Heavy-handed southpaw Eumir Marcial marches into battle for the third time as a professional today when he collides with Steven Pichardo in a middleweight contest underneath a big show today in Carson, California.

Tokyo Olympics bronze medalist Marcial is aching to erase the stigma of his last outing in April when he had to pick himself up from the deck to stop Isiah Hart in Las Vegas.

During the weighin yesterday, Marcial came in at 161.2 lbs while Pichardo stepped in at 162.4 lbs.

When he turned pro in December 2020 in Los Angeles, Marcial, who had a decorated amateur career, had to go the entire four rounds to beat Andrew Whitfield.

Pichardo (8-2-1 with two knockouts), a native of California, has been a pro since 2016 and is a few inches taller than Marcial at 6-1.

Marcial trained for the Pichardo fight by staying in Las Vegas.

Last May, the Zamboanga puncher won the gold medal in the Hanoi Southeast Asian Games.

If victorious and unmarked, Marcial is expected to reunite with the national boxing team that will hold a training camp in Amman, Jordan, before joining the Asian championships the capital city is hosting from 30 October to 13 November.