MADRID, Spain — Cuba’s two-time Olympic champion Arlen Lopez — and not China’s Asian Games gold medalist Tuohetarbieke Tanglatihan — is the biggest threat to Filipino bet Eumir Marcial’s gold medal bid in the Paris Olympics.
“The Cuban,” Philippine national team coach Ronald Chavez said their training camp on Saarbrücken in Germany.
Lopez, also a professional campaigner like Marcial, won gold medals at middleweight during the 2016 Rio Olympics and 2021 Tokyo Olympics as a light-heavyweight, is the guy to watch out for, Chavez said.
“The Chinese can be beaten,” Chavez pointed out, adding Marcial has what it takes to get even with the tall and rangy Tanglahatian, who edged the Filipino southpaw on points for the gold last year in Hangzhou.
Lopez is not just a two-time Olympic winner but a 2015 world championships gold medalist and three-time Pan Am Games titleholder.
Last week, Marcial was seeded seventh while Tanglahatian was installed the No. 1 choice.
Lopez was given the No. 2 spot among the eight who were chosen as the division’s main men in the 80-kilogram class.
Since the middleweight class was shelved in this year’s Olympics, Marcial and many others were forced to move up in weight in their pursuit of Paris glory.
Also in the hunt is Ukraine’s Oleksandr Khyzhniak, who defeated Marcial in the semis in Tokyo.
When the draw happens, those who got seeded won’t be facing each other immediately.
But danger lurks even among those who were unable to be seeded since many competent bets are entered in one of Olympic boxing’s toughest weight categories.
