Eumir Marcial punches ticket to Tokyo Olympics

FILE – The Philippines’ Eumir Felix Marcial celebrates after knocking out Vietnam’s Nguyen Manh Cuong to claim the men’s middleweight gold medal in the 30th Southeast Asian Games. INQUIRER PHOTO/ Sherwin Vardeleon

Filipino boxer Eumir Felix Marcial announced his entry into the Tokyo Olympics in emphatic fashion.

Marcial on Monday became the third Filipino to qualify for the Olympics after stopping Byamba Erdene Otgonbaatar of Mongolia in the men’s middleweight quarterfinals of the Asia-Oceania Olympic qualifiers in Amman, Jordan.

The 24-year-old Marcial closed out his foe after a flurry forced the referee to stop the bout with less than a minute left in the third round in what had been a one sided match from the get-go.

Marcial, who is the top seed in his division, joined gymnast Carlos Yulo and pole vaulter EJ Obiena as the only Filipinos so far to secure an Olympic spot.

The Zamboanga City native has been on a tear as of late. He won the gold in the 30th Southeast Asian Games last December by a quick knockout and also bagged the silver medal in the World Boxing Championships last year.