Eumir Marcial with former pound-for-pound king Gennady Golovkin at the Paris Olympics Athletes’ Village.–Photo from Eumir Marcials Instagram

MANILA, Philippines—Eumir Marcial has yet to make his debut at the Paris Olympics 2024 but he already felt like a winner days before his opening bout.

Marcial on Monday ticked off an item on his bucket list after meeting one of his boxing heroes in former pound-for-pound king Gennady Golovkin at the Olympic Village in France.

“Look who I bumped into at the Olympic Village. The legendary and one of my favorite boxers in the history of the world of boxing,” Marcial wrote on his Instagram.

“Great seeing you here idol!”

Golovkin is also in Paris for the Summer Games due to his role as the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan’s National Olympic Committee.

The 42-year-old Golovkin (42-2-1, 37KOs) has not fought since a unanimous decision loss to Canelo Alvarez in their third showdown for the undisputed middleweight title back in September 2022.

Golovkin and Marcial are not only fighting in the same division in the pros but they’re also both Olympic medalists.

Also a decorated amateur, Golovkin won silver in the 2004 Summer Games in Athens, Greece while Marcial bagged the bronze at the Tokyo Olympics. Marcial is 5-0 as a pro.

Marcial opens his medal bid in Paris on Wednesday, 3:04 a.m. (Manila time) against Turabek Khabibullaev in the 80kg Round of 16 at North Paris Arena.