Tokyo-bound Eumir Marcial decides to turn pro

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

MANILA, Philippines–Olympics-qualifying national boxer Eumir Felix Marcial confirmed Wednesday he will turn professional soon.

“I will sure go with the best deal, the fairest deal,” he said in Filipino in an interview with Inquirer columnist Percy Della.

Della will reveal more details of the decision in his Southpaw column on Inquirer Sports that will come out on Friday.

There was no indication as to which promotional outfit Marcial will sign with but Della wrote that only three managers remain in the running.

Those managers have offered practically the same package: a huge signing bonus plus a stipulation in their contracts that they will not stand in the way of Marcial’s Olympic bid in Tokyo next year.