The Philippine boxing team, led by Olympian Eumir Marcial, is leaving no stone unturned in its bid to end the country’s gold medal drought at the 20th Asian Games scheduled from September 21 to October 2.
According to The STAR’s veteran scribe Joey Villar, the team will participate in two training camps to prepare for the quadrennial continental meet in Aichi, Japan.
“That’s our goal, of course,” Association of Boxing Alliances in the Philippines president Marcus Manalo said Tuesday, referring to the team’s ultimate objective in the Asian Games—winning the country’s first gold medal in 16 years. “We are participating in the pre-Asian Games training camp arranged by Asian Boxing, which has two phases.”
The first camp will take place in Bangkok, Thailand, while the second will be held in Nishio City, Japan, from August to September.
Eumir Marcial Leads the Way
Marcial, one of the Philippines’ most decorated amateur boxers, will spearhead the campaign even as he turned professional a couple of years ago. A bronze medalist in the 2021 Tokyo Olympics, the 30-year-old Mindanaoan was supposed to fight in the undercard of the now-scrapped Manny Pacquiao vs. Floyd Mayweather rematch.
With that fight out of the way, Marcial can now fully commit to the Asian Games and participate in both training camps. Not that he wasn’t already committed—according to Manalo, Marcial had pledged his participation long before the postponement.
“Even prior to the postponement, he had committed to the Asian Games,” Manalo said of Marcial, one of the team’s more tenured members.
Fellow Olympic medalists Nesthy Petecio, Carlo Paalam, and Aira Villegas will join Marcial in the two scheduled training camps.
Philippine Boxing Team Hopes to End Drought
Marcial and company will be tasked with ending the Philippines’ 16-year drought of gold medals in Asian Games boxing. The last Filipino to capture gold was flyweight Rey Saludar at the 2010 Asian Games in Guangzhou, China.
Since then, the Philippines has managed only silver medals (Charly Suarez in 2014, Rogen Ladon in 2018, and Marcial in 2022) and bronze medals (Mark Anthony Barriga, Mario Fernandez, and Wilfredo Lopez in 2014, and Paalam and Marcial in 2018).
This time, the Philippine boxing team is determined to change all that.
