Eumir Marcial showed that he was the pug to beat in the Tokyo Olympics.

Marcial won by referee stoppage right in the opening round against Algeria’s Younes Nemouchi in the men’s middleweight round of 16, where he made his Olympic debut on Thursday, July 29, at the Kokugikan Arena.

Marcial flaunted his speed and power as he scored a knockdown early in the first round and opened a cut above Nemouchi’s right eye.

The referee stopped the contest at the 2:41-minute mark of the opening round due to Nemouchi’s bleeding.

This puts Marcial a win away from at least a bronze and can join women’s world champion Nesthy Petecio in making history for Philippine boxing with multiple medals.

The 25-year-old Filipino boxer will move on to the quarterfinals, where he will face Armenian Arman Darchinyan for a shot in the medal round on Sunday, August 1, 11:36 am, Philippine time.

The Filipino boxer earned a bye to start his Olympic campaign in the round of 16, but he made an appearance in the Tokyo Games in the opening ceremonies as the male flag bearer of the Philippines.

Marcial bagged a silver in the 2019 world championships, a gold in the 2019 SEA Games, and a gold in the Tokyo 2020 Asia and Oceania Olympic qualifiers. 

Although he decided to turn pro during the COVID-19 pandemic, he still committed to don the Philippine colors.  – with a report from Delfin Dioquino/Rappler.com