2008 Olympic Boxing Results, Day Five (Part Two)

By Jake Donovan

If Tuesday was the low point for the 2008 United States Olympic boxing squad, then Wednesday easily has to rank among its most memorable to date, going two-for-two on the afternoon that saw the opening round of competition come to a close in Beijing, China.

Rau’shee Warren’s shocking opening round loss clearly sent shockwaves through the squad, with Luis Yanez following Deontay Wilder’s lead earlier in the afternoon. The light flyweight came in highly motivated for his opening round bout against Kelvin de la Nieve, spending the Spaniard home with a 12-9 victory to become the fifth member of Team USA to advance to the round of 16.

Much like Wilder’s heavyweight bout hours prior, Yanez found himself in a bit of a donnybrook in the early portions of the bout, clinging on to a 5-4 lead after two rounds.

The third round became the difference in the fight. The Texas-based southpaw erupted for five points in the two-minute frame to take a commanding 10-6 lead. de la Nieve tried his damnest to rally back in the final round, but to no avail.

More so than extending the team’s winning streak to two, the win for Yanez is a huge sigh of relief on the personal level. The squad was dubbed “Team Turmoil” due to head coach Dan Campbell, an old-school no-nonsense disciplinarian, clashing with several fighters, most of whom are upwards of 45 years his junior.

In the thick of thing was the 19-year old Yanez, who at one point was booted from the squad after being classified as AWOL. The Texan successfully appealed the ruling and was granted permission to return.

As far as he’s concerned, it’s all old news.

“I wanted to go in there and put everything behind us,” said Yanez. “I’m here and we’re working hard.”

Of course, there’s plenty of work left ahead, a fact not lost on the southpaw

“I’ll continue to work hard until I get that gold medal.”

Such would be a monumental achievement, considering the strength of this year’s light flyweight bracket. It doesn’t help Yanez’ cause that China’s own Zou Shiming is heavily favored to win the division.

The good news for Yanez is that he won’t have to worry about Shiming until the finals, if both are able to make it that far.

Even better news is, most of the best light flyweight Olympians appear in the top half bracket - not that Yanez or any other American boxer will ever again take a single second of any other fight for granted.

Next up for the teenager is Purevdori Serdamba of Mongolia, who sent packing the lone member of the Ugandan boxing squad, Ronald Serugo, with a 9-5 victory.

Hours before Team Cuba would see its first fighter lose in the 2008 Games, first time Olympian Yampier Hernandez carried on the trend of opening round dominance, blowing past Tajikistan’s Sherali Dostiev with a 12-1 verdict.

Hernandez benefited from the December ’06 defection of three key former team members – Yuriorkis Gamboa, Odlanier Solis and Yan Barthelemy. It was Barthelemy’s departure that left open a light flyweight roster slot.

Despite Cuba’s rich history of dominating the Olympics, Hernandez is anything but a sure thing. He already suffered losses to two current Olympians on the road to Beijing – Yanez in last year’s Pan Am Games and Dominican Republic’s Winston Mendez earlier this year in the second qualifier.

Awaiting him in the round of 16 is Georgiy Chygayev. The Ukrainian light flyweight advances by virtue of a significant upset, barely outlasting former European champion David Ayrapetyan of Russia by score of 13-11.

Another upset followed soon thereafter, as 2004 Olympian Harry Tañamor of the Philippines was ousted by 20-year old Ghanaian banger Manyo Plange, 11 years the Pinoy’s junior. Plange becomes just the second member of Team Ghana to advance to the second round of competition after winning 6-3 in the second to last light flyweight contest of the day.

Plange will next meet Brazil’s Paulo Carvalho, who had a surprisingly easy go in a 13-7 rout of 2004 Olympian Redouane Bouchtouk of Morocco.

Like Yampier Hernandez, super heavyweight Robert Alfonso was yet another member of Team Cuba to benefit from the aforementioned mass exodus of 2006. With longtime rival (and conqueror) Odlanier Solis out of the picture, the path was cleared for Alfonso to fulfill his long awaited Olympic dream.

His first fight became a nightmare, dropping a 5-3 verdict to Vyacheslav Glakzov of Ukraine in the evening’s opening super heavyweight contest.

The loss is the first in the 2008 Games for a Cuban team that has nine fighters still alive in the next round. Team Ukraine has been just as dominant, with Glakzov’s win making him the seventh member of his squad to see action beyond the opening round. Their lone loss was Oleksandr Klyuchko’s hotly contested nailbiter against China’s Hu Qing, a verdict that was vehemently protested by Ukrainian team officials on the basis of questionable scoring (read: hometown favoritism), but ultimately – and correctly – fell on deaf ears.

Glakzov advances to the super heavyweight quarterfinals, where he faces Newfel Ouatah, who pulled out a 7-5 upset over Venezuela’s José Payares.

The fighter whom Ouatah defeated to qualify for the Olympics, Mohamed Amanissi of Morocco, was no match for China’s giant southpaw Zhang Zhilei, who dominated in a 15-0 walkover.

From a four-round pasting to a one-minute blitzing came the next bout. Kazakhstan’s Ruslan Myrsatayev scored the quickest stoppage of the competition to date, needing just 49 seconds to get rid of Daniel Beahan of Australia.

Great Britain’s David Price was just as dominant, even if he needed 2 ½ more minutes to turn the trick. Where Price gets the edge is in the greater significance of the win, scoring a major upset with a second round knockout over Russia’s Islam Timurziev, who was heavily favored to fill the World super heavyweight void left behind by Odlanier Solis.

Price will most likely enter his next fight as the underdog as well. He will face 2004 Olympian Jaroslavas Jakšto in the quarterfinals after the 28-year old Lithuanian zoomed past Onorede Ehwareme of Nigeria with an 11-1 win.

Traveling a similar path is Colombia’s Oscar Rivas, who scored a minor upset 11-5 win over Bulgaria’s Kubrat Pulev. A win in the quarterfinals would be an upset of epic proportions for the 21-year old, as he next faces 2004 Olympic bronze medalist Roberto Cammarelle of Italy.

With Timurziev’s departure, Cammarelle has to now be considered the odds-on favorite to capture Olympic gold. One of the most established amateurs in the 2008 Games, the 28-year old Italian had no problem making it out of the round of 16 this year, winning 13-1 over Marko Tomasović of Croatia.

Opening round competition is now complete, with Thursday afternoon marking the start of the round of 16 for all divisions from light flyweight through light heavyweight.

With only 16 boxers a piece participating in the heavyweight and super heavyweight divisions, the big boys don’t return until the quarterfinals, which begins on Sunday afternoon.

More on Team USA and The Quest For Gold:

Day One Competition:

https://www.boxingscene.com/?m=show&id=15327

Round One Report Card – Shawn Estrada:

https://www.boxingscene.com/?m=show&id=15332

Day Two Competition:

Part One - https://www.boxingscene.com/?m=show&id=15336

Part Two - https://www.boxingscene.com/?m=show&id=15339

Scoreboard - https://www.boxingscene.com/?m=show&id=15337

Round One Report Card – Javier Molina:

https://www.boxingscene.com/?m=show&id=15341

Round One Report Card – Demetrius Andrade: