An acid test for the Olympian.
Olympian Eumir Marcial will step back in the ring this weekend to continue his young professional career.
The Tokyo Olympics bronze medalist will face veteran Argentine Ricardo Villalba in the undercard of the Rey Vargas-O’Shaquie Foster world title fight, where Vargas’ WBC featherweight belt will be at stake. The Vargas-Foster card will take place on February 12, Manila time, at the historic Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas.
The six-round fight against Villlalba will be the fourth of Marcial’s professional career, and it will potentially be his first acid test. Villalba is battle tested and has won more fights (20) than Marcial’s first three opponents—Steven Pichardo, Isiah Hart, and Andrew Whitfield—combined (18). The 33-year-old Argentine, in fact, has fought 28 times in his career, just 1 fewer than the 29 bouts accrued by the trio of Pichardo, Hart, and Whitfied.
Marcial is one of the first beneficiaries of the International Boxing Association’s decision in 2016 to allow professional boxers to compete in the Olympics. He was actually the first Filipino boxer to qualify for the Tokyo Olympics, doing so in March 2020 after making it to the semifinals of the Asia-Oceania Olympic Qualifiers held in Amman, Jordan. But with the Olympics suspended indefinitely in 2020, the 27-year-old opted to go pro for the time being, making his professional debut in December 2020 against Whitfield.
The Zamboanga-born boxer eventually competed in the Summer Games held seven months later, where he copped a bronze medal at the middleweight division. Marcial has since continued his pro career, beating Hart in April 2022 and Pichardo just last October. He will be looking for a fourth straight win this weekend, but against tougher competition this time around.