Olympic bronze medalist Eumir Felix Marcial (left) is reunited with MP Promotions President Sean Gibbons in the boxer’s Los Angeles apartment Monday night (Tuesday morning, Manila time).
Photo courtesy of Eumir Marcial
Marcial eyes SEA Games stint
THE road to boxing greatness continues for Eumir Felix Marcial as he now embarks on securing his second professional victory in the United States.
After months of committing to business and personal matters owing to his Olympic achievement, Marcial arrived in the US Tuesday night (Wednesday morning, Manila time) to commence his Los Angeles training camp in anticipation of an upcoming bout early April.
“Finally, I can now fully focus on my training. I was told to prepare for a scheduled outing. I need to be in excellent shape because I want to get back in the ring soon and also make myself available for the national team by May,” said Marcial.
Marcial is also eyeing a possible stint at the 31st Southeast Asian Games scheduled on May 12-23 in Hanoi, Vietnam. Marcial won back-to-back gold medals in the last two biennial meets in 2017 and 2019.
Marcial, 26, will initially stay in Los Angeles, California to train under champion Filipino trainer Marvin Somodio and decorated amateur boxer Roberto Jalnaiz, a US-based former Asian Games and SEA Games champion who is the uncle of Marcial’s wife, Princess.
From LA, Marcial will move to Las Vegas to be with famed conditioning coach Angel Memo Heredia by mid-February, something that excites the Zamboangeño Olympian.
….“I thank Sir Sean (Gibbons, MP Promotions President) and Senator Manny (Pacquiao) for making sure I get the best possible team here in the US. I know a lot of great things that coach Memo has done that’s why it excites me a lot that I will also be under Memo’s program,” said Marcial.
Marcial, a native of Lunzuran, Zamboanga City, signed a multi-year contract with Pacquiao’s MP Promotions July of 2020 then made his pro debut in December of the same year, beating American Andrew Whitfield in a four-round battle in Los Angeles.
After claiming a bronze medal in last year’s Tokyo Olympics, Marcial married his longtime partner Princess Galarpe in a classy beachside wedding in Batangas.
Marcial started the year by training in Tagaytay City together with world-rated fellow Zamboangeño Jonas Sultan.
