WELTERWEIGHT Eumir Felix Marcial is the last man standing in the Philippines’ two-man squad to the AIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament in Baku, Azerbaijan after flyweight Ian Clark Bautista lost in his bid for a berth in the Rio Olympics following a close 29-28 points’ decision to former two-time Spanish Olympian Jose Kevin Linares Friday evening.
Association of Boxing Alliances of the Philippines executive director Ed Picson said Marcial, who was seeded No.1 and drew a bye in the first round, is the country’s last hope for an Olympic berth when he faces Germany’s hard-hitting Abbas Baraou, who dominated New Zealand’s Josh Nyika to win by a second-round stoppage.
Marcial will battle the tough German on Saturday.
The ABAP executive director told The Standard that Bautista “fought a good fight” against the 29-year-old Spanish Olympian, but the judges only gave the Filipino boxer the third round.
However, Picson said he and the coaching staff of Nonito “Boy” Velasco and Romeo Brin “thought he won rounds two and three, but it was really close.”
Marcial’s opponent Baraou won the gold medal at the German Under 21 National Championships in October of 2014 with a 3-0 win over Olcay Simsek. In an Olympic-style competition against Canada, Baraou defeated Sasan Haghigha-Joo and was among six of the eight Germans, who beat their Canadian opponents in the 23rd Annual Ken Goff Boxing Classic.