DOUBLE TROUBLE?: Marcial fights as a pro as Asiad lurks

Will Eumir Marcial succeed in hitting two birds with one stone?

That’s going to be known Saturday night (Sunday morning in Manila) when the heavy-handed Filipino fighter meets Ulises Huerta in an eight-round middleweight bout at the Pechanga Resort Casino in Temecula, California.

The plan for Marcial, a Tokyo Olympics bronze medalist, is to take the first flight out of Tom Bradley International Terminal at LAX so he could join the Philippine delegation in the 20th Asian Games in Nagoya.

The Association of Boxing Alliances in the Philippines (ABAP) has entered Marcial in the 80 kilogram division (light-heavyweight) in the Asiad that formally opened on Saturday.

If he disposes of Huerta with ease, Marcial will be free to compete in Nagoya given that he will be on vacation after this match, his eighth bout as a professional.

The official draw in boxing takes place shortly after Marcial’s clash with Huerta, leaving the ABAP unsure if the Zamboanga banger would be fit enough since he would be battling jet lag.

“Mahirap umasa. Very stressful Umasa. (It’s difficult to expect. It’s stressful),” remarked ABAP president Marcus Manalo from Japan.

“I think malabo na. Mabigat din ang kalaban niya. If he wins, ano ang condition niya? Kung makahabol siya, may jetlag pa siyang haharapin (Not sure if it’s happening. He’s in for a tough fight. And if he wins, what’s going to be his condition? And even if he gets here. He will be feeling jet leg),” he added.

Huerta packs a 15-1-1 win-loss-draw record with 13 knockouts while Marcial, also 30 years old like his rival, holds a 7-0-0 card with four stoppages.

Manalo also has one other concern.

“He is injury prone and he doesn’t recover quickly,” he added.

In the event he emerges unscathed against Huerta, Marcial will be fighting in his third straight Asian Games.

In 2018 in Jakarta, Marcial bagged the middleweight bronze while in Hangzhou in 2023, he settled for the light-heavyweight silver.

But in the Paris Olympics, Marcial suffered an early exit in his botched light-heavyweight bid.

Interestingly, Marcial’s natural weight class — 75 kilograms (middleweight) — has been dropped in the Asian Games and even in the Olympic Games, leaving him with no other option but to bulk up.

Sean Gibbons, who promotes Marcial in the pro ranks, is eyeing a return to the ring in December assuming he scores an impressive victory in line with his plan to grant him a world title shot in 2027.