By Michael J. Campbell
2008 USA Boxing Olympic Trials, at the George R. Brown Convention Center in Houston, TX.
Afternoon select fights review:
Luis Yanez over Jerail Singleton by RSC-3 - The Pan American games Gold Medalist continued to tear up his domestic competition en route to another stoppage. He lands with very heavy hands and doesn’t respect his opponent’s punching power so his bouts have exciting action and many eight counts. After sending Singleton backwards with a series of hooks resulting in the referee’s count, Yanez jumped back into action with a combination that would end the bout at the ref’s discretion. Yanez will fight Diego Hurtado tomorrow.
Ronny Rios over Samuel DiPace, 41-27 - The bout began with both fighters standing directly in front of one another and matching each other blow for blow. Tight defense deflected many punches but Rios landed the more solid blows while DiPace’s missed their mark more often. Rios would score 2 standing 8 counts. Lots of clinching and referee warnings as the action was very close in fighting, a phone booth type match. The bout was a crowd pleaser with an intense finish.
Roberto Marroquin over Sergio Perales, 26-25 - This was a battle of two Texans who both scored single point upsets on day 1. Both fighters had impressive contingents in the crowd. Marroquin had a height advantage over the southpaw Perales who would circle his opponent who kept his back to the center of the ring. Perales used good counterpunching to bloody Marroquin’s nose in the 2nd round. In the 3rd Marroquin wobbled Perales and the match intensity went up a notch. In the 4th Perales seeing blood and sensing Marroquin tiring slightly in a very tight contest closed the fight throwing tons of punches for a great finish. Marroquin and Rios will face each other tomorrow.
Gary Russell Jr over David Clark, 25-7 - This matched the two upset victims from day 1 with the loser’s tournament coming to an end. Both fighters were very cautious in the 1st round, sizing each other up. The second half of the fight saw more free swinging hooks which mostly missed or were deflected. The key was counterpunching and Russell showed he was superior in that regard as well as having great elusiveness after finishing his punch combinations. Russell Jr must now battle his way through the Challenger’s bracket to make it into Saturday’s final.
Jerry Belmontes over Mason Menard, 31-14 - Belmontes is proving to be one of the top fighters at 132 lbs. Both fighters had good crowd support being from the surrounding regions. Displaying superior defense and movement, Belmontes opened a big lead and cruised to victory. He will face Sadam Ali tomorrow.
Keith Thurman over Boyd Melson, RET-2 - Thurman continues to be the buzz of the tournament with his exciting style. Rarely throwing a jab, he prefers to use timing to rock his opponents and did so again today stopping the 2004 World Military Champion after two rounds. Melson circled and stayed out of range in round one. Thurman stopped his perimeter travel in round 2 with two left hooks. Now with his opponent in front of him, Thurman rocked his foe with a big punch and Melson held on trying to avoid hitting the canvas. As soon as the referee called for action to resume, Keith timed a straight left which landed flush resulting in an eight count just before the bell ending round 2. Melson’s corner opted to end the fight before round three.
Demetrius Andrade over Charles Hatley, RSCO-3 - This was one of the most anticipated matches of the tournament pitting the 2007 Pan American Games Silver medalist versus the 2007 U.S. Championships winner. As soon as the (cow, yes this is Texas) bell was rung to signal the bout’s commencement, the two fighters lined up and exchanged non-stop action. Hatley was initiating the encounters, but Andrade was much more effective blocking most shots and landing many clean ones of his own. As the cowbell rang to end the round, neither fighter wanted to stop and they went face to face jawing at each other before the referee could send them to their corners. Andrade built a 18-2 lead after the 1st round. The 2nd round was much more cautious with Hatley looking to land from outside and Andrade patiently awaiting engagement. When the 3rd round began, Andrade knew he only needed to land a few more punches to end the bout on points. A 20 point lead during rounds 1, 2 or 3 results in an automatic victory. Aggressively taking the fight to his foe, Andrade unloaded a combination which brought the bout to an end. Andrade and Thurman meet tomorrow, while Hatley must battle his way back via the challenger’s bracket of this double elimination tournament.
