MINDANAO pride Eumir Marcial, who settled for bronze in Tokyo 2020 Summer Olympics, will go for a flat-out win in his second professional bout tomorrow morning, April 10 (Philippine time) in his Las Vegas debut.
The Zamboanga City native Marcial (1-0) will fight the hard-pounding American Isiah Hart (6-2-1, 4 KOs) in a six-rounder for the middleweight class.
Often put under the microscope for his lack of stamina that is crucial for his shift from amateur to professional ranks, the newly-wed Marcial is guaranteed to be high-octane and in tip-top shape against the taller Hart at The Theatre, Virgin Hotels ring.
“He’s been training hard non-stop after his wedding to my daughter (Princess). He's really determined to turn things around (like) a pro,” said Marcial’s Kagay-anon father-in-law Reynaldo Galarpe from his Long Beach, California home.
Galarpe said the fight limit is 162 pounds, but Marcial came to the official weigh-in at 160.2 to his overweight foe by two pounds at 162.2.
“Eumir’s team on training did succeed to work on improving his stamina. (The) expectation is big for him in the gym that he's under pressure to deliver,” added 1990 Asian Games gold medalist Roberto Jalnaiz, whose wife Mary Joy is the older sister of Marcial’s better half.
The Marcial-Hart tussle is an undercard feature attraction of the TGB Promotion headlined by the Erickson Lubin versus Sebastian Fundora WBC super welterweight interim title fight.
“I am so excited to return to my professional career, and to be fighting in Viva Las Vegas, where I now live and train, is a great way to get things going again,” said Marcial in a press release then.
He acknowledges his boxing coach Jorge Capetillo, his strength and conditioning coach Angel ‘Memo’ Heredia, Senator Manny Pacquiao, MP Promotions president Sean Gibbons, and Premier Boxing Champions for all their support.
Marcial’s pro-debut was a four-round unanimous decision over Andrew Whitfield in Los Angeles on December 16, 2020.
In his colorful amateur boxing career, the now 26-year-old Zamboangeño won gold at the 2019 Southeast Asian Games and a silver medal at the 2019 World Boxing Championships.
His narrow loss to the top-seeded Oleksandr Khyzhniak of Ukraine in the semifinals was one of the most exciting bouts in the Summer Olympics which saw the Filipino taking the initiative early but losing steam in the third and final round.
