There is no doubt that boxing has been considered one of the most famous sports in the Philippines. Remember when there's a Pacquiao fight, and you can't almost hear a sound? That is how popular boxing is in the Philippines. The country has produced many quality boxers. From the International Boxing Hall of Fame and World Boxing Hall of Fame inductees Pancho Villa, Gabriel Elorde, Ceferino Garcia to Nonito Donaire, and Manny Pacquiao. The country has also produced world-class amateurs such as Jose Villanueva, Anthony Villanueva, Leopoldo Serantes, Mansueto Velasco, and Roel Velasco. And now the young guns are taking on the challenge and outright fulfilled it. Eumir Marcial is one of them, and he is always ready to fight for our country.
Eumir Felix Marcial, born 29 October 1995, is a Philippine Air Force personnel and a Middleweight boxer from Lunzuran, Zamboanga City. He was one of the Philippines ' top prospects, having won the 2011 International Boxing Association Junior World Championships for amateurs and awarded the Best Asia Youth Boxer of the Year in 2013. He steamrolled 2015, 2017, and 2019 Southeast Asian Games earning gold medals to the said event, and garnered a silver medal ASBC Asian Confederation Boxing Championships.
He did not qualify for the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro. He used it as his motivation to improve and later on qualified for the next Summer Olympics event after he beat Mongolia's Byamba-Erdene Otgonbaatar. He boxed off and TKOd against Algerian boxer Younes Nemouchi in Round 16. He advanced to the semi-finals after knocking out Armenian boxer Arman Darchinyan. After advancing to the semi-finals, he is guaranteed to win a bronze medal but can win silver or gold if he is victorious. Unfortunately, he was beaten by the Ukrainian boxer Oleksandr Khyzhniak and lost via split decision (3-2). It is the first bronze medal since 1992 by Roel Velasco.
He's been receiving major offers from boxing promoters to fight professionally. One of the organizations is Manny Pacquiao's MP Promotions. Although he vowed to continue to represent the Philippines in international amateur competitions such as the Southeast Asian Games and the Summer Olympics, he turned a professional after joining the MP Promotions. He fought his first professional match against Andrew Whitfield last 16 December 2020 and won via unanimous decision at the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles, California.
We are not sure if he can fulfill his promise to represent the Philippines, but one thing is for sure, the Filipinos will support him in his endeavors no matter what happens. Join us as we greet him ‘Happy Birthday’ and congratulate him as he wed his longtime girlfriend and boxer, Jenniel Galarpe.
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Written by Marcus Lex Cajusay Photo by Luis Robayo, Agence France - Press
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