EUMIR FELIX MARCIAL squares off with veteran Ricardo Ruben Villalba of Argentina for his fourth professional fight on Saturday at the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas.
“He [Villalba] is a veteran and a truly tested warrior,” said the Tokyo Olympics bronze medalist Marcial of his opponent whom he’ll fight for eight rounds. “That’s why I’m training hard and smart because I know that the time will come for me to fight somebody like him.”
Villalba, 33 and a native of Buenos Aires, is coming off a three-fight losing skid, bringing with him a professional middleweight record of 20 wins, seven defeats and one draw.
The Argentinian—two inches shorter to Marcial’s 5-foot-11 height—is more of a slugger and a durable fighter than the 27-year-old Marcial’s last opponent, American Steven Pichardo.
Marcial beat Pichardo via unanimous decision in a six-round bout despite getting bloodied from a cut above his right eyebrow from an inverted head butt last October 8.
He negated a three-knockdown scare from American Isiah Hart, his tall opponent at 6-foot-2, and won via a fourth-round technical knockout last April in Las Vegas. His first pro fight was a a unanimous decision win over another American, Andrew Whitfield, in December 2020 in Los Angeles, California.
Marcial is being trained by Mexican Jorge Capetillo.