Marcial feared losing decision to tough Venezuelan due to knockdowns

MANILA, Philippines — Newly crowned World Boxing Council international middleweight champion Eumir Marcial admitted he thought he would be losing when his slugfest with Venezuelan Eddy Colmenares went to the decision.

Marcial came back from being knocked down twice against Colmenares to get the majority decision victory early Thursday morning at the Smart Araneta Coliseum in Quezon City.

The Filipino Olympic bronze medalist was sent to the canvas in the third and 10th rounds, but he managed to grab the victory after a judge scored it 94-94 and two others had him winning 95-93.

After the match, Marcial admitted he thought he would be losing.

“Yes po. Opo. Nakabahan po ako kasi sobrang malaking score po yun pag na-knockdown. And noong [third] round, noong na-knockdown po ako, bigla ko napaisip eh na parang matatalo ako sa laban. Pero dahil po sa lahat ng mga Pilipino nandito, naririnig ko po yung coaches ko, yung corner ko,” he told reporters.

“Sila po yung nagbigay ng lakas sa akin. Ma-knockdown po sa [third] round, hindi po yun basta-basta. Ang hirap maka-adjust noon sa buong round. Sabi ko ano pa yung maibubuga niya. Inisip ko kung sa fourth round, mas lalakas siya. Hindi ko alam eh,” he added.

After getting knocked down early, Marcial recovered and unleashed barrage of punches after barrage of punches. He was able to hit his opponent with power punches, but Colmenares would not go down.

And in the 10th round, the Filipino hit the floor anew after a left-and-right combination from the Venezuelan.

The judges, however, saw the match differently, giving the victory to the two-time Olympian.

“Sinunod ko lang yung payo ng corner ko na puntos lang. Mas magaling ka dyan. Gamitin lang natin yung puntos. So yun yung ginawa namin. Yun yung naging strategy namin para makuha itong belt,” he said.

After the match, there were already talks for a rematch.

Would he be open to it?

“Kung yun yung hiling ng mga tao, kung yun yung ang gagawin ni Sir Manny, why not? Napasaya natin yung mga tao. Gusto ko ibalik yung dito. Thrilla in Manila II, itong stadium noong 50 years ago. Alam ko, grabe hiyawan ang mga tao,” he said.

“Itong gabi, I hope na napasaya ko yung mga kababayan natin. Naparamdam ko kung ano yung Thrilla in Manila noong 50 years ago.”

Marcial thus rose to a 7-0 win-loss record, while Colmenares dropped to 11-3-1 (win-loss-draw).