Marcial ramps up speed, power


(FILE PHOTO)
Hard-hitting Filipino southpaw Eumir Marcial is back in Las Vegas working on “speed and explosiveness” as he enters the most vital stretch of his Paris Olympics gold medal quest.
Reporting from Sin City, ace American promoter Sean Gibbons told DAILY TRIBUNE on Thursday that Marcial, who will compete in the 80-kilogram category, has reunited with Kay Koroma.
A bronze medalist in Tokyo at middleweight, Marcial will stay in the United States until the first week of June before relocating to Saarbrücken in Germany for a mini-camp with other members of the national squad.
The German border city is a short drive from the French city of Metz where the Philippine delegation will be housed before traveling to Paris for the 26 July to 11 August Summer Games.
“Eumir’s doing great and he’ll be going to France to get into the mix and get into the mode,” Gibbons said, stressing that the Thailand camp Marcial attended provided solid sparring sessions as well.
Koroma, who has taken over Marcial’s professional career, “is working more on speed” in an effort to blend with Olympic-style boxing without sacrificing firepower.
“Coach Kay’s telling him not to load up too much on power like the way he used to,” Gibbons, who has been watching the workouts, said.
Marcial is in the company of wolves in Paris with Cuban super champion Arlen Lopez leading the cast of the predators.
Also entered are two former foes and tormentors in Oleksandr Khyzhniak of Ukraine and Tuohetaerbieke Tanglatihan of China.
Marcial lost to Khyzhniak in the semifinals in Tokyo while Tanglatihan beat him for the gold in last year’s Asian Games in Hangzhou, China
Also worth watching is 2023 world championships gold medalist Nurbek Oralbay of Kazakhstan, making it one of the toughest divisions to dominate.
“Everything is right on track. It’s gold or bust for Paris 2024,” added Gibbons, who signed the Zamboanga puncher to a contract in 2020.