Eumir Marcial KOs Thai foe, assured of Asian Games bronze

Eumir Marcial continued to live up to the billing as he assured himself of at least a bronze medal following a knockout win against Weerapon Jongjoho of Thailand in the men's 80kg quarterfinals of the boxing event int the 19th Asian Games on Sunday in Hangzhou, China.

The 27-year-old Marcial advanced to the semifinals for a guaranteed medal and will slug it out with Syria's Ahmad Ghousoon on Wednesday for the right to a championship berth.

Marcial had a slow start, trailing in all judges' scorecards after the first round, 50-45. But Marcial needed just a strong right hook to send Jongjoho to the floor with 20 seconds left in the second round.

The Thai bet was still able to stand up, but a stoppage by the referee six seconds after allowed Marcial to get the KO victory.

Marcial is looking to eclipse his Asian Games bronze medal finish in the 2018 edition in Indonesia, where he fell to Israil Madrimov of Uzbekistan in the semifinals of men's 75kg event.

Marcial is a bronze medalist from the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and has a silver medal from the 2019 AIBA World Championships. He is also a four-time gold medalist in the Southeast Asian Games.

—Bea Micaller/JMB, GMA Integrated News