Torn between 2 lovers?
IS Eumir Felix Marcial torn between two lovers?
Look, he has ties to both Manny Pacquiao and amateur boxing boss Ricky Vargas.
By signing up in July for a six- year contract with Pacquiao’s MP Promotions, Marcial, 25, has become both a pro and an amateur. He will not admit it, of course, but oodles of cash might have lured Marcial to wear two hats?
Marcial could not be faulted. Only a fool would resist a fortune being dangled, especially when you weren’t seeking it, lusting for it.
But if it’s any consolation to doubters, Marcial has pledged allegiance to Vargas even before shacking up with Pacquiao.
He said he’d remain a member of the Philippine boxing team, adding he’d honor his commitment to fight for the gold—his childhood dream, he said—in the 2021 Tokyo Olympics in July.
Marcial is one of four Filipinos already assured of Olympic slots together with pole vaulter CJ Obiena, gymnast Carlos Yulo and female boxer Nesthy Petecio. Lifter Hidilyn Diaz, the silver winner in the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics,
is also highly-touted to make it.
Pundits say Marcial is the country’s strongest bet to hopefully end a near-century Olympic gold drought with a win in the middleweight division.
However, cynics say Marcial could be weighed down by his move to practically be in the service of two distinct entities.
Already, he is in Los Angeles, CA, training under the legendary Freddie Roach, the man chiefly responsible for making Pacquiao the lone eight-division world champion in history.
But pro boxing, Roach’s forte, is entirely different from amateur boxing in that while pros are tactical and methodical, amateurs are trained for volume punches to gain more points leading to victory.
Marcial debuts as a pro on Thursday (Dec. 17, PHL time) in L.A. in a middleweight, fourrounder—a fight that Chairman Butch Ramirez of the Philippine Sports Commission says was not cleared with PSC.
“But I respect his decision because he is already of legal age,” Ramirez told an online news conference on Friday, adding he advised Marcial to apologize to Vargas “to heal the gap.”
May Marcial make the right moves while serving two masters at the same time—almost a nono, actually.