the Association of Boxing Alliances in the Philippines (ABAP).
You see, as soon as the Asian championships in Dubai is over, the ABAP wants Marcial to proceed immediately to Thailand so he can reunite with his fellow national team members, believing that the stone-fisted middleweight has to get into Olympic-training mode.
For about six months, Marcial trained with Roach, spent hours working on conditioning with Justin Fortune and discussed strategy with Roach’s able assistant Marvin Somodio.
The ABAP feels that exposure to Roach could be detrimental to Marcial’s bid as it kept him veering away from Olympic-style boxing given Roach’s different mindset.
In the amateurs, fights are fought for just three rounds, so the gameplan is different compared to the pros where fights can range from four rounds to 12.
So, if Marcial continues to stick with pros, his bid to win a medal will be in peril since he is expected to abandon Olympic-style boxing and fight like a pro.
That’s baloney.
Do you really believe that Roach is so far-off that he doesn’t have a clue what the competition will be like in Tokyo? Do you really think that Roach doesn’t possess the know-how not to adjust?
Back in 2012, Roach was tapped to serve as consultant to the US team and his gym has seen its share of fighters with solid amateur backgrounds.
Heck, during Marcial’s stay in the US, he got to spend high-quality time with a bevy of sparring partners, something that is going to be crucial in the renaming months and weeks before Tokyo.
Last time I heard, the ABAP had been assured that fighters from at least four huge boxing nations were planning to send their top bets to Thailand to train.
But a few days ago, I learned that that’s not going to happen owing to the travel restrictions.
If Marcial ends up traveling to Thailand, the ABAP must find a way to import sparring partners to validate and justify his presence there.
If not, Marcial would be better off training elsewhere.
“If the ABAP can’t get sparring partners, then I will be the one to bring them over,” said Sean Gibbons, who heads MP Promotions.
And if that won’t be possible, Gibbons said he would likely take Marcial out of Thailand and find the perfect training environment in the run-up to Tokyo.
Let’s face it: Marcial needs big sparmates as it will play a big role in his Olympic campaign.
This is the reason why Marcial’s team is pulling all the stops to enhance the chances of winning.
What Roach did during his sessions with Marcial was to reinforce his skills and not to alter his style.
Again, Roach isn’t dumb not to know the difference between pro and Olympic boxing.
It’s simply mind-boggling and insulting to question Roach’s work with Marcial.
