Mohamed Arjaoui of Morocco is now a two-time Olympic quarterfinalist after topping Cameroon's Blaise Yepmou, 15-6. The bout was a spirited affair, but one in which the Moroccan heavyweight dominated for the most part.
Arjaoui advanced to the quarterfinals of the 2008 Beijing Games but was eliminated by Deontay Wilder, who became the lone member of the '08 U.S. squad to win a medal. Four years later, Arjaoui is once again one fight away from the medal round.
Awaiting him in the Elite Eight is Italy's Roberto Cammarelle, the defending Olympic Gold medalist for this division.
Cammarelle is a heavy favorite to repeat, as was displayed in his 18-10 win over Italo Perea of Ecuador. Standing eight counts early in the fight and at the very end helped bookend an impressive showing by Cammarelle, though Perea refused to go out without a fight, momentarily staggering the Italian in the third before falling back behind.
Four more bouts are scheduled for the evening portion.
On the local front, Great Britain's own Anthony Joshua appears in the very last bout of the evening. Awaiting him is Erislandy Savon of Cuba, nephew of the legendary three-time Olympic Gold medalist Felix Savon.
Super Heavyweights Round of 16 (Wednesday, August 1)
Magomedrasul Majidov (Azerbaijan) def. Meji Mwamba (Congo), RSC-2 (2:09)
Magomed Omarov (Russia) def. Dominic Breazeale (USA), 19-8
Mohamed Arjaoui (Morocco) def. Blaise Yepmou (Cameroon), 15-6
Roberto Cammarelle (Italy) def.
Italo Perea (Ecuador), 18-10
Ivan Dychko (Kazakhstan) vs. Erik Pfiefer (Germany)
Simon Kean (Canada) vs. Tony Yoka (France)
Zhilei Zhang (China) vs. Johan Linde (Australia)
Erislandy Savon (Cuba) vs. Anthony Joshua (Great Britain)ght
Super Heavyweights Quarterfinals (Monday, August 6)
Magomedrasul Majidov (Azerbaijan) vs.
Magomed Omarov (Russia)
Mohamed Arjaoui (Morocco) vs.
Roberto Cammarelle (Italy)
Jake Donovan is the Managing Editor of Boxingscene.com. Follow Jake on Twitter:
@JakeNDaBox