Eumir Marcial bows out early in Paris Olympics

Metro Manila, Philippines — Filipino boxer Eumir Marcial's bid for a better medal finish came to a crashing end as he suffered a unanimous decision defeat to Turabek Khabibullaev of Uzbekistan Wednesday in the Round of 16 of the men's 80kg class in the Paris 2024 Olympics at the North Paris Arena.

Marcial, a bronze medalist in the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, struggled to keep up with the younger Khabibullaev in the entire bout.

Khabibullaev will next battle reigning Olympic champion Arlen Lopez of Cuba on Aug. 3.

With Marcial's loss, the shot for the elusive Philippine boxing gold now lies in the hands of Nesthy Petecio, Aira Villegas, Carlo Paalam, and Hergie Bacyadan.

Earlier, Petecio defeated India's Jaismine Lamboria in a dominant fashion, 5-0.