MANILA – Tokyo Olympics-bound Filipino boxer Eumir Felix Marcial had a triumphant professional boxing debut on Wednesday night (Thursday in the Philippines) at the Shrine Exposition Center in Los Angeles, California, United States.
It was a smashing first appearance for the 25-year-old Marcial as he pounded American boxer Andrew Whitfield for a unanimous decision win in their four-round middleweight division match.
Marcial, one of the two Filipino boxers competing in the delayed 2020 Tokyo Olympics, got an identical 40-36 score from judges Don DeVerges, Ron Scott Stevens and Damian Walton.
Both boxers immediately went at each other at the start of the match as Marcial threw several hard lefts to the face of Whitfield, but the latter showed his toughness by absorbing the Filipino fighter’s punches well.
Marcial has been dominant anew at the onset of the second period with his solid blows, but the Filipino fighter also received hits from his foe.
The third and fourth rounds saw Marcial connecting from a distance but still continued to hit Whitfield with combinations. Whitfield was able to penetrate Marcial’s defense in spurts as the fight ended.
Marcial admitted that he struggled in the match as he has yet to adjust to the ounce of gloves being used in the professional boxing aside from his lack of training due to the coronavirus pandemic.
“Unang round pa lang tinamaan ako, naramdaman ko ‘yung suntok niya kasi mas manipis ang gloves sa pro na 10oz. Sa amateur kasi 12oz ang gamit namin,” Marcial said.
“At least hindi ako binigyan ng kalaban na hihiga na lang. Crucial din na makakuha ng sparmates kasi wala akong sparring last two weeks dahil gusto ng mga mag-sparring sa akin ay may bayad na,” he added.
With the win, Marcial now has a 1-0-0 win-loss-draw ring record, while Whitfield saw his slate drop to 3-2-0, including two stoppage wins./PN
