ASTANA, Kazakhstan—Light bantamweight Eumir Felix Marcial scored one of the most emphatic wins in the ongoing Aiba Junior World Boxing Championship at the Kazakhstan Sports Palace here.
The 15-year-old Marcial stopped Vaha Eduard of Belarus in the opening round of their semifinal encounter Friday night, making him the favorite to top the 52 kg division.
The southpaw Marcial of Zamboanga was set to meet fellow lefty Cengiz Onat of Turkey for the gold medal as of press time.
“We have a good chance because our next opponent had a tough time in his own semifinal assignment,” said head coach and three-time Olympian Romeo Brin. “We just need the proper breaks, specifically in scoring but our boy has the tools to perform convincingly.”
Marcial will also try to become the first Filipino to win a gold in this event since its initial staging in 2001.
The same day Marcial snatched a finals seat, Onat secured his own spot but not after figuring in a tough semis encounter against slugger Sang Myeong Hang of Korea. The Turkish fighter won with a 17-10 score.
“He likes his opponent to be aggressive and to come forward,” said Marcial. “I’m not going to give him that edge. I saw some flaws in the video. I don’t think he wil have enough time to adjust.”
Marcial gained the crowd’s approval when he floored Eduard with a perfectly-timed right hook.
Eduard got up at the count of five but the referee stopped the fight after the mandatory eight count at the 1:22 mark as the Belarusian was still wobbly at that point.
Among the 48 countries that participated in this major event, 15 nations were able to send boxers to the finals. Of those 15 nations, 12 fighters represent Asia while another 12 are from Europe, making it an unofficial meet between Asian and European boxers.
The Philippine team is being supported by Accel, Powerade and PLDT.