BAKU, Azerbaijan – The Philippines will have to be content with two boxers in the Rio Olympics as the last hope for another athlete in boxing-Eumir Felix Marcial bowed to Abbas Baraou of Germany in the World Qualifying Event at the Sardachi Oklympic Stadium Saturday afternoon.
It was a split decision as the judges from Algeria and Azerbaijan gave the German rounds 1 & 3 (28-29) while the Iranian judge awarded rounds 1 and 2 to Marcial (29-28).
Marcial was lured into a slugfest which was exactly what coaches Nolito Velasco and Romeo Brin warned the 20 year old Zamboanga City native not to get into.
Thursday, Ian Clark Bautista also lost in the first round of preliminaries to Jose Kelvin de la Nieve Linares of Spain, 28-29.