WELTERWEIGHT Eumir Felix Marcial still has a very slim chance of making it to the Rio Olympic Games in August.
Boxing executive director Ed Picson told The Standard that should any one of the welterweight boxers who qualified in the last AIBA qualifying tournament in China pull out because of injury or some other reason, then Marcial who was seeded No. 1in Azerbaijan, would be able to make it to the Rio Olympics.
However, Picson said “the chances are very slim.”
While Marcial and flyweight Ian Clark Bautista were disappointed at losing in their first bouts, which Picson said were “very close,” he refused to complain about the decision of the judges.
“We lost,” said Picson, cautioning the coaching staff of Nonito “Boy” Velasco and Romeo Brin not to claim that our boxers lost because of poor decisions by the judges.
Picson, who has covered boxing and basketball for many years, knows the sport even though he may not be a trainer and can fairly assess the outcome of a fight without being prejudiced.
He said Marcial and Bautista are keeping themselves busy in Baku and since there is nothing to do, they will continue training by sparring with boxers from Morocco.
The Philippine delegation is set to return on June 27 since they had booked their tickets for a day after the finals as they initially hoped that the two Olympic hopefuls would make it to the final day.
ABAP president Ricky Vargas also said that he was disappointed that the two boxers failed to progress, but conceded they are still young and talented and need to gain more experience.