As part of its final preparation for the Tokyo Olympics this year, the Association of Boxing Alliances in the Philippines (ABAP) is sending a full contingent to the 2021 ASBC Asian Elite Men and Women Boxing Championships on May 21 to June 1 in Dubai.
This includes professional boxer Eumir Marcial.
ABAP Secretary-General Ed Picson said Marcial is on the national team roster for the Dubai meet.
“He was in the line up for India, we also put him in the line up for Dubai. But we’re hoping he can join the camp in Thailand,” said Picson in a message to Manila Bulletin Friday, April 30, 2021.
The said ASBC meet to be organized by the Asian Boxing Confederation was originally set May 21-30 in New Delhi, but because of the rising cases of COVID-19 in India, the governing body had to move the event to Dubai.
Marcial returned to the country last April 20 after six months in the United States where he trained with Hall of Fame mentor Freddie Roach at the Wild Card Gym in Los Angeles, California.
After he clinched a spot in the Tokyo Olympics, the 25-year-old Marcial opted to turn professional a few months later when he signed a deal with MP Promotions of Senator Manny Pacquiao.
He won his first pro fight last December 16 when he earned a unanimous decision victory against American Andrew Whitfield at the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles, California.
Picson said that ABAP, led by its president Ricky Vargas, is encouraging Marcial to join the national team in a training camp in Thailand with fellow Tokyo Olympics-bound boxers Irish Magno, Nesthy Petecio and Carlo Paalam before they go to Dubai.
But for now, Picson said that ABAP has arranged Marcial’s training under the amateur style of boxing in his home province in Zamboanga City with national team mentor Gerson Nietes.