Marcial whips Iranian, barges into AIBA semis

MANILA, Philippines — Middleweight Eumir Felix Marcial dished out top form and dispatched Iran’s Seyedshahin Mousavi via a unanimous decision to barge into the semifinal round of the AIBA Elite Men’s World Boxing Championships in Ekaterinburg, Russia yesterday.

Marcial controlled the match early on and frustrated Mousavi with timely hits in the closing round to earn the nods of all five judges, who turned in 30-27 cards for the Zamboanga City native, who moved into the medal round in the 75-kg division.

He’ll next take on Kazakhstan’s Tursynbay Kulahkmet, who is ranked third in the tournament, Friday for a crack at the gold. 

But flyweight Carlo Paalam dropped a close split decision to 2018 Asian Games gold medalist Amit of India, joining featherweight Ian Clark Bautista in the sidelines.

Bautista crashed out of the elims in his second fight (a split decision vs. Argentina’s Mirko Cuello), while nursing a fever.