New motivation: Eumir Marcial fighting for buddy John Marvin

PH’s Eumir Marcial defeats Mohd Azwan Azmi of Malaysia in their middleweight semi final match in the 2019 SEA Games in PICC Forum, Pasay. Tristan Tamayo/INQUIRER.netCe

MANILA, Philippines—Eumir Marcial has long been prepared for the 2019 Southeast Asian Games. But just a day before his fight, he found a new source of motivation.

The reigning middleweight gold medalist watched from the sidelines as good friend John Marvin, the 2017 light heayweight titleholder, got knocked down in the first round and eventually lose his tournament opener to Vietnam’s Dinh Hoang Truong.

Determined to avenge the loss of his friend, Marcial turned opponent Mohamed Aswan Che Azmi into a sentient punching bag en route to a first round technical knockout win.

Marcial, also the welterweight gold medalist in 2015, said he was motivated to get the win not just for himself but also for Marvin.

“He wasn’t able to get the gold this year so I told him that my fights aren’t just for me, it’s also for him, and for all the Filipinos,” said Marcial, whose fight with Azmi lasted just 1:54, in Filipino.

“We’ve been through so much together, we’ve experienced problems together, we know each other so well that’s why I got so emotional when he lost.”

The moment Marvin lost to Truong, Marcial immediately rushed to his friend’s side and the two had an emotional embrace.

Despite the loss, it was Marvin who consoled Marcial, who broke in tears when the Fil-Brit light heavyweight suffered the shock defeat.

Marcial said that what made Marvin’s loss to Truong that much harder to bear was that the British Army serviceman injured his right hand in the first round.

This prevented Marvin from launching straights properly and instead rely more on his jab to get back at Truong.

“I was hurt; I was sad when he lost especially when I found out that he couldn’t punch properly because his hand was so swollen,” said Marcial, a silver medalist in the 2019 World Championships.

“When he got knocked down, I knew he could still recover because we’ve trained hard for his and he was determined to get the gold.”