Bronze medalist Philippines’ Eumir Marcial celebrates on the rostrum through the medal ceremony for the boys’s center (69-75kg) boxing closing bout through the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Video games on the Kokugikan Area in Tokyo on August 7, 2021. (Picture by Luis ROBAYO / POOL / AFP)
Eumir Marcial gained’t be banging away in his consolation zone within the nineteenth Asian Video games (Asiad) in Hangzhou, China, after his combating weight was scrubbed off from the Asiad program.
However whilst he feels that being pressured to desert the middleweight (75 kilograms) class is an obstacle, Marcial is step by step coming to phrases with the added poundage as he plots his path to subsequent yr’s Paris Olympics.
“The tempo of my coaching has change into extra intense, however I’m getting higher every day,’’ mentioned Marcial, who’s in a coaching camp with the Philippine boxing workforce on the Australian Institute of Sport in Canberra, Australia.
The sturdiest Filipino boxer in his division has climbed to the sunshine heavyweight class (80 kg), Marcial’s greatest various in a bid to lastly seize the Olympic gold.
“I’m introduced with a brand new problem due to my transition to the next weight division. To be trustworthy, it has strengthened my dedication to win,’’ mentioned Marcial after placing his skilled profession on maintain for the Asian Video games.
“I really feel that I’ll change into comfy at 80 kg as a result of that’s my strolling weight, however I additionally count on stronger fighters on this weight class,’’ added Marcial.
The 27-year-old from Zamboanga Metropolis has been juggling his time with prizefighting the place Marcial gained all of his 4 climbs atop the skilled ring and his stints with the nationwide workforce, pocketing a bronze on the 2021 Tokyo Olympics.
Marcial has mentioned the Hangzhou Video games, which is able to run from Sept. 23 to Oct. 8 and is a qualifier to the Paris Summer time Video games, is his final stab at Olympic glory.
“It’s now or by no means. I’m taking a look at this [Asian Games] as my final likelihood to qualify [to the Olympics] and proceed pursuing that golden dream,’’ mentioned Marcial.
Eyeing gold
Becoming a member of Marcial Down Beneath are Tokyo Olympic silver medalists Nesthy Petecio and Carlo Paalam, each of whom are eyeing gold in Paris.
They’re motivated by weightlifting’s Hidilyn Diaz-Naranjo, the primary Filipino to clinch a gold medal within the Olympics through the Tokyo Video games.
After their Australian coaching, the boxing squad will keep in Manila for per week earlier than heading to Hangzhou, which is seen as the best pathway to the glitzy French capital.
Two tickets to Paris are up for grabs in every of the load lessons within the males’s division through the Asiad whereas 4 are at stake per class within the girls’s aspect.
Lacking the continental alternative in Hangzhou will drive the Pinoy boxers to strive their luck in a pair of world qualifiers subsequent yr the place the street to the Olympics will likely be way more brutal.
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