Eumir Marcial, Aira Villegas on to SEA Games boxing finals

Filipino boxing continued its strong run at the 33rd Southeast Asian (SEA) Games on Wednesday as two of the country’s most accomplished pugilists punched their tickets to the gold medal rounds.

Olympians Eumir Marcial and Aira Villegas emerged victorious in their respective semifinal bouts at the Chulalongkorn University Sports Center, giving the Philippines four finalists in the boxing competition.

Marcial, a Tokyo 2020 Olympic bronze medalist and one of the Philippines’ most decorated boxers, delivered a dominant performance in the men’s 80kg semifinals against Vietnam’s Nguyen Manh Cuong.

 The Filipino star scored a decisive stoppage victory when the referee halted the contest in the second round.

The 30-year-old Marcial dropped Nguyen with a crushing right hook late in the second round, forcing the referee’s intervention. 

With the win, Marcial kept his bid alive for what would be his fifth SEA Games gold medal, having previously topped the podium in 2015, 2017, 2019, and 2021.

Marcial’s next challenge will come in the finals against a tough Indonesian opponent, Maikhel Roberrd Muskita, who enters the title match with a strong SEA Games background. 

The bout is scheduled for Friday, December 19, where Marcial will look to cap his campaign with the top prize after a masterful display in the semifinals.

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EUMIR Marcial finishes off foe from Myanmar with one punch. WATCH

FULL STORY: https://t.co/1zA0R7KRuJ pic.twitter.com/CGVg48mLKH

— SPIN.ph (@spinph) December 17, 2025

In the women’s 50kg flyweight division, Aira Villegas kept the Filipino flag flying with a convincing unanimous decision over Myanmar’s Mya Moe Thu.

She is set to face the winner of the matchup between Thailand’s Chuthamat Raksat and Indonesia’s Israellah Athena Bonita Saweho in Friday’s gold medal bout.

The pair of Marcial and Villegas joins Jay Bryan Baricuatro and Flint Jara as Filipino boxers who will vie for gold medals later this week.

Baricuatro advanced with a referee-stopped win in the men’s 48kg division, while Jara secured his finals berth with a unanimous decision in the 54kg class.

Despite Weljon Mindoro’s disappointment in losing the men’s 75kg semifinals, the Philippines now has four boxing finalists to potentially add to the nation’s medal tally. 

All boxing gold medal matches are scheduled for December 19 at the same venue in Bangkok.

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