TOKYO - Eumir Marcial's hunt for an Olympic gold was ended by 2017 World Champion Oleksandr Khyzhniak Thursday at the Kokugikan Arena. In an intense battle where both fighters left it all inside the ring, Khyzhniak got the nod from three of the judges.
The scorecards read 30-27 once and 29-28 twice for Khyzhniak while the other two judges saw Marcial as the winner 29-28.
As expected, the Ukrainian did what he always does. He moved forward and threw punches in bunches. Marcial, on the other end, stayed patient as he moved around the ring first to establish his distance. However, Marcial got going midway through the first as he started landing his jab-straight-hook and lead lefts to score against Khyzhniak.
At the end of the first, the judges were split. Two sided with the activity of Khyzhniak while three scored it due to Marcial's cleaner punches.
During the round break, blood poured from the head of Marcial as he was cut from a head butt in the first.
Seeing he was behind on points, Khyzhniak pressed even harder in the second round. Marcial engaged in the middle of the ring as they exchanged heavy leather. There were a few moments where Marcial's back was on the ropes allowing Khyzhniak to connect with his short-range punches. Khyzhniak suffered a cut on the bridge of his nose.
Three of the judges still scored the second for Marcial 10-9.
The two put everything on the line in the third round as they both tried to convince the judges to score the round and the fight for them. Khyzhniak pressed on while Marcial tried to look for that one punch that would turn the fight to his favor for good.
However, Khyzhniak proved to be a tough opponent as even the best of Marcial's punches were not enough to send him down.
All five judges scored the final round 10-9 for Khyzhniak as he moved on to the gold medal match.
Marcial was diplomatic afterwards. "My first thought was maybe God has something else planned for me," he told ESPN5's Paolo Del Rosario in Filipino. "This loss will help me become stronger and improve. It's very painful because this (gold) is what I was really aiming for ever since I was a child. I always wanted to make it to the Olympics and win a gold.
"If I'm given a chance to represent again in the Olympics, I'll grab the opportunity because it's still my dream to win the gold."