Eumir Felix Marcial scored an emphatic first-round knockdown en route to a lopsided 5-0 victory over Kazakh third-seed Tursynbay Kulakhmet in their middleweight showdown Friday in the AIBA Elite World Championships in Ekateriburg, Russia.
Marcial, however, will have his hands full when he faces Russian Gleb Bakhsi in the final.
The final duel takes place Saturday night with Marcial aiming to become the Philippines’ gold medal winner in the prestigious slugfest next to the Olympic Games in stature.
Marcial, 23, sent his highly-regarded Kazakh rival down with a perfect right-left, prompting the third man on the ring to administer an eight-count.
Afterwards, Marcial, the 2011 world junior champion, picked his shots on his way to the breakthrough win.
Only nine countries are represented in the Finals: Uzbekistan (4), Russia (3), Cuba (2) Kazakhstan (2) and one each from Ecuador, England, India, Philippines and the United States.
ABAP president Ricky Vargas was so delighted with Marcial’s victory, saying: “This is a happy development for our preparations for the SEA Games and the Olympics.”
“We wish Eumir well and hope for a favorable outcome. I congratulate the coaching staff for their outstanding work and I would like to make special mention of the support of the Philippine Sports Commission for making our participation in this World Championships possible,” Vargas added.
