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Eumir Marcial got off to an auspicious start to his professional boxing career with a four-round dominance over Andrew Whitfield at the Shrine Exposition Center in Los Angeles, California on Wednesday (Thursday in Manila).
With legendary trainer Freddie Roach manning his corner, Marcial dominated the four-round bout as all three judges scored it as a shutout, 40-36. Marcial threw 310 punches and landed 120, while his opponent only landed 46 in the match.
It was evident that the Filipino fighter missed being at the top of the ring when Marcial began the fight by charging in his flaunted left hand with Whitfield’s straight to the head and midsection. The Filipino landed 11 clean shots in the first minute of the fight to set an early pace.
The American proved to be a living opponent, as he also landed with a fair number of combinations in the first round, and his best shot was an inside right uppercut that shook Marcial’s head.
In the second round, Marcial caught Whitfield carelessly entering while landing a strong left straight that nearly took him to a knockdown. Even if it was peppered with combinations, Whitfield kept moving forward, drawing on Marcial’s strength.
The end of the second round made it clear that Whitfield was taking heavy leather from Marcial when the area under his right eye began to swell. Marcial’s confidence was through the roof in the third round when Whitfield also started to slow down. It was like target practice for a Filipino fighter, as his opponent’s defense was porous, especially in the body.
Whitfield entered the fourth round with his right eye nearly closed with swelling. The 29-year-old American’s record fell to three wins to two losses.
Meanwhile, Jayson Mama’s world title shot against Moruti Mthalane for the International Boxing Federation flyweight championship was canceled. Boxing South Africa announced that it became clear on December 11 that Tono Promotions “did not meet the basic requirements to allow the BSA to sanction and give credibility to the event.”
Unfortunately, it took BSA five more days to announce the cancellation after discovering that the promoter was not able to organize the card for reasons that were not announced. Quick action could have saved Mama from the long trip from the Philippines to Durban, South Africa, which was not easy in the current situation.
