By Jake Donovan

One day after Team USA suffered its closest yet most devastating defeat, 6’7” heavyweight Deontay Wilder helped right the ship in becoming the first member of the squad to advance to the quarterfinals. He does so after overcoming a slow start to eventually turn back the challenge of Abdelaziz Toulbini of Algeria, 10-4.

Color commentator Teddy Atlas described the opening round of the bout as “the echoes of Rau’shee Warren’s loss still being heard.” Wilder was uninspiring and in need of a confidence boost after falling behind 2-0 and not registering his first point until late in the second round.

It wasn’t until the third did Wilder finally take over for good. A jab-right hand combination rocked Toulbini early in the frame. Wilder sensed it and went on the attack, landing another shot upstairs to pull ahead for the first time in the fight.

The lead would disappear later in the round, when Wilder was nabbed for holding and hitting behind the head, adding two points to Toulbini’s tally. Back came the American, who landed a left hook to put the Algerian on queer street. Wilder moved in for the kill, but the referee quickly intervened, instead issuing a standing eight count.

The score was tied 4-4 at the end of three, but coach Dan Campbell decided a little white lie would instead better motivate his fighter. Wilder entered the final round under the belief that he was down on the scorecards.

“My coach told me I was down, that I had to speed it up,” said Wilder, who joins Shawn Estrada, Demetrius Andrade and Raynell Williams in the survivor’s circle. “That was my cue right there. This is the Olympics; one point can be a big lead, two points even more.”

The strategy worked, as the Alabama slammer came flying out of the gate, with a series of left hooks and right hands racked up four straight points and  another standing eight count.

Wilder was comfortably ahead with a minute left, but chose to send a message rather than coast to a win. Two more straight right hands prompted the judges to push their respective buttons in unison, giving the American a six point win.

One teammate in particular was pleased with the outcome, as Rau’shee Warren gave the heavyweight a standing ovation for the heavyweight’s performance, which had to inspire the rest of the squad. Interestingly enough, it was his teammate’s shortcomings that encouraged Wilder to step up his own game.

“Just by seeing my teammates fall and their expressions on their face… I can relate to how they’re doing,” said Wilder. “I’ve been there, but I can’t do it this time. I can’t feel that way, someone else will have to do it.

“That motivated me to fight a little harder.”

Because there are so few heavyweights participating in this year’s competition, the first round of the division was actually the Round of 16. This means Wilder now advances to the quarterfinals. It is there he will meet Mohamamed Arjaoui of Morocco, who took an 11-6 win over “Not THAT” Brad Pitt of Australia.

The first shutout of the 2008 Games was posted Wednesday afternoon. Fittingly, it came from a member of the world’s most dominant amateur program, as Cuban heavyweight Osmay Acosta cruised past Olanrewaju Durodola of Nigeria, 11-0.

Acosta owns a win over Wilder, though in order for a rematch to occur, both fighters would have to run the tables in their respective brackets and advance to the finals.

For Acosta to get there, he will have to turn back the challenge of Elias Pavlidis of Greece. The returning Olympian overcome a slow start and early suspect scoring to eventually surge past Milorad Gajovic of Montenegro with a 7-3 win.

With Acosta’s shutout also came the afternoon’s most lopsided score and a bit of revenge for Team Ukraine. A protest was filed following lightweight Olexandr Klyuchko’s 10-8 loss to China’s Hi Qang in opening round competition, only to fall on deaf ears.

Ukraine gets their revenge in the ring, as heavyweight Oleksandr Usyk quickly became public enemy #1 after a 23-4 drubbing of hometown kid Yushan Nijiati in a battle of southpaws.

The bout was as uncompetitive as it was awkward, with neither fighter establishing much of a rhythm. But Usyk exuded superior defense and was always in position for counter opportunities. Not only did he never trail, but always had an immediate response on the few occasions Nijiati was able to register on the scoreboard.

