Eumir Marcial survived the scare of a lifetime, rising up from three knockdowns to stop the unheralded Isiah Hart in the fourth round Saturday night in Las Vegas.

Marcial (2-0, 1 knockout), a 2020 Olympic bronze medalist from the Philippines, was knocked down once in the first and twice in the second round before stunning Hart with a counter left hand that wobbled Hart and compelled referee Raul Caiz Jr. to stop the bout at the 47-second mark of the six-round middleweight bout.

The stoppage appeared to be early, though Hart was buckled.

Hart led by scores of 29-26 on all three scorecards at the time of the stoppage. Curiously, all three judges scored the first round 10-9, instead of 10-8, despite the knockdown.

Hart (6-3-1, 4 KOs) of Mays Landing, N.J. loses for the third time in four bouts.

Video of the stoppage as Eumir Marcial rescues his unbeaten record with a fourth round TKO of Isiah Hart tonight on the Fundora-Lubin undercard. Marcial had been down 3 times and was on the verge of losing a decision in his second pro fight pic.twitter.com/IZnF5Xu5rn

— Ryan Songalia (@ryansongalia) April 10, 2022

The 26-year-old Marcial appeared eager from the opening bell to end matters early. His approach backfired when a straight right hand from Hart put him flat on his back. A similar pattern continued in the second, with Marcial stunning Hart on multiple occasions, only to hit the deck whenever his chin was touched.

The southpaw Marcial has been a highly prized prospect due to his explosive punching power and amateur experience. Among his accomplishments are a middleweight bronze medal at the Tokyo Games, plus a silver at the 2019 World Championships and a gold at the 2011 Youth World Championships.

Marcial, who is signed to Manny Pacquiao’s MP Promotions, was fighting for the first time under new trainer Jorge Capetillo. Marcial had turned professional in 2020 under Freddie Roach, and was underwhelming in a decision win over Andrew Whitfield.

Marcial had weighed 160.2 pounds at the weigh-in the day before, while Hart was 161.8 pounds.

The fight was among the untelevised preliminaries to the Showtime Championship Boxing card headlined by Erickson Lubin vs. Sebastian Fundora at Virgin Hotels in Las Vegas.

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