Tokyo Olympics-bound national middleweight boxer Eumir Felix Marcial confirmed on Wednesday he will turn professional soon.
The decorated 24-year old Zamboangeño told this corner he will sign on the dotted line after reviewing the contract crafted and finalized by the management team he selected from several outfits vying for his attention.
“I will surely go with the best deal, the fairest deal,“ he said in Filipino.
Marcial opted not to identify his choice for now. But there are indications he has already hitched his future as a boxer to one of three managers still standing and aiming for his signature.
These are Hall of Famer and ex-Manny “Pacman” Pacquiao handler Shelly Finkel, current manager of the year, Keith Connolly, and Sean Gibbons, president of Pacman’s own promotions company.
Aside from offering identical P10-million signing deals, Marcial said his preferred suitors will not stand in the way of his desire to win an Olympic gold medal and have specified that condition in their contract offers.
With the Tokyo Olympics delayed for a year because of the coronavirus pandemic, Marcial believes fighting in the pros, projected to restart in June, would sharpen his skills to accomplish that Summer Games dream he shares with his father, Eulalio.
Professional fighters, as long as they qualify and comply with the World Anti-Doping Agency doping code, are now allowed in the Olympics as a result of new boxing rules.
Reacting to Marcial’s move to ditch the amateur game, his national sports association, the Association of Boxing Alliances in the Philippines (Abap), through secretary general Edgar Picson, seemed to tune out the boxer’s decision.
According to Picson, Abap president Ricky Vargas “in his last statement said he will not say anything more about the issue after we talk to Eumir in person.”
Amid their flurry of offers, Vargas had earlier appealed to Finkel and company not to distract his fighter in his Olympic quest. Vargas also reported that Marcial had said he will not rush to a decision about his future until both men meet in person when the COVID-19 situation permits.
But apparently, Marcial is thinking that time is of the essence for his career and his family, including his live-in partner of eight years, Princess Jenniel Galarte, and could sign the contract before that face-to-face with Vargas.
The three-time Southeast Asian Games gold medalist and World Championship silver medalist, one of the most sought-after middleweights today, sees no complication in his ties to Vargas.
Marcial said that after all, he is on target to excel in Tokyo, will remain under Abap’s care while retaining his coaches and trainers and making sure they play roles when he fights as a pro.