By Jake Donovan

The evening portion of flyweight division opening round action is now underway. 

Rau’shee Warren will make history the moment he steps in the ring to represent the 2012 U.S Olympic boxing squad. His appearance will make him the first ever American boxer to have fought in three separate Olympic Games.

Alas, that moment won’t come until later the week. 

Warren received an opening round bye, along with five other fighters in the flyweight division. Awaiting the American will be Nordine Oubaali of France, who cruised to a 22-9 win over Afghanistan’s Ajmal Faisal.

Oubaali jumped out to a huge lead early on and was up by double digits heading into the final round. Faisal never gave up, momentarily hurting the French flyweight but not enough to force a knockdown or ever come close to bridge the gap. 

The Round of 16 pairing features fighters looking to improve on past Olympic appearances. Warren obviously hopes to fare far better than his mental meltdown in his lone bout of the 2008 Games. Oubaali made it one round further in the Beijing Games, bowing out to "house" fighter Shiming Zou in the Round of 16.

The London crowd will also be denied a chance to cheer on countryman Andrew Selby, who also received a bye and will not fight until the very last fight of the Round of 16 competition later in the week. 

Awaiting the Welsh flyweight is Kazakhstan’s Ilyas Suleimenov, who won the final flyweight bout in the Round of 32 with a 13-8 nod over Salomo Ntuve of Sweden in a foul-filled contest. 

Suleimenov scored standing eight counts in rounds one and two against Ntuve, who at 6’0” is freakishly tall for a flyweight. It showed in his poor coordination, constantly falling to the canvas as he was bullied by the more compact Kazakh slugger throughout the contest.  

Both fighters were penalized two points for assorted fouls in the final round. A late deduction from the unwatchable Ntuve restored order, as Suleimenov rightfully advances in the competition.

Robeisy Ramirez of Cuba outhustled Japan’s Katsuaki Susa in nearly every exchange in taking a 19-7 win in the opening round of competition. The 19-year young Ramirez piled on the points in each round, never giving Susa a chance to gain momentum at any stage of the bout.

Chatchai Butdee of Thailand scored two knockdowns en route to a 34-10 whitewash of Turkey’s Selcuk Eker. The Thai southpaw was in control every step of the way, applying constant pressure with a crowd-pleasing style that will translate well if and when he turns pro. 

A tasty matchup of aggressive southpaws will come on Friday as Ramirez and Butdee square off in the Round of 16.

Eker went down in the opening round courtesy of a right hook upstairs and left to the body. A two-fisted attack led to a standing eight count in round two, as Butdee piled it on in accruing the highest points total for any fight thus far in the 2012 Games.

Slow and steady won the race for Ghana's Duke Micah, who did just enough in each round to outpoint Jason Lavigilante of Mauritius by a score of 18-14. Micah's lead was ever so slight after the first round, but kept ahead of pace against Lavigilante to preserve the narrow lead and eventually advance to the Round of 16. 

Awaiting Micah is Ireland's Michael Conlon, who was given an opening round bye.

Flyweight - Round of 32 Results (Monday, July 30):
Samir Brahimi (Algeria) def. Jackson Darren Woods (Australia), 14-12
Juliao Henriques Neto (Brazil) def. Jong Chol Pak (North Korea), 12-8
Jeyvier Cintron (Puerto Rico) def. Oteng Oteng (Botswana), 14-12
Hesham Abdelaal (Egypt) def. Benson Njangiru (Kenya), 19-16
Tugstsogt Nyambayar (Mongolia) def. Elvin Mamishzada (Azerbaijan), 18-11
Nordine Oubaali (France) def. Ajmal Faisal (Afghanistan), 22-9
Duke Micah (Ghana) def.  Jason Lavigilante (Mauritius), 18-14
Chatchai Butdee (Thailand) def. Selcuk Eker (Turkey), 24-10
Robeisy Ramirez (Cuba) def.  Katsuaki Susa (Japan), 19-7
Ilyas Suleimenov (Kazakhstan) def. Salomo Ntuve (Sweden), 13-8

Round of 16 Matchups (Friday, August 3):
Samir Brahimi (Algeria) vs. Misha Aloyan (Russia /Received 1st round bye)
Juliao Henriques Neto (Brazil) vs. Jeyvier Cintron (Puerto Rico)
Hesham Abdelaal (Egypt) vs. Jasurbek Latipov (Uzbekistan/ Received 1st round bye)
Tugstsogt Nyambayar (Mongolia) vs. Vincenzo Picardi (Italy/Received 1st round bye)
Nordine Oubaali (France) vs. Rau'shee Warren (United States /Received 1st round bye)
Duke Michah (Ghana) vs. Michael Conlan (Ireland)/Received 1st round bye)
Chatchai Butdee (Thailand) vs. Robeisy Ramirez (Cuba)
lyas Suleimenov (Kazakhstan)  vs. Andrew Selby (Great Britain/Received 1st round bye)

Jake Donovan is the Managing Editor of Boxingscene.com. Follow Jake on Twitter: @JakeNDaBox