Christopher Downs over Cymone Kearney, RSC-1 - Downs story is one for the movies. He represents the U.S. Army and served in Iraq. He’s both the oldest participant in the tournament and also the most inexperienced, yet he claimed a Bronze medal at the 2007 Pan American games. Thirty-four years old, and with only four years of boxing experience, Downs has come a long way in a short period of time. Almost immediately in the bout, Downs landed a HUGE right hand that dropped Kearney to the canvas. Cymone got up and the referee signaled for the bout to continue. Downs looked like a stalking lion and once he landed another big right hand the referee jumped in to stop the bout while an upset Kearney protested. The ref could be heard saying, “After taking a shot that big, I wouldn’t be able to sleep tonight if I let you get hit again.” Downs will face a fellow huge puncher in Yathomas Riley tomorrow.
Evening select fights report:
Flyweight: Rau’shee Warren over Qa’id Muhammad, RSC-2 (:31)… In one of the marquee matchups of the trials, 2004 U.S. Olympian Warren faced 2007 Pan American games team member Muhammad. The fight began at a very quick pace which continued through its short duration. Warren had a clear reach advantage over the more compact Muhammad. A right hook from the defending champion southpaw swung Muhammad’s head and the referee immediately stepped in for an eight count midway thru the opening round. Another eight count was administered near the end of the round. Then early in the 2nd after the two exchanged punches, the referee again quickly stepped in for an eight count and then halted the contest. Muhammad, clearly unhurt, protested to no avail. This is the 2nd quick stoppage win for Warren. Perhaps some USA boxing officials feel he’s our best hope for Gold in Beijing… Tomorrow Warren faces Aaron Alafa who defeated Bruno Escalante.
Featherweight: Raynell Williams over Shemuel Pagan, 22-12… Top seed Raynell Williams has all the tools for boxing success. He’s lanky, with long arms, fights from outside, but ties up well when close, has good lateral movement, feints well and varies his punches. Pagan’s plan to methodically come straight forward played into Williams’s style perfectly and he cruised to victory. When Pagan applied relentless pressure in the 4th round, he had his most success.
Featherweight: Hylon Williams, Jr. over Rico Ramos, 18-12… Houstonian Hylon Williams had the hometown crowd support, but Ramos was up to the task. The fight was very close through the first two stanzas. Williams resorted to some trickery, in altering his stance a few times to try to confuse Ramos. Hylon showed superior movement and ring command, while Ramos landed well when they stood toe to toe. Early in the 3rd round, Williams began to find his range and got into a good rhythm and began to pull away, scoring and eluding very well. By the 4th round he had confidence and started to let his hands go landing combinations of punches on the inside as Ramos began to retreat backwards without an answer. Williams faces Williams tomorrow evening in a rematch of both the 2007 Golden Gloves and U.S. Championships final matches.
Middleweight: Shawn Estrada over Fernando Guerrero, 20-12… In a match up of two power punchers, there was a lot of charging, tying up and grappling. With no jabs in this one, it turned into a rough fight with each guy taking turns slugging and clinching.
Middleweight: Daniel Jacobs over Dominic Wade, 18-10… Jacobs and Wade resemble each other physically and opened the bout standing in place in front of one another sizing each other up. Even their styles resemble each other’s and the action was very close through the first round. The pride of Brownsville has been in Houston for three weeks at Savannah’s gym so the atmosphere resembled that of a hometown fighter. Awaiting the bell for round three, Jacobs looked to one of his “fans” for advice. “Jab, jab, left hook!” shouted Evander Holyfield, sitting ringside next to Vernon Forrest. Wade tried to apply more pressure, but by the end of the round DJ had found his rhythm and was boxing and moving a lot more. The tight match was 12-9 going into the final stanza. Wade couldn’t get the punches he needed as Jacobs circled the ring and landed some of his own to gain the victory. Jacobs and Estrada match up tomorrow evening.