Filipino boxer Eumir Marcial is now assured of a podium finish at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics after he knocked out Arman Darchinyan of Armenia in the quarterfinal round of the men’s middleweight division in Tokyo Olympics on Sunday (August 1).
The 25-year-old boxer from Zamboanga is guaranteed at least a bronze medal in the Olympics, which means the Philippines has bagged three Olympic medals for the first time since 1932.
Marcial floored Darchinyan with a vicious right hook to the head at the 2:11 mark in Round 1.
Prior to the knockout, Darchinyan was handed a standing eight count after Marcial threw strong punches.
“I didn’t expect I would finish the fight in the first round because I know he’s a good boxer, a strong boxer. [But] that’s boxing, you know? You don’t expect the punch,” Marcial said in an interview after the fight.
The opponents already fought against each other in the 2018 International Boxing Association (AIBA) Championships in Russia, where Marcial defeated the Armenian boxer.
Marcial fights in the men’s middleweight division semifinal round on August 5. – PTV Sports / CF- jlo
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