Marcial gets busy sparring, hitting mitts at Wild Card
EUMIR FELIX MARCIAL is getting all the sparring hours he needs at the Wild Card Gym as he relentlessly keeps his focus on the Tokyo Olympics.
“He is taking advantage of all the sparring sessions he gets from different styles—russians, Americans and Latinos,” Freddie Roach’s Filipino assistant trainer Marvin Somodio told Businessmirror on Thursday.
“He really likes to spar,”said Somodio, adding Marcial has improved a lot under Roach’s keen eyes.
“He hits his punches accurately and is very composed,” Somodio said. “It wasn’t like before when he just throws punches recklessly.”
Marcial, according to MP Promotions President Sean Gibbons, could be fighting again as a pro in late March or early April, before the 25-year-old Zamboanga City native flies to Thailand to join his fellow national boxers in training camp.
Marcial debuted as a pro with a flourish by scoring a unanimous decision win over American Andrew Whitfield last December 16 in Los Angeles. He spends most of his time sparring with 6-foot-4 Diego Pacheco, Gabe Rosado, Russian Artur Akavov and Eric Priest.
Somodio added Marcial needs to perfect his counterpunching, control and proper timing because the competition in Tokyo are professional in approach in scoring.
“So he needs to take care of his defense and hit his opponent solidly,” he said.
Marcial spars on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays and does the mitts on Tuesdays alternately with Roach or Somodio.