In less than three years, Paris is going to host the Olympic Games and just a few days ago, the leadership of the Association of Boxing Alliances in the Philippines (ABAP) met the top performers of the Tokyo Games during an online meeting.
One of the agenda was the 2024 Games that the French capital is staging, an arena that is being eyed by the ABAP to showcase the Philippines’ first Olympic gold medal.
Present during the virtual meeting were ABAP secretary general Ed Picson, head coach Pat Gaspi and Marcus Manalo, who ably represented the association in Tokyo.
Of course, present were the three medalists: Silver medalists Carlo Paalam and Nesthy Petecio and bronze medalist Eumir Marcial.
Vargas talked about Paris 2024 and what would entail the fighters to improve on their finishes in the hopes of winning the ultimate prize.
Mind you, don’t think that the next Olympic Games are light years away.
In a snap, it’s going to be 2024.
Look, the 2016 Rio Games seem to be just a couple of years ago.
This early, the ABAP is already making its move and trying to check the pulse of Paalam, Petecio and Marcial.
Would they be available when Paris comes calling?
It seems all of them are on the same page.
Marcial, the most celebrated of the three, was quoted as saying recently that he has the ABAP and MP Promotions’ backing in the quest for Olympic glory.
Very good.
In fact, the heavy-handed Zamboanga-born southpaw is even training his sights on the rescheduled Hanoi Southeast Asian (SEA) Games in May 2022 and even the 2022 Hangzhou Asian Games as part of his buildup for Paris.
But, wait.
What happens now to Marcial’s career path in the professional ranks?
A few weeks ago, MP Promotions head Sean Gibbons said Marcial was being targeted to have his second pro bout sometime in December, exactly a year after his debut in Los Angeles.
Now, it doesn’t appear like that schedule will play out since Marcial is still busy attending to personal matters like his fast-approaching wedding to his longtime girlfriend late this month.
Given the current situation, it is more likely that Marcial will fight as a pro in early-2022 but not close enough to the May 2022 SEA Games.
And if Marcial puts premium on events like the SEAG and the Asian Games, it would be rather challenging for him to progress in the pros.
But we must all remember that Marcial’s biggest dream was winning the Olympic gold.
So his decision to continue fighting under ABAP is not something new.
Which now brings me to what Marvin Hagler said: “It’s tough to get out of bed to do roadwork at 5 am when you’ve been sleeping in silk pajamas.”
