Light-heavyweight Eumir Marcial is on a collision course with Cuban super fighter Arlen Lopez as the four other Filipino punchers brace for equally-tough outings in the boxing competitions of the Paris Olympics.
Marcial, bronze medalist in Tokyo, is slated to make his debut on 30 July when he clashes with Uzbekistan’s Turabek Khabibullaev in the Round of 16.
If Marcial gets past him, he will lock horns with Lopez, a two-time Olympic gold medalist and ex- world championships topnotcher and three-time Pan American Games ruler in the quarterfinal round.
Before focusing on Lopez, Marcial has to repulse the 20-year-old Khabibullaev, who took the bronze in last year’s Asian Games in Hangzhou where the Filipino southpaw wound up with the silver behind eventual champion Tuohetarbieke Tanglatihan of China.
Like Marcial, Tokyo silver medalists Carlo Paalam and Nethy Petecio, Aira Villegas and Hergie Bacyadan have already gotten their respective schedules.
First to plunge into action is Villegas, who meets Moroccan Yasmine Mouttaki, the 2023 world championships bronze medalist and two-time African Championships gold medalist, in the women’s 50-kilogram Round of 32 match on Sunday.
Also on the same day Marcial deals with Khabibullaev, Petecio fights Jaismine Lamboria of India in their women’s 57-kilogram Round of 32 tiff.
On Wednesday, it will be the turn of Hergie Bacyadan in the women’s 75-kilogram Round of 16 versus Chinese’ decorated entry Li Qian and later in the day, Paalam tangles with Commonwealth games titleholder Jude Gallagher of Ireland in their 57-kilogram Round of 16 encounter.
The boxing team, which ramped up its buildup by setting up camps in Thailand, the United States and all over Europe, is favored to deliver and win its first Olympic gold.
But given the level of competition following the pandemic, it will be a rocky road to the top for just about any country in the world.