It was just right after dinner Wednesday in Los Angeles when one of his staffers placed a videophone in front of Manny Pacquiao so he could watch Eumir Marcial’s debut in the Tokyo Olympics.
Marcial, though representing the Philippines in the Summer Games, is under contract with MP Promotions, the outfit owned by the boxing legend and run by American dealmaker Sean Gibbons.
It wasn’t long before Pacquiao and Gibbons and a few guys were shouting and celebrating as Marcial was awarded a trouble-free first-round stoppage over Younes Nemouchi of Algeria in their round-of-16 encounter.
Pacquiao, who returns to the ring on 21 August in Las Vegas, was ecstatic when the official announcement and he later told Gibbons that Marcial should stay focused and remain humble.
With the win, Marcial, who drew a bye in the round-of-32 owing to his being the tournament’s fourth seed, will face Armenian Arman Darchinyan in the quarterfinals on 1 August.
Another win will put Marcial on track for a gold medal as he will be guaranteed of at least a bronze.
Marcial and Darchinyan are no strangers to each other.
In the gold medal match of the 2018 Konstantin Korotkot slugfest in Khabarovsk, Russia, the southpaw Marcial defeated Darchinyan on points.
Darchinyan, while not considered among the top picks, also took a bye and earned a slot to the quarterfinals and lock horns with Marcial following a 5-0 triumph over Andrej Csemez of Slovakia.
