Marcial draws bye at Olympic qualifier, Bautista faces two-time Olympian

MANILA, Philippines – The magic numbers for Filipino boxers Eumir Marcial and Ian Clark Bautista are 3 and 4, respectively.

Welterweight Marcial received a first-round bye after being seeded no. 1 at the AIBA World Olympic qualification event draw on Thursday, June 16 in Baku, Azerbaijan and will need just 3 victories to make it to the semi-finals, which would automatically qualify him for an Olympic berth in Rio de Janeiro. Marcial will face the winner between Germany’s Abbas Baraou and New Zealand’s Josh Nyika in the afternoon session on Saturday.

Flyweight Ian Clark Bautista will need 4 wins, and is set to face two-time Olympian José Kelvin de la Nieve Linares of Spain in his first bout on Friday, June 17 in the afternoon session. Linares, 29, qualified for the 2008 and 2012 Olympics but lost in the first round on both occasions.

Bautista, 21, of Bacolod and Marcial, 20, of Zamboanga City are hoping to join lightweight Charly Suarez and light flyweight Rogen Ladon, who have already qualified for the Philippines.

(READ: PH boxers Marcial, Bautista fight for Olympic dream)

A total of 469 boxers from 105 countries are vying for 39 Olympic spots in 10 weight classes at the world qualifier. A top 4 finish in the flyweight or welterweight division – or a loss in the quarterfinals to the eventual gold medalist – will earn an Olympic berth. – Rappler.com