It has been 16 months since Eumir Marcial was inside a boxing ring for a professional fight – but less than a year since he last competed.

Marcial, a 29-year-old middleweight from the Philippines, last fought in July 2024 when he lost a decision against Uzbekistan’s Turabek Khabibullaev in the opening round of the Tokyo Olympics. It was a disappointing setback for Marcial, who just three years earlier had taken bronze in the men’s 165lbs division. Although Marcial was moving up in weight after his previous division had been eliminated, his Olympic experience made him a medal favorite to some.

Instead of providing momentum for Marcial’s pro career, the bout was a setback that caused him to lose his focus on boxing.

“I was very depressed after losing in the Olympics,” admitted Marcial, now 5-0 (3 KOs) in the pros. “It was hard for me to put my gloves on again because I’m still hurt on my Olympic journey.”

At the same time, Marcial was dealing with the dissolution of his marriage, which played out in public through news reports and social media.

Eventually, he found solace in the last place the average person would search for it: the boxing ring.

“Only boxing makes me think that I need to keep going, do the things that you love – which is boxing,” Marcial said. “After 2024, I spoke to [MP Promotions President] Sean Gibbons. He told me to fix everything, and if you’re good to go, go back to the training and we’ll get ready for the fight.”

With his focus restored, Marcial will return to the ring Saturday to fight Bernard Joseph, 11-2-1 (5 KOs), over a scheduled eight rounds at middleweight. The fight will take place on the undercard of the Manny Pacquiao-Mario Barrios headliner at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.

Marcial says that Pacquiao – who is ending a four-year retirement with his challenge of Barrios, the reigning WBC welterweight titleholder – has given him more than just a spot on his undercard.

“Getting advice from him, it really means a lot for me,” said the southpaw power-puncher Marcial. “It’s like magic. When he tells you something, you feel like you absorb everything.”

Now Marcial, a native of Zamboanga City in the Philippines, splits his time between his home country and Las Vegas, where he trains out of Knucklehead Boxing under Kay Koroma – the Washington, D.C., native best known for his work with Shakur Stevenson and Bruce Carrington – and receives additional training under Joven Jimenez, the trainer/manager of former IBF junior bantamweight titleholder Jerwin Ancajas.

Marcial says that, outside of the rounds being longer, there is little adjustment that he needs to make from amateur boxing. Now, with the Olympics behind him, Marcial says he is firmly focused on the pros, which is something he hasn’t been able to say since his first pro fight, in 2020. Following his pro debut, Marcial made his Olympic debut in 2021, then returned to the pros in 2022, surviving a life-and-death challenge from Isiah Hart in which he was knocked down three times, only to stop the journeyman in the fourth round. Marcial fought sparsely afterwards, using his pro fights mostly as stay-busy fodder between Olympic campaigns.

Marcial says that the plan for him, according to discussions he has had with Gibbons and Pacquiao, is to fight twice more before the end of 2025. Then, if he can make significant progress, he will move towards a challenge for a world title in 2026.

“I’m not getting any younger; I’m 29 now, so I have to focus on my pro career. I need to focus on one goal, which is to become a world champion,” said Marcial, who adds that Pacquiao has vowed to train him when he challenges for a world title.

First, he must get past Joseph, a 35-year-old from Dorchester, Massachusetts. Joseph, who turned pro in 2021 in Mexico, has been more active this year than Marcial, having lost a majority decision to Casey James Streeter last month. Prior to that, Joseph won the New England middleweight title in February.

At Friday’s weigh-in, Marcial weighed 162lbs, while Joseph was slightly lighter at 1618lbs.

“I just need to be ready for everybody, because even the ranked fighters in my weight are very good,” said Marcial. “It’s very hard at middleweight, and there are a lot of fighters who are waiting for a title shot. So I need to beat them before I go to the title fight, right? I just need to improve every day and win the fight.”

Ryan Songalia is a reporter and editor for BoxingScene.com and has written for ESPN, the New York Daily News, Rappler, The Guardian, Vice and The Ring magazine. He holds a Master’s degree in Journalism from the Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism and is a member of the Boxing Writers Association of America. He can be reached at ryansongalia@gmail.com or on Twitter at @ryansongalia.