Marcial saves day for Phl boxers

BANGKOK, Thailand — Olympian Eumir Marcial refused to let the decorated Philippine boxing team go home empty-handed in the 33rd Southeast Asian Games here.

Marcial scored a 4-1 decision as the only pug among the 13-man Team Philippines to bag a mint in this edition of the biennial meet that saw host Thailand have 16 of its 17 boxers in the final.

The 30-year-old southpaw scored a sensational second-round knockout win over Vietnamese Nguyen Manh Cuong in the semifinal Wednesday to lead three other Pinoy pugs in the gold medal round.

However, the other Filipino boxers Aira Villegas, Jay Bryan Balicuatro and Jara Flint weren’t as lucky as Marcial as they settled for silver against the host fighters.

Villegas suffered a 0-5 blanking at the hands of local bet Raksat Chutamat in the women’s 50kg division.

Barricuatro absorbed a 1-4 loss to Thai Phlongaurai Thitiwat in the men’s 48kg while Flint was dominated by another local boxer Saemgphet Thanarat, 0-5, in the men’s 54kg class.

Villegas, the 2024 Olympics bronze medalist mustered all her might and slugged it out against her Thai opponent but just couldn’t rally back into the contest after trailing in the first two rounds.

She found herself surprisingly at the backseat after a close 3-2 scoring in the first round — an opportunity which Raksat made sure to pounce on as she landed the cleaner hits in the second round.

Despite the loss, Villegas was pretty much content with what she had achieved and wholeheartedly accepted the decision. For one, it was still an improvement to the bronze medal she won in the 2019 edition of the Games.

“God didn’t give it to me so I think I’m not yet done,” Villegas said.

“God took charge of all the decisions made by the referees and judges. I just fought my heart out. So, whatever happened, I will gladly accept it.”