HOMEGROWN boxing talent Eumir Felix Marcial won the gold medal in the finals of the men’s middleweight class (75-kg) of the 29th Southeast Asian Games in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, on Thursday, August 24.
Marcial, 20, a resident of Lunzuran village, Zamboanga City, prevailed over Thailand’s Pathomsak Kuttiya through a unanimous decision.
It was the second SEA Games gold medal for the Filipino boxer. Marcial won his first gold during the 2015 SEA Games in Singapore.
Zamboanga City Mayor Maria Isabelle Climaco-Salazar has expressed jubilation that Marcial has brought pride and honor not only to the city but also to the country.
City sports director Cecil Atilano said Marcial is a concrete example of an athlete who started from the grassroots and now excels in the field he was honed and minted.
Marcial, was mentored by the late Arsenio “Rawhide” Nuevo, who founded the golpe-golpe na barangay (boxing in the village) in the city. (Bong Garcia/SunStar Philippines)