Eumir Marcial, who opted to skip the 20th Asian Games next month in Japan to ramp up his professional career, has found an opponent for his 19 September eighth pro bout in the United States.

American banger Omar Ulises Huerta was signed to battle Marcial in a 10-round clash at the Pechanga Resort Casino in Temecula, California.

It will be a battle of hard-hitters given the knockout percentages of the two combatants.

Marcial holds a 7-0-0 win-loss-draw card with four knockouts while Huerta packs a 15-1-0 slate with 13 knockouts.

The fight will serve as an appetizer to the big show that will be headlined by Isaac “Pitbull” Cruz, who is also a talent of American dealmaker Sean Gibbons like Marcial.

Having turned pro in December 2000 in Los Angeles, Marcial could not concentrate fully on his pro career because he had also pledged to help the Philippine national team.

In doing so, the Zamboanga-born banger represented the country in the Tokyo Olympics where he bagged a bronze at middleweight (75 kilograms).

But a drastic change was made later and the 75 kg was scrapped by World Boxing for the Asian Games and the Olympic Games, leaving Marcial with no choice but to bulk up.

So when he competed in the 2023 Asian Games in Hangzhou, Marcial campaigned in the light-heavyweight class (80 kg) and could only finish runnerup despite being labeled as the top gold medal bet.