Marcial stunned by Uzbek debutant to end Olympic boxing medal bid

MANILA, Philippines — Upset alert.

Tokyo Olympic bronze medalist Eumir Marcial bowed out of the men’s 80 kilogram boxing in the Paris Olympics after getting outpointed by Uzbekistan’s Turabek Khabibullaev, who won via unanimous decision early Wednesday morning (Manila time).

All five judges scored the bout in favor of the Uzbek. Four judges had it 29-28, while one scored in 30-27.

The debuting 20-year-old showed great energy throughout the match, throwing punches in great volume as he used his height and reach to his advantage.

Marcial, who is eight years older, had a hard time connecting on his power punches as Khabibullaev kept the seventh seeded Filipino at bay.

The Filipino tried and tried to look for the knockout punch but it just would not materialize.

Khabibullaev will be facing either Turkiye’s Kaan Aykutsun or Cuba’s Arlen Lopez Cardona in the quarterfinals, who is the second seed of the division.

Four other Filipino boxers are still in the running for a medal -- Nesthy Petecio, Carlo Paalam, Hergie Bacyadan and Aira Villegas.