The Marcial plan

Eumir Marcial was having a break following another day of training when he got a call from his top patron Sean Gibbons.

“Get over here quick. The boss wants to see you,” Gibbons told Marcial, the Tokyo Olympics bronze medalist and fast-rising Filipino middleweight.

The “boss” is no other than eight-division legend Manny Pacquiao, who has a special fondness for the undefeated Marcial.

The following day, Marcial showed up at Pacquiao’s palatial Forbes Park home all geared for training.

But before he could lace up and get dressed for training at Pacquiao’s makeshift gym, Marcial was given a treat.

“The boss gave him a nice bonus for his last fight,” Gibbons said, referring to Marcial’s knockout win over Bernard Joseph on the undercard of Pacquiao’s showdown with Mario Barrios last July at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.

Now, Marcial will get another chance to put a smile on Pacquiao’s face when he sees action on the Thrilla in Manila card set 29 October at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.

The date is extra special for Marcial as it marks his 30th birthday.

“Eumir told me about it and since he will be 30, he would love to get a shot at the world title,” Gibbons said.

After the Thrilla fight, Gibbons has a three-fight program leading up to a world championship fight in 2026.

“The Thrilla card is an ideal event to showcase topnotch Filipino talent,” said Gibbons, who is putting up a mega show headlined by Melvin Jerusalem’s third defense of the World Boxing Council strawweight title.

Other marquee names are participating and these include top super-bantamweights Marlon Tapales and Carl Jammes Martin.

Gibbons said Marcial will be up against a tough rival he will import from the hotbed of fighting in Central Asia.

Marcial has logged a 6-0 win-loss card with four knockouts and represented the Philippines countless times not just in the Olympics but in the world championships, Asian Games and Southeast Asian Games.

He was the 2019 world championships silver medalist and 2023 Guangzhou Asian Games runnerup.

During Pacquiao’s training camp in Los Angeles a few months back, Marcial worked out alongside the Hall of Famer and eventually earned his praise.

Pacquiao openly declared that he would personally train Marcial once he gets a shot at the world crown.