EUMIR FELIX MARCIAL’S Tokyo Olympics campaign could be in trouble if his knuckles give up on him.
Of all his body parts, it’s the knuckles, for god’s sake, that’s threatening Marcial’s shot at the country’s first Olympic gold medal.
“Eumir should treat the Dubai tournament as a mere tune-up to protect his knuckles,” International Boxing Federation super flyweight champion Jerwin Ancajas intimated to BusinessMirror on Monday.
Marcial’s knuckles have hounded him since 2017. They swell and hurt each time he fights, but the warrior that the 25-year-old is, his suffering doesn’t show.
“The injury is the result of Eumir throwing powerful punches throughout the years, and I suggested to him to take care of his hands in Dubai,” said Ancajas, a close buddy of Marcial. “Let’s pray his hands will be okay.”
Marcial is flying to Dubai on Friday to participate in the Asian Elite Men and Women Boxing Championships which start on the same day and end on June 1.
The 25-year-old Marcial will join five-time Southeast Asian Games light flyweight champion Josie Gabuco, lightweight Maricel de la Torre, flyweight Marvin Tabamo, light flyweight Mark Lester Durens, bantamweight Junmilardo Ogayre, lightweight Jere Samuel dela Cruz and light welterweight John Panuayan in the tournament. Olympic bronze medalist Roel Velasco is coaching the team.
Ancajas said that Marcial’s knuckles swelled after he beat American Andrew Whitfield in his four-round professional debut in Los Angeles last December.
“He [Marcial] should remember that winning a gold in the Tokyo Olympics is his ultimate priority and not the Dubai tournament, but it’s really up to him,” Ancajas said.
Ancajas’s trainer and manager Joven Jimenez and sparring partner Jonas Sultan were with Marcial while he trained for seven months with Hall of Famer Freddie Roach at the Wild Card Gym in Los Angeles.
“We tried to find ways to avoid soreness in his knuckles during his sparring sessions by wrapping his hands properly,” said Ancajas, who revealed that Marcial felt the same pain during the Olympic qualifier in Amman, Jordan, February last year.
“He fought through pain,” Ancajas said.
“We helped him wrap his hands properly during his sparring session while in the US,” Jimenez said. “While in Dubai, Eumir should go for the experience, that he learn more, and not the gold, and especially not to risk his knuckles.”
But Ancajas stressed Marcial will overcome the odds in Tokyo.
“I still believe Eumir will win a gold in the Tokyo Olympics,” he said. “If he needs our help, we are always here—inside and outside the ring.”
Marcial wasn’t available for comment as of press time on Monday, neither were Association of Boxing Alliances coaches Velasco and Nolito “Boy” Velasco.