BY NICK GIONGCO
Not even an assured berth in the Tokyo Olympics could slow down Eumir Felix Marcial’s strong drive in the Asia-Oceania Olympic Boxing Tournament in Amman, Jordan.
The Filipino middleweight added the gold medal to his guaranteed Olympic ticket early Thursday (Wednesday night in Jordan) by getting past Abilkan Amankhul of Kazakhstan, 3-2.
“I am very happy that I was able to defend my (No. 1) rank,” said the top seed Marcial following the action-packed bout.
Marcial took rounds one and two before Amankhul showed signs of life in the third canto when he apparently scored a knockdown that the referee ruled a slip.
Marcial’s biggest round was the second when he had Amankhul bending over after taking a vicious body blow.
“Scoring is fair and I am very happy,” added Marcial, who was one of seven Filipino boxers in slugfest.
Only him and female fly Irish Magno succeeded in earning berths after Magno won the boxoff after losing in the quarterfinals.
The unlucky five will have to campaign in the World Qualifying in Paris in mid-May for the last chance to make the Olympics.
Marcial had earlier booked a slot to the Tokyo Olympics after hurdling his quarterfinal round assignment but the 24-year-old Zamboanga native simply felt the mission was far from over.
A lopsided win over Ashish Kumar of India in the semifinals earned him a crack at the gold against Amankhul and Marcial displayed why he was seeded first in the slugfest featuring world championship silver medalists.
Marcial took the silver in last year’s edition of the worlds in Ekaterinburg, Russia, while Amankhul got his in 2017 in Hamburg, Germany.
So far, the Philippines has a total of four Tokyo qualifiers aside from Marcial and Magno. The first two to make the Olympic grade were pole vaulter EJ Obiena and world champion gymnast Carlos Yulo.
The five other boxers who failed to qualify – fly Carlo Paalam, feather Ian Clark Bautista and welter James Palicte in the men’s category and top featherweight seed Nesthy Petecio and lightweight Riza Pasuit – could still end up taking the last bus if they fare well in Paris.
