Eumir Marcial’s dilemma

FORMER Olympic medalist Eumir Marcial recently secured the most impressive victory of his six-year professional boxing career by knocking out Omar Ulises Huerta in three rounds in San Diego, California. Huerta showed up in the fight with an eye-catching record of 15-1 with 13 knockouts. Confident in his punching power, Huerta lunged forward in the third round and threw a heavy left. Marcial countered perfectly with a textbook step-back: slipping backward to dull the impact of the blow, he instantly unleashed a devastating right hook. The explosive counter flattened Huerta, who remained down as the referee counted him out. While Marcial celebrated, the Asian Games began to unfold in Aichi-Nagoya, Japan. Marcial was supposed to be part of the Philippine team but decided to withdraw at the last minute. Carlo Paalam, Junmilardo Ogayre, Norlan Petecio, Aira Villegas, Riza Pasuit, and Nesthy Petecio now lead the country’s bid. The Association of Boxing Alliances in the Philippines also reached a consensus to remove Marcial from the roster, prioritizing his physical health. It was determined that the grueling flight from the US to Japan, combined with the fatigue from his recent professional bout, posed too great a risk to Marcial’s recovery. Marcial, of course, is still an integral part of the...