Marcial edges rival, gains q’finals in AIBA World c’ships

DOHA, Qatar—Filipino Eumir Felix Marcial traded heavy bombs with Youba Sissokho of Spain and earned a split decision in the final day of preliminaries of the AIBA World Championships at Ali Bin Hamad Al Attiya Stadium.

The judges from Russia and Turkey gave two rounds for Marcial, 29-28, while the Uzbek judge saw the Senegal-born Sissokho the winner by the same score.

The quarterfinal round begins Saturday with Rogen Ladon taking on Dawid Jagodzinski of Poland in the afternoon session.

Marcial tries to exact revenge on World No. 1 Daniyar Yeleussinov of Kazakhstan, who beat him in the finals of the Asian Championships in Bangkok early last month, in the evening session.

Marcial and Ladon need to win their next two bouts in order to book a ticket to the Rio de Janeiro Olympics next year.

Boxing icon Manny Pacquiao who came to Doha for a 20-hour whirlwind visit, promised the boxers a bonus of P500,000 each for a gold medal here and P5 million to the Olympic champion.