KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia – Aside from his personal aspirations, Eumir Marcial found more motivation in avenging the dubious loss of his comrade Carlo Paalam when he fought for his gold medal at the 2017 Southeast Asian Games here.
Marcial offered his gold medal victory over Thailand’s Pathomsak Kuttiya in the middleweight division to Paalam, who was on the receiving end of a contentious decision loss to host Malaysia’s bet Muhamad Redzuan earlier in the week.
(READ: The worst controversies so far of 2017 SEA Games boxing)
“Sobrang proud po, kasi ito hindi lang inaalay sa bansa at sa pamilya ko, inaalay ko rin ito sa kasamahan namin na si Carlo Paalam, na natalo,” Marcial told reporters on Thursday, August 24 at Hall 8 of the Malaysia Trade and Exhibition Centre.
“Alam ko sa sarili ko na ‘yung bata na ‘yun, mago-gold ‘yun kun’di magdadaya. Sabi ko, gusto ko talaga bawiin din.”
(I’m very proud, because I’m not only offering this win to our country and my family, but also to my teammate Carlo Paalam, who lost. I know for myself that that kid would have won gold if he wasn’t cheated out of a victory. I told myself I wanted to get it back for him.)
Marcial also used Paalam’s loss as a motivation to knock out his Malaysian foe in the semifinals.
“Nung last ang kalaban ko against Malaysia, gusto ko talaga bawiin si Carlo Paalam, ‘yung pagkatalo niya, gusto ko talaga bawiin,” he said, noting he felt the decision against Paalam was “so bad.”
“Kaya after ng game, umiyak talaga ako, salamat ako sa Panginoon.”
(During my last fight against Malaysia, I really wanted to avenge Carlo Paalam and his loss, I wanted to get it back. That’s why after the game I cried, I’m thankful to the Lord.)
The southpaw Marcial, 21, who also won a welterweight division gold in the 2015 Games, fought through a nagging injured left knuckle on his way to another gold medal.
He now eyes the Asian Games next year in Jakarta, Indonesia. – Rappler.com
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