Lauren Price becomes the fourth member of the Great Britain Olympic boxing team to advance to the medal round. The number-one seed at middleweight, Price is now set to appear in the semifinals following a three-round shutout of Panama's Atheyna Bylon. Scores were 30-26, 30-26, 30-26, 30-26 and 29-27.
In a more perfect world, Hovhannes Bachkov (Armenia) and Jayid Chalabiyev (Azerbaijan) would have met much later in the tournament. Their all-out slugfest instead came in the Round of 16, which meant one fighter had to exit well beyond the medal round. Bachkov avoided such a fate, as he advances to the lightweight quarterfinals after edging Chalabiyev on four of the five cards Saturday afternoon at Kokugikan Arena in Tokyo. Chalabiyev forced an aggressive pace early and the fight never slowed down from there. The Azerbaijani had his right hand ready to launch every time Bachkov worked his way inside. It set the tone for a savage brawl that deserved a crowd and better stakes than a second round pairing.
Shabhodikin Zoirov is one of four returning Olympians among an Uzbekistan team that brought 11 participants to Tokyo. The defending 2016 Olympic Gold medalist remains just one of four on that team still alive in competition, following his unanimous decision win over Daniel David Varela de Pina (Cape Verde).
Yet another historic boxing figure has emerged from the Philippines. Nesthy Petecio has etched her name in the record books throughout her incredible run in the Tokyo Olympics. The latest entry puts the Filipino southpaw one win away from Gold in the women's featherweight division after outlasting Italy's legendary amateur Irma Testa in the semifinal round Saturday afternoon at Kokugikan Arena in Tokyo.
Keyshawn Davis continues to justify all of the hype. The lightweight sharpshooter stormed into the quarterfinal round following a second-round stoppage of France's Sofiane Oumiha, a returning medalist and the division's top seed. A right hand by Davis left Oumiha frozen, forcing a standing eight count with the bout waved off immediately thereafter at 2:07 of round two.
Abner Teixeira was given all that he could handle before finally turning away a determined Hussein Eishaish in their quarterfinal slugfest. Muslim Gadzhimagomedov (ROC) becomes the second fighter from his independently-represented team to advance to the medal round, following a decision win over Ammar Riad Abdul Jabbar (Germany). Gadzhimagomedov—the number-one seed at heavyweight—won by scores of 30-26, 30-27, 30-27, 30-27 and 29-28.
Imam Khataev continues to be a problem for the rest of the light heavyweight field. The compact bruiser remains one of six R.O.C. athletes still alive in competition and the first from the independently represented team to advance to the medal round. Khataev powered his way to the light heavyweight semifinals following an emphatic third-round knockout of Gazimagomed Jalidov in Thursday's quarterfinal match at Kokugikan Arena in Tokyo. Khataev left Jalidov stunned in round two in producing a standing eight count before closing the show with a right hand to put Jalidov down and out. The fight was waved off after a brief count, with Khataev hailed as the winner just before the bell to end the third and final round.
Delante 'Tiger' Johnson was three rounds away from becoming the first U.S. welterweight in more than 30 years to medal. Then came along Roniel Iglesias to end that dream, while creating history of his own. A valiant effort by Cleveland's Johnson came up short in his semifinal bout with Cuba's Iglesias, losing on all five scorecards as he was eliminated from welterweight competition Thursday evening at Kokugikan Arena in Tokyo. Scores were 30-27, 30-27, 30-27, 29-28 and 29-28 in favor of Iglesias, a two-time Bronze medalist (2008, 2012) who is guaranteed his third Olympic medal.
Pat McCormack continues to get it right throughout his second Olympic tour. The welterweight representative for Great Britain guarantees his nation at least Bronze following a repeat win over Bobo-Usmon Baturov in their quarterfinal bout Thursday afternoon at Kokugikan Arena in Tokyo.
Oshae Jones righted the ship for the U.S. Olympic boxing team. The fighting pride of Toledo, Ohio advanced to the quarterfinal round in the welterweight division following a three-round decision win over Dominican Republic's Maria Moronta. Scores were 30-27, 30-27, 29-28 and 29-28 in favor of Jones, who scored a knockdown in round two and remained a step ahead throughout the bout Thursday at Kokugikan Arena in Tokyo.