By Leobert Julian A. de la Peña
Tokyo Olympic bronze medalist Eumir Marcial had another victorious professional boxing outing after taking down American foe Steven Pichardo in Carson, California.
Marcial’s much-improved offensive patience was on full display against Pichardo and picked him apart from the get-go.
The 26-year-old Filipino boxing star targeted Pichardo’s body in the first two rounds and picked his timings when to fire his signature three-punch combinations.
During his past two fights, Marcial always got caught with huge counters from his opponents due to his punching volume but chose to fight smart against the towering Pichardo.
Marcial faced early obstacles after receiving a deep cut on the side of his right eye due to an accidental head butt in the second round.
The head butt left Marcial in a bloody mess but showed resiliency and heart after negating vision issues and remained focused on piling up the points against Pichardo.
Marcial also showed better fight stamina and remained fighting with the same pace until the sixth and final round of their middleweight bout.
James Green, Ivan Guillermo, and Ellis Johnson all scored the fight in favor of Marcial, 60-54, and handed him another unanimous decision victory.
With the win, Marcial improved to three wins, one knockout, no loss while the more experienced Pichardo fell to an 8-3 record.
Manny Pacquiao (MP) Promotions president Sean Gibbons bared that they are planning to set up another pro-fight to Marcial by the end of the year.
