SEA Games: Eumir Marcial dominates foe to gain middleweight final

PH’s Eumir Marcial connects with a left hook versus Mohd Azwan Azmi of Malaysia in their middleweight semifinal match in the 2019 SEA Games in PICC Forum, Pasay.Tristan Tamayo/INQUIRER.net

MANILA, Philippines—Eumir Marcial needed less than two minutes to advance to the finals, earning referee’s stoppage victory over Malaysia’s Mohamed Aswan Che Azmi in the boxing men’s middleweight division in the 2019 Southeast Asian Games Friday at PICC Forum.

The 2017 welterweight gold medalist was relentless in the first round, immediately scoring a couple of standing eight-count knockdowns and with 1:54 into the bout, the referee decided that Azmi had taken so much damage to continue.

Despite the dominant showing, Marcial remained careful because a big cut could’ve veered the fight in a different direction.

“I just did my best I followed what my coaches told me and I was never complacent during the fight because accidents can happen,” said Marcial in Filipino.

“This is for all the Filipinos who have supported us and we’ll do everything we can to get the gold.”

Marcial started off firing breaking Azmi’s guard with his jab then following it up with a couple of hooks to the Malaysian’s temple.

The two-time SEA Games gold medalist then landed a cracking three-punch combination to further punish Azmi.