Marcial confident of dooming Thai foe with uppercut

MANILA, Philippines -- Once his left uppercut connected, Eumir Marcial knew that his opponent, Thailand’s Thoedsak Sinam, would not be standing anymore.

Marcial knocked the lights out of Sinam Saturday night in the fourth round of his homecoming bout at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium in Manila with a vicious left uppercut.

The two were trading blows in the fourth round, but the Filipino Olympic bronze medalist unleashed a booming left uppercut that stunned Sinam, whose legs fell stiff before hitting the canvas.

It took a good few minutes before the Thai boxer gathered consciousness and he had to be helped up.

Marcial, after the match, said he was setting up the left uppercut the whole bout.

“When I saw my uppercut landed, I told myself that maybe [Sinam] will not stand anymore. I was targeting it since the first round, I tried it several times, but I said that if the uppercut lands, the match is over,” he told reporters in Filipino.

“When I saw that he was hit and became dizzy, I told myself he will not stand anymore,” he added.

The Filipino used the first round to size up the 28-year-old Thai fighter, but in the succeeding rounds, he turned up the heat with jabs and combinations.

And, in the fourth round, Marcial was able to keep Sinam in the corner. The former continued to land shots, as the latter attempted a body shot.

This was when the Asian Games silver medalist landed the picture-perfect left uppercut.

“During our fight, I said by the third round, I want to knock him out. I tried several times, and my punches were wild, so I heard my corner tell me to settle down because I might get hit. So, I stayed composed and I tried again in the fourth round,” he bared.

Despite getting the win via uppercut, the Paris Olympic-bound boxer emphasized that the jabs got him to that point.

“In the first round, second round, I was trying to land the uppercut on his chin instead of the body. I tried it twice in the second round, then I said, I have to maintain my jab and the time will come that the uppercut will land,” he said.

“And that was our setup and it became successful,” he added.

And, with the Paris Olympics on the horizon, he will continue to work on his jabs.

“That is what we’re working at, my jabs. I have to be sharper and more effective when using it, especially in the amateur ranks.”

The Filipino heavy-hitter will take a rest for a week before going back to training.