By Jake Donovan

There wasn’t any biting nor were any of the bouts scratched in the final batch of Quarterfinals matches. But just because the evening’s action in Beijing lacked the drama and controversy produced by Tuesday’s offering, didn’t make Wednesday any less memorable.

The final batch of Quarterfinals matches in the 2008 Olympic boxing competition saw India grab its first ever boxing medal, Great Britain and Ireland set up a pair of grudge matches in the semi-finals as well as two head-to-head matches in store for Cuba and Russia, with potential for a third if the lightweight bracket plays out as expected.

Action wrapped up in the flyweight and middleweight divisions, setting the stage for medal-round matches to begin Friday after all divisions enjoy an off day on Thursday. Of the 44 remaining boxers in the 11 weight classes, 8 come from Team Cuba, far and away the boxing medal leader of the 2008 Games.

Team India may pale in comparison, but its one medal qualifier (middleweight Vijender Kumar) represents their first ever in boxing competition. Kumar became a part of history following a convincing 9-4 win over Ecuador’s Carlos Gongora, fittingly enough in the final bout of the quarterfinal round.

Perhaps more befitting is what awaits Kumar in Friday’s middleweight semi-final – one of the eight Cubans looking to upgrade from current bronze status.

Emilio Correa gained two things on Wednesday he hadn’t previously experienced – a guarantee of an Olympic medal, and a close fight in the 2008 Games. His 9-7 win over Elshod Rasulov of Uzbekistan was his closest margin of victory among his three fights, after having previously won by scores of 17-4 and 18-4. But it’s a win he’ll take, having previously suffered a stoppage loss to Rasulov in 2004.

Correa’s dominance in the earlier rounds has become the standard for the Cuban boxing squad, further exhibited by flyweight Andry Laffita. Now heading into the semi-finals, Laffita’s two opponents (he received an opening-round bye) have managed only five total points.

A measly two came Wednesday from McWilliams Arroyo, the last remaining member of Team Puerto Rico prior to his 9-2 quarterfinals loss to the Cuban.

Though 30-years old, this represents Laffita’s first Olympic appearance after having spent years in the shadow of – and repeatedly losing to - Yuriorkis Gamboa and Yan Barthelemy. A two-year suspension for steroid use only further extracted from his prime, but the flyweight is making the most of a first time tour that could very well be his last hurrah.

No question that he faces a monumental task in more ways than one regarding Friday’s semi-final bout. He faces Russia’s Georgy Balakshin, who outlasted India’s Jitender Kumar, 15-11.

Balakshin was a member of Russia’s 2004 Olympic boxing squad, making it as far as the quarterfinals before being ousted by Gamboa, thus setting the standard for Laffita to live up to in this year’s medal round match.

The good news for both fighters is that a win should all but ensure a Gold medal at flyweight, as either fighter would be heavily favored over the last two bottom-half bracket survivors.

Thailand’s Somjit Jongjohor announced before the start of the Games that this would be his last lap as an amateur boxer. At 33 years old, it sounds like a plan that’s right on time, if not a few years overdue. The Thai flyweight is making the most of it, cruising to the medal round after an 8-1 dusting of Tajikistan’s Anvar Yunusov.

The win for Jongjohor sets up a rematch of the 2007 World Amateur Championships, thanks to Vicenze Picardi’s 7-5 win over Walid Cherif. The Italian lost to Jongjohor at the same exact stage in last year’s aforementioned tournament, with revenge undoubtedly on his mind. 

Another medal-round rematch takes place in the middleweight division. It’s also the second of two Ireland-Great Britain grudge matches to take place on Friday, thanks to James Degale (GB) and Darren Sutherland (Ireland) winning their respective quarterfinal bouts.

Neither fighter has yet to experience a close fight in the 2008 Games and weren’t about to start on Wednesday. Degale breezed through his medal-qualifying bout against Bakhtiyar Artayev of Kazakhstan.

A switch-hitting southpaw, Degale jumped out an early lead with a left hook thrown from the orthodox stance. He’d spend the rest of the afternoon switching back and forth, but one thing that remained constant was his lead as Degale never trailed in taking an 8-3 win.

Degale has now outscored his Olympic opponents 32-12, though it would take a career-best performance and then some to maintain that same level of dominance in Friday’s semi-final.

Of course, the Londoner will gladly settle for a repeat of his last meet with Sutherland.

All told the two combatants have squared off five times, with Sutherland enjoying a 4-1 lead. But it’s that one loss that sticks out the most for the ferocious hitting Irishman, as it came earlier this year in the first Olympic qualifier. Degale took a 23-22 nod to secure a spot on the Great Britain squad, while Sutherland was forced to fight on for the right to compete.

He’s since taken out his frustrations on the rest of the world. Four blowouts in the second qualifier have been followed up by a pair of landslide Olympic victories to storm into the middleweight semi-finals.

Amidst the outcry of suspect scoring in this year’s Games, Sutherland appears to be the one cat that consistently impresses the judges. A Round of 16 stoppage over Nabber Kassil came with just four seconds remaining in a bout where Sutherland was already winning 24-14.

Wednesday afternoon saw the bum-rush continue. In looking to avenge his most recent loss to Degale, Sutherland gained vengeance over another prior conqueror, pummeling Venezuela’s Alfonso Blanco in an 11-1 rout.

Blanco defeated Sutherland in the 2007 World Amateur Championship semi-finals, but could only cringe as Irish eyes were smiling and Irish fists were reigning down on his torso. Sutherland jumped out to a 3-0 lead and never let up, ratting off eight straight points after Blanco would score his lone point of the bout early in the second round.

Degale-Sutherland V is now set for Friday afternoon, about six hours before their respective countrymen, Tony Jeffries and Kenneth Egan, do battle in the light heavyweight semi-finals.

Plenty of bite left in these Olympic Games, with or without teeth marks left behind.

Falling behind on your Olympic boxing intake? Catch up by clicking on the following link for the complete archive of Boxingscene.com’s unmatched Olympic coverage:

BOXINGSCENE.COM 2008 OLYMPIC BOXING CATALOG

Jake Donovan is a voting member of the Boxing Writers Association of America. Comments/questions can be submitted to JakeNDaBox@gmail.com .