KUALA LUMPUR — (UPDATED) Eumir Felix Marcial earned the Philippines' first boxing gold of the 2017 Southeast Asian Games following a dominant performance in the final of the 75-kg (middleweight) division on Thursday afternoon at MiTEC's Hall 8 here.

Marcial, who won gold as a welterweight back in 2015 in Singapore, was aggressive right from the start, as he repeatedly peppered Thailand's Pathomsak Kuttiya with punches to the head from the opening bell.

Eumir Felix Marcial wins Gold in 75kg division! #SEAGames2017 pic.twitter.com/JMVQAsMWt0

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Kuttiya managed to keep in step with Marcial in the opening round, but the Filipino's heavy blows began to take their toll in the second round. In the third, Marcial secured the victory by landing a vicious left straight that forced the referee to give the Thai a standing eight-count.

Marcial got all the judges' nod for a 5-0 victory, to go home with his second SEA Games gold.

"Hindi rin ako nag-kumpyansa, kasi siyempre Thailand 'yan, No. 1 na kalaban ng Pilipinas (sa boxing)," said Marcial. "Parati lang ako nag-iisip, tinitingnan ko 'yung video niya, at sa ring ko na lang ina-apply."

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What made Marcial's performance all the more impressive is that he was fighting with a lingering injury in his left hand – the one he often uses to land his powerful straight punch.

"Last year pa ito, noong qualifying sa Olympics," he said. "Ilang beses na ginamot, pero pabalik-balik pa rin 'yung injury."

"Tinitiis ko na lang talaga," he added.

It was a dominant SEA Games campaign for Marcial, who dominated Vietnam's Nguyen Manh Cuong to win by points in the quarterfinals, then left no doubt by crushing Malaysia's Indran Al Rama Krishnan in the semifinals.

With two gold medals already in his collection, Marcial will shift his attention to training for the Asian Games and the Tokyo Olympics.

(For more sports coverage, visit the ABS-CBN Sports website.)