Awaiting Usyk in the quarterfinals is Clemente Russo of Italy. A former cop, Russo participated in the 2004 Summer Olympics as a light heavyweight, but was ousted in the opening round by USA’s  eventual lone gold medalist Andre Ward.

He moved up 10 kg to heavyweight for this year’s competition, and pulled off a significant upset in ousting 2004 Olympic Bronze medalist Viktar Zuyev of Belarus with a 7-1 win in the final round of 16 heavyweight bout.

Team France is now an impressive 6-2 after heavyweight John M’Bumba took his opening round bout with Colombia’s Delvi Julio Blanco by score of 11-5.

If he has any designs on making the semi-finals, he’ll have to avenge a 2007 defeat in the World Amateur Championships. Awaiting him in the quarterfinals is prior conqueror Russian heavyweight Rakhim Chakhkeiv, who advances after his 7-3 win over Ali Mazaheri of Iran.

Team Cameroon is down to just one remaining boxer after Thomas Essomba was eliminated from light flyweight competition. The loss came at the hands of Armenia’s Hovhannes Danielyan, who scored a second round knockdown and overcame a standing eight count to take a 9-3 victory.

Danielyan moves on to the round of 16, where he will face Birzhan Zhakypov of Khazakstan, who barely escaped with a 7-6 win over Pál Bedák of Hungary.

It will be at least a couple of months (if not longer) before France’s Nordine Oubaali gets to join his older brother, undefeated junior welterweight prospect Ali Oubaali, in the pro ranks. For now, he gets to enjoy Olympic success, defeating Rafikjon Sultonov of Uzbekistan in a fight that wasn’t anywhere near as close as the final 8-7 score.

Oubaali was the aggressor throughout, but his work wasn’t being reflected on the scoreboard. A scoreless first went to a 1-1 tie after round two. Despite scoring a standing eight count in round three, Oubaali was still forced to rally from behind to even it up at 5-5 heading into the final round.

He’d eventually surge ahead, but not before taking a standing eight count early into the round to fall behind 6-5. But Oubaali regained control, scoring three straight points and withstanding a late Sultonov rally to advance by the slimmest of margins.

Oubaali had it tough as a kid, growing up as the 13th of 17 siblings. He’ll have it much tougher than that in the second round of competition, where he will face hometown light fly guy Zou Shiming, who blew past Eduard Bermudez of Venezulela by an 11-2 margin.

Shiming defeated Rau’shee Warren in the opening round of the 2004 Olympics en route to a bronze medal. He’s heavily favored to take home the gold this year, and jumped out to an impressive start. The Chinaman easily controlled the real estate against Bermudez, who was shut out through three rounds before finally getting on the scoreboard with two quick points in the fourth. By then he was already down 9-2, with no hope of coming back.

The only thing that went wrong for Shiming was losing his glove midway in the final round. He went to throw a straight right, only for the mitt to fly off of his hand. It was otherwise a whitewash for the hometown kid, who even had the wherewithal to cover up at the final bell, as Bermudez elected to keep fighting well after time expired. 

While Bermudez’ journey ends, the adventures are just beginning for late bloomer Winston Mendez. The 30-year old Dominican advances to the round of 16 after cruising past 32-year old Suleiman Bilal of Kenya with a 9-3 win.

For complete Boxingscene.com Olympic boxing coverage, check out the following links:

Day One Competition:
Full recap - https://www.boxingscene.com/?m=show&id=15327  
Round One Report Card – Shawn Estrada:
https://www.boxingscene.com/?m=show&id=15332

Day Five Competition:
Part One - https://www.boxingscene.com/?m=show&id=15384
Part Two – coming Wednesday evening (following CNBC’s tape-delayed coverage)
Scoreboard - https://www.boxingscene.com/?m=show&id=15386
Round One Report Card – Deontay Wilder: Coming Thursday AM
Round One Report Card – Luis Yanez: Coming Thursday AM

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