By Leobert Julian A. de la Peña
Filipino boxing superstar Eumir Marcial wrapped up his Asian Games stint with a silver medal finish after falling at the hands of home bet Tanglatihan Tuohetaerbieke during the grand finals via a unanimous decision last October 5, 2023, held in Hangzhou, China.
After a deadlock in the scorecards heading into the third round, all of the judges felt the Chinese pug did enough and rewarded him with the win, tallying a clean 5-0 sweep in the final three minutes of action.
It was Marcial who first imposed his will in the opening round after hitting several clean shots that landed straight to the jaw of the Chinese boxer.
Despite the calculated counter-aggression that Tuohetaerbieke displayed in retaliation, Marcial was able to block the majority of his punches and went on to apply his hounding pressure.
Marcial’s golden moment then came with only 38 seconds left in the first round after scoring a standing eight-count.
As Tuohetaerbieke leaned in to send in a barrage of jabs, Marcial was able to time a vicious right hook and the impact was enough for the referee to call it a standing eight-count.
With the advantage, Marcial took all the scores heading into the second round and was in a commanding lead.
However, Marcial was given a dose of his own medicine when Tuohetaerbieke also garnered a standing eight-count with 1:35 left in the second round.
The Chinese boxer connected a snappy punch after a flurry of wild exchange between the two and helped him level the scorecards at 1-1.
Marcial’s fate was then determined in the very tense final round as he kicked off the first 20 seconds calculating and predicting Tuohetaerbieke’s movements.
All hell then broke loose after both fighters met in the center of the ring and traded blow after blows. Marcial was able to land three significant power punches but the judges saw it the other way around and gave all of their votes to Tuohetaerbieke.
Despite the loss, Marcial still earned a spot in the 2024 Paris Olympics and will have some time off from training after the Asian Games.
