EUMIR MARCIAL did not disappoint in his second 2020 Tokyo Summer Olympics bout, knocking out Armenia’s Armin Darchinyan in round one of the Men’s Middleweight Quarterfinal earlier today at the Kokugikan Arena in Tokyo.
The 2019 AIBA world championship silver-medalist wasted no time in the first round as he focused on strikes to Darchinyan’s body. The continuous body shots caused a breakdown in Darchinyan’s defense—presenting Marcial with an opening to land combinations aimed at his foe’s head. One of those quick combinations resulted in a standing eight count in favor of the Filipino, as the referee deemed Darchinyan unable to defend himself from Marcial’s punches.
After the count, both fighters continued to counter each other’s punches. However, Marcial was the more effective fighter as he unleashed a mixture of jabs and feints to set up a blistering right hook that knocked Darchinyan down to the canvas. With the Armenian dazed, the referee called a halt to the bout with 49 seconds left in the first round.
With this impressive knockout, Marcial is assured of at least a bronze medal. He will face reigning European middleweight champion Oleksandr Khyzhniak in the semifinals. The bout will be on August 5 in the Kokugikan Arena at 2:03 PM Manila time. The winner of this match-up will move up to the gold medal match.
The two remaining quarterfinal matches for today are the following: Brazil’s Herbert Sousa versus Kazakhstan’s Ablikhan Amankul, and Haiti’s Darrelle Valsaint Jr. versus the Russian Olympic Committee’s Gleb Bakshi.
