PHL BOXERS READY FOR THAI CAMP
The Association of Boxing Alliances in the Philippines (ABAP) is opening the communication lines with MP Promotions to bring over Tokyo Olympics-bound Eumir Marcial to Thailand for training camp.
ABAP secretary general Ed Picson said the national men and women’s squads are tentatively scheduled to fly to Bangkok on 10 March after their travel documents were released by the Thai Embassy.
“We are booking the next available flight, which is on 10 March,” Picson told Daily Tribune.
Picson said Marcial, who is now training with Freddie Roach at the Wild Card Boxing Club, has relayed to the ABAP his willingness to join the Thai trip and reunie with his national team buddies.
“He (Marcial) said he was going to talk to (MP Promotions president) Sean Gibbons about it,” Picson added.
Marcial, 24, earned the Olympic ticket a year ago when he topped the Asia-Oceania Olympic Qualification in Amman, Jordan.
Since October last year, Marcial has been training in the US and just before Christmas, the heavy-handed southpaw made his pro debut, beating Andrew Whitfield in a four-rounder in Los Angeles.
The last four weeks, Marcial has been sparring heavily under the eagle eyes of Roach as they await if he can get a fight in April.
Still, even if the second pro fight doesn’t push through, Gibbons feels Marcial is better off training with Roach as there is an abundance of available sparmates in the US, including unbeaten 6-4 super-middleweight Diego Pacheco.