AIBA Men’s World Championships: Errol Spence Wins

(COLORADO SPRINGS, COLO.) – Welterweight Errol Spence (Desoto, Texas) pushed the United States’ winning streak to five with a convincing 28-10 win over Iran’s Amin Ghasemi in first round competition on Thursday at the 2011 AIBA Men’s World Championships.

Spence, one of only two U.S. boxers with previous World Championships experience, was the lone American athlete to compete in Thursday’s action at the Sport & Exhibition Centre in Baku, Azerbaijan.

After taking a 5-2 lead in the opening round, Spence doubled his lead in the second to move out to a 13-7 advantage with one round remaining. Yet, he refused to sit on his lead over the final three minutes. Spence put his foot on the gas in the third, giving Ghasemi a standing eight count and scoring 15 points over the final three minutes. He won a 28-10 final decision over Ghasemi to advance to the second round.

Spence will face Canada’s Custio Clayton in second round competition in Sunday’s evening session.

Light welterweight Jamel Herring (Coram, N.Y./Camp Lejeune, N.C.) will be the sixth U.S. boxer to compete in Baku when he takes the ring for his opening round contest with China’s Qing Hu on Friday.

The United States’ 5-0 start in Baku equals their mark at the 2007 World Championships in Chicago where Team USA crowned two World Champions, Rau’shee Warren (Cincinnati, Ohio) and Demetrius Andrade (Providence, R.I.).

USA Boxing National Coach Joe Zanders (Long Beach, Calif.), coaches Ronald Simms (Stafford, Va.) and Manny Robles (Los Angeles, Calif.), technical advisor Ken Porter (Akron, Ohio), and Team Manager Ken Buffington (Marshalltown, Iowa) are leading the United States team in Baku.

The 2011 World Championships are the first international qualifying tournament for the 2012 Olympic Games, and the light flyweight through light heavyweight boxers must place in top ten to qualify for London while the heavyweight and super heavyweight competitors need to place in the top six.

For the full brackets for all 10 weight classes and the most up-to-date results, go to http://www.aiba.org/en-US/2011/2011WorldBoxingChampionships.aspx. AIBA will show live scoring on its website, www.aiba.org throughout the tournament and will start webcasting all the bouts on October 4 at www.aibaboxing.tv.  For more information on Team USA, go to www.usaboxing.org. USA Boxing will tweet all the American results as they happen @usaboxing.

The first AIBA Men’s World Championships were held in 1974 in Havana, Cuba. The event, which consistently showcases the best boxers in the world, is held every two years.

U.S. Results
152 lbs: Errol Spence, Desoto, Texas/USA dec. Amin Ghasemi, IRI, 28-10