Marcial to live dream in Pacquiao undercard

Eumir Felix Marcial. AP FILE PHOTO

Eumir Marcial is about to tick another item off his bucket list.

Confined as a fan in past Manny Pacquiao fights, Marcial will step into the ring in exactly the same atmosphere where his idol springs out of retirement as he fights in the undercard of the eight-division champion’s comeback against Mario Barrios on July 19.

“I watched all of his fights on TV and got into boxing because I was so inspired by Manny Pacquiao,” said Marcial, the Tokyo Olympics middleweight bronze medalist. “I can’t describe the feeling of happiness to be there on the same stage with him.’’

“It was always been my dream to fight on a card alongside my idol,’’ said Marcial, who will take on American Alexis Gaytan in an eight-round, middleweight nontitle bout at MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada.

The 29-year-old southpaw from Zamboanga City has an unbeaten pro record of five wins, with his last victory coming via a fourth-round flooring of Thailand’s Thoedsak Sinam in March 2023 in front of a home crowd at Ninoy Aquino Stadium.

Marcial recently arrived in Los Angeles, California, with former world champions Jerwin Ancajas, Mark Magsayo and Jonas Sultan to join the Pacquiao in training.

“I represented the Philippines in the Olympics twice with pride, won the bronze, but my real dream is to fight alongside our Hall of Famer. This will finally turn into reality,’’ said Marcial.