HANGZHOU—Eumir Felix Marcial squares off with a brawler from Syria hoping to nail a victory that won’t only guarantee him a 19th Asian Games silver medal but as importantly a return ticket to the Olympics in Paris in 2024.
The 27-year-old Marcial, unscathed in four fights since he turned pro in 2020, faces Ahmad Ghousoon in semifinal of the light middleweight (80 kgs) at 3:15 p.m. the Hangzhou gymnasium.
“He has the advantage over the Syrian,” said national team coach of Marcial,who advanced to the semifinals with victories over Mongolia’s Dalai Ganzorig and Nguyen Manh Cuong, both 5-0, in his first two fights and a convincing second round knockout win in the quarterfinals three days ago over Thailand’s Weerapon JongJoho, considered as the Tokyo Olympics bronze medalist’s worthiest opponent in the division.
Marcial appeared to be settling in his new weight class at light-heavy with that knockout of the Thai—his comfort zone is at middleweight (75 kgs), the division where he medaled in Tokyo but was scrapped from the Paris program.
“It’s really my dream to win that Olympic gold medal,” said Marcial, who was supposed to climb the ring in the US for his fifth professional fight but was given the chance to chase his life-long goal.
Ghousoon comes from a family of boxers and was Syrias during the parade of athletes during the games’ opening ceremony.
He’s an aggressive fighter and doesn’t back down, a style, Chavez said, which suits Marcial.
“He’s an attacker,” said Chavez describes the 27-year-old Syrian, a 5-0 winner against Taijikistan Shabbos Negmatulloev in the quarterfinals.
Marcial clinched a bronze medal in the Jakarta Asian Games in 2018.
Boxing is one of nine sports in these Asian Games that are qualifiers for Paris. The others are archery, artistic swimming, breaking, hockey, modern pentathlon, sailing, tennis and water polo.