Tokyo Olympics qualifier Eumir Marcial will maximize his high-altitude training in the United States, according to the Association of Boxing Alliances in the Philippines (ABAP).
Marcial has been training in Colorado Springs — more than 6,000 feet above sea level — since the first week of June under the watchful eyes of handpicked ABAP coach Gerson Nietes and is supposed to camp out there until tomorrow.
But ABAP secretary general Ed Picson said an arrangement has been made for Marcial to extend his stay at USA Boxing’s headquarters and training center until he gets the go-signal to fly to Tokyo. The Summer Games will kick off 23 July and will run until 8 August.
The hard-hitting Marcial will compete in the powerhouse middleweight class where the likes of Gleb Bakshi of Russia, the 2019 world championship gold medalist and Oleksandr Khyzhniak of Ukraine, the 2017 world championships winner and European Olympic Qualifying titleholder are likewise entered.
Bakshi beat Marcial in the 2019 world finals while Khyzhniak had also beaten the Zamboanga City southpaw in a European slugfest a few years back.
Marcial, 25, is aching to rebound strongly following his disastrous stint in the Asian championships hosted by Dubai last May where he got stunned by the unseeded Uzbekistan Jafarov Saidjamshid.
He is one of the country’s top medal hopefuls in Tokyo alongside world champion gymnast Carlos YUlo, 2016 Rio Olympics silver medalist Hidilyn Diaz, Japan-based golfer Yuka Saso, the newly-crowned US Open queen, Italy-based pole vaulter EJ Obiena and female fighter Nesthy Petecio.
Last week, the 2011 World Junior champion, climbed the 8,500-feet Manitou Springs Incline.
Last December, Marcial turned professional under the Manny Pacquiao-owned MP Promotions, by defeating Andrew Whitfield via a four-round decision in Los Angeles.
