MANILA, Philippines — ABAP president Ricky Vargas put the elephant on the table the other day and threshed out issues of concern regarding Olympic middleweight boxing qualifier Eumir Marcial’s road to Tokyo in an hour-long zoom meeting with the fighter, MP Promotions head Sean Gibbons, ABAP secretary-general Ed Picson and ABAP sports psychologist Marcus Manalo. Vargas initiated the discussion after Marcial reached out to ABAP requesting for a Filipino coach to join him in Los Angeles where he has been based the last four months.
“We want Eumir to be at his best for the Olympics,” said Vargas. “We want to work together as a team. With my hand in my heart, I want Eumir to succeed for our country.” Vargas said there may be a “philosophy gap” in the way Marcial is training with pros in L.A. as opposed to gearing up for the Olympic style. He opened the door for a collaboration to bring Marcial up to speed.
Gibbons assured Vargas his only goal is to focus Marcial for Tokyo. “We’re getting Eumir ready to win the Olympic gold,” he said. “We could’ve done three pro fights for Eumir in L.A. but that wasn’t the direction. With Freddie (Roach) and Pepe (Reilly), Eumir is learning tactics and moves that he can use in Tokyo like feints, stepping back, setting it up, not leaving his chin up in the air, not going wild, tightening his defense, not getting out of position. Boxing is boxing. We’re exposing Eumir to fighters with lots of amateur experience, guys from Kazakhstan, Armenia, Eastern Europe, Mexico and the US who fight like the guys from Ukraine and Russia he’ll face in Tokyo. We’re also putting him against veterans so he toughens up. He runs twice a week at Griffith Park and is in Wild Card every day.”
Gibbons said the meeting with Vargas, Picson and Manalo was “enlightening.” It was the first time they all got together to discuss Marcial’s Olympic journey. “Good to meet everybody,” he said. “We’re one voice, one team. If there are issues to resolve, we’ll surely arrive at a happy medium.” Gibbons said if ABAP decides to send a Filipino coach to L.A., he’ll make sure the integration is smooth. “Eumir prefers an ABAP coach to be with him 24/7 at this stage,” said Gibbons. “Maybe, Eumir could continue training in L.A. for the next six weeks then join the ABAP team in camp starting May and stay on until Tokyo.”
The ABAP squad, including Olympic qualifier Irish Magno and Olympic candidates Nesthy Petecio and Carlo Paalam, left Manila for Thailand last Wednesday to start the second 10-week cycle of training. The first cycle was at Inspire in Calamba. Marcial was invited to hook up with the team in Thailand. Picson said after Thailand, the team will move to India for another camp and a pre-Olympic tournament involving Asian countries.
Marcial said he’s determined to be 100 percent for Tokyo. “Sobrang ganda ng sparring ko sa Wild Card,” he said. “Noong October, biglang namatay ang kapatid ko sa atin pero tiniis kong ‘di bumalik. Noong January, dalawang beses na ospital ang ama ko. ‘Di rin ako umuwi kasi sayang ang araw sa biyahe at quarantine. Tuloy-tuloy lang ang training at sparring ko, dami kong natututunan. Mga sparmates, sina coach Freddie at coach Pepe, silang lahat nag-pupush sa akin.”
Manalo said ABAP is concerned about the specificity of boxing and the quality, not the quantity, of Marcial’s training and sparring.