(COLORADO SPRINGS, COLO.) – Team USA took part in the second half of their swing through France, November 26-27 at the Four Nations Tournament in Berck Sur Mer, France, and they made their journey a victorious one with 10 medals in the international event. Bantamweight Roman Morales (San Ardo, Calif.) and welterweight Errol Spence (Desoto, Texas) both won gold medals for the United States with the squad grabbing five silver and three bronze medals in France as well.
Morales faced off with France’s Nordine Ait Ihya for the second time in a week at the Four Nations Dual and the American boxer pulled out a victory in the final seconds, winning an 8-7 decision over Ait Ihya. Spence took on a Hungarian foe in his bout and he made it a short night, causing Joszef Toth to retire in the second round of their welterweight bout.
Light flyweight Diego Hurtado (Sparks, Nev.), flyweight John Franklin (Fort Carson, Colo.), light welterweight Pedro Sosa (New York, N.Y.), light heavyweight Jeffrey Spencer (Fort Carson, Colo.), and heavyweight Joshua Temple (St. Louis, Mo.) all took silver in the tournament while lightweight Eric Flores (Ingle, Calif.), middleweight D’Mitrius Ballard (Temple Hills, Md.), and Lenroy Thompson (Uniondale, N.Y.) claimed bronze medals.
Franklin took a 5-2 win over France’s Eli Koniki in their flyweight match-up while Spencer pulled out a tiebreaker victory over Richard Baranyi of Hungary in the final U.S. bout of the opening session. In evening action, Hurtado mounted a late comeback to take an 8-7 win over France’s Jeremy Beccu. Sosa won a second nail biter in the light welterweight contest, earning a 2-1 decision over Ukraine’s Vyacheslav Kyslytsyn. Temple won the final U.S. decision on a 2-2 double tiebreaker, claiming the victory on the judges’ poll edge.
Flores faced a stiff challenge in his lightweight contest, battling 2008 Olympic gold medalist Vasyl Lomachenko of Ukraine. The American boxer dropped a 14-5 decision to the reigning World and Olympic champion. Ballard lost a 9-1 contest to France’s Mathieu Bauderlique while Thompson dropped a close 3-1 decision to Ukraine’s Roman Kapitonenko.
The U.S. team was led by coaches Joe Zanders (Long Beach, Calif.), Barry Hunter (Fort Washington, Md.) and Ray Paxton (Shreveport, La.). Deni Auclair (New Rochelle, N.Y.) served as the Team Manager with Tom Cleary (Cincinnati, Ohio) serving as an AIBA Official and Dr. Ken Kurt (Racine, Wis.) joining the squad as the team physician.
Four Nations Tournament U.S. Results
106 lbs: Diego Hurtado, Sparks, Nev./USA dec Jeremy Beccu, France, 8-7
114 lbs: John Franklin, Fort Carson, Colo./USA dec. Eli Konki, France, 5-2
123 lbs: Roman Morales, San Ardo, Calif./USA dec. Nordine Ait Ihya, France 8-7
132 lbs: Vasyl Lomachenko, Ukraine dec. Eric Flores, Ingle, Calif./USA, 15-4
141 lbs: Pedro Sosa, New York, N.Y./USA dec Vyacheslav Kyslytsyn, Ukraine 2-1
152 lbs: Errol Spence, Desoto, Texas/USA dec Joszef Toth, Hungary, RET-2
165 lbs: Mathieu Bauderlique, France dec. D'Mitrius Ballard, Temple Hills, Md./USA, 9-1
178 lbs: Jeffrey Spencer, Fort Carson, Colo./USA dec. Richard Baranyi, Hungary, (2-2) (4-1 judges’ poll)
201 lbs: Joshua Temple, St. Louis, Mo./USA dec Szabolcs Deel, Hungary, (3-3) (8-6)
201+ lbs: Roman Kapitonenko, Ukraine, dec. Lenroy Thompson, Uniondale, N.Y./USA, 3-1
USA Boxing, as the national governing body for Olympic-style boxing, is the United States’ member organization of the International Amateur Boxing Association (AIBA) and a member of the United States Olympic Committee (USOC).