Olympics Welterweight Round of 16 Full Results (Part One)

Published Fri Aug 3, 2012, 2:20 PM

Great Britain advances to 7-1 in 2012 Olympic boxing competition, thanks to Freddie Evans pulling off a sizable upset with an 11-7 win over Lithuania's Egidijus Kavali.

The bout appeared closer than the final score indicated, but the right fighter won. Evans - obviously the fan favorite among the partisan London crowd - was wildly cheered for his every move and even managed to land some punches along the way.

Kavali, a returning member from the 2008 Lithuania Olympic boxing squad who received a first round bye, jumped out to an early lead, but never lent the appearance of being able to maintain momentum.

Evans, however, was up to the task. A stronger showing in round two proved to be a permanent shift in tide, as Evans evened up the score and boxed his way to victory in a decisive third round. The scoring blows were more slaps than sticking shots, but enough landed to disrupt Kavali's rhythm and edge it out on the cards.

The win gives Great Britain its fourth quarterfinalist, with two more fighters still to appear in Round of 16 competition. Evans now goes to face Canada's Custio Clayton, who advanced to the quarterfinals with a well-earned 14-12 win over Cameron Hammond of Australia.

Clayton remains the feel-good story for Canada, providing the nation with its first Olympic win in eight years when he defeated Oscar Molina in the Round of 32 on Sunday. He now joins teammate Simon Kean (super heavyweight) in the Round of 16, thanks to a strong finish against Hammond.

The bout was even through the first three minutes (2-2) and at 5-5 heading into the final round. Clayton's superior conditioning and workrate proved to be the difference, as Hammond simply couldn't keep up when it mattered the most.

Defending World Amateur welterweight champion Taras Shelestyuk was one of five fighters from Team Ukraine to receive an opening round bye in this year’s Olympic competition. Team Ukraine still has two more fighters queued up in the Round of 16, but Shelestyuk is now one of three currently in the quarterfinals thanks to a 15-7 win over Vasiliji Belous of Moldova.

The difference in class was evident from the opening bell. Shelestyuk barely broke a sweat in practicing the fine art of ‘hit and don’t get hit.’ A 4-1 lead after one wasn’t terribly inaccurate, but also didn’t truly reflect the dominance displayed by the Ukrainian, who added to his lead considerably in a far more active round two.

Belous attempted to make a fight of it in the final round, but was forced to sacrifice defense in order to enjoy any offensive success. Shelestyuk capitalized and now sails into the quarterfinals, where he faces 2008 Olympic Bronze medalist Alexis Vastine of France.

Vastine has been on a mission after suffering an ’08 Olympic semifinal loss to Felix Diaz in a decision that left the boxing world scratching its collective heads. Diaz went on to win the Gold medal for his native Dominican Republic, while the fallen French fighter vowed greater glory for his country in this year’s competition.

The journey to the quarterfinals was met with a few obstacles, but Vastine ultimately prevailed with a 16-12 win over Mongolia’s Tuyshinbat Byamba. The afternoon session threatened for history to repeat itself, as Vastine fell behind early despite controlling the action for the most part. The judges finally caught up to the action in round two, as the two-time Olympian took the lead and never looked back.

LATER TODAY

Errol Spence could prove to be a sight for sore eyes. The American welterweight is the last fighter to post a win for Team USA in the 2012 London Games, way back when he dominated Brazil’s Myke Carvalho in a 16-8 win to advance him to Round of 16 competition.

The win was par for the course at the time, giving Team USA its fourth victory in as many fights. Seven straight losses have followed, as Spence is the last remaining male member of the squad who has actually won a fight this year. Rau’shee Warren received a bye in the opening round of flyweight competition, as his first appearance as a three-time Olmypian comes later today.

Spence appears in the first bout of the evening portion (local time) of competition as he faces Vikas Krishan Yadav of India, who received a first-round bye.

Round of 16 Matchups (Friday, August 3):

Taras Shelestyuk (Ukraine) def. Vasiliji Belous (Moldova), 15-7

Alexis Vastine (France) def. Tuvshinbat Byamba (Mongolia), 16-12

Custio Clayton (Canada) def. Cameron Hammond (Australia), 14-12

Freddie Evans (Great Britain) def. Egidijus Kavaliauskas (Lithuania), 11-7

Errol Spence (USA) vs. Vikas Krishan Yadav (India/Received 1st round bye)

Yasuhiro Suzuki (Japan) vs. Serik Sapiyev (Kazakhstan/Received 1st round bye)

Adam Nolan (Ireland) vs. Andrey Zamkovoy (Russia)

Siphiwe Lusizi (South Africa) vs. Gabriel Maestre (Venezuela)

Welterweight Quarterfinals (Tuesday, August 7):

Taras Shelestyuk (Ukraine) vs. Alexis Vastine (France)

Custio Clayton (Canada) vs. Freddie Evans (Great Britain)