(COLORADO SPRINGS, COLO.) – Team USA suffered a tough USA vs. Italy dual opener on Saturday at the Harvey Boxing Club in Harvey, Ill. Italy claimed victories in nine of the 12 bouts in the international dual event with American boxers Tiara Brown (Columbus, Ga.), Alex Martin (Joilet, Ill.), Terrell Gausha (Cleveland, Ohio) all earning hard-fought victories in the first dual competition.
Despite the tough opening contest, the U.S. team will look to rebound when the second dual competition is contested on Friday in Reno, Nevada on Friday. In Reno, Team USA will be headlined by 2007 World Champion and two-time Olympian Rau’shee Warren (Cincinnati, Ohio). Warren can become the first U.S. boxer in history to compete in three Olympic Games if he earns a berth on the 2012 Olympic Team. Warren is joined by a strong squad of U.S. competitors, , including four reigning national champions: flyweight Louie Byrd (Denver, Colo.), featherweight Jesus Magdaleno (Las Vegas, Nev.), welterweight Errol Spence (Desoto, Texas), and light heavyweight Robert Brant (Oakdale, Minn.). Light flyweight Santos Vasquez (Sun Valley, Nev.), lightweight Adrian Martinez (Milwaukee, Wis.), light welterweight Jamel Herring (Jacksonville, N.C.), middleweight Jesse Hart (Philadelphia, Pa./NMU), heavyweight Javonta Charles (Memphis, Tenn.) and super heavyweight Lenroy Thompson (Lenexa, Kansas) and female lightweight Mikaela Mayer (West Hills, Calif.)
Coaches Pat Barry (Las Vegas, Nev.), Steve Blea (Denver, Colo.) and Stephen Blea (San Bernadino, Calif.) will head up the U.S. squad boxing in Reno. Miguel Rosario (New York, N.Y.) and Tom Cleary (Mason, Ohio) will work as AIBA officials with John Santore (Pittsburgh, Pa.) working as the computer technician.
The same Italian squad which competed in Harvey will face off with Team USA in Reno. The Italian team is led by 2008 Olympic gold medalist Roberto Cammarelle, 2008 Olympic heavyweight silver medalist and 2007 World Champion Clemente Russo and 2008 Olympic flyweight bronze medalist Vincenzo Picardi. The trio will be joined by flyweight Alex Ferramosca, bantamweight Vittorio Parrinello, featherweight Alessio Di Savino, lightweight Domenico Valentino, light welterweight Davide Cenciarelli, welterweight Diego Di Luisa, middleweight Luca Podda, light heavyweight Fiori Simone, and female lightweight Romina Marenda.
The United States participates in international dual events throughout the year both in the United States and abroad in an effort to provide consistent international competition for the athletes.
March 27 USA vs. Italy Dual Results
132 lbs/female: Tiara Brown, Columbus, Ga./USA dec. Romina Marenda, ITA, 3-0
112 lbs/51 kg: Vincenza Picardi, ITA dec. Miguel Cartagena, Philadelphia, Pa./USA, 3-0
112 lbs/51 kg: Alex Ferramosca, ITA, dec. Adan Ortiz, Sterling, Ill./USA, 3-0
119 lbs/54 kg: Vittorio Parrinello, ITA, dec. Luis Rosa, East Haven, Conn./USA, 3-0
125 lbs/57 kg: Alessio DiSavino, ITA, dec. Ernesto Garza, Saginaw, Mich./USA, 2-1
132 lbs/60 kg: Domenico Valentino, ITA, dec. Duran Caferro, Helena, Mont./USA, 19-6
141 lbs/64 kg: Davide Cencianelli, ITA, dec. Zeddie Adams, Cleveland, Ohio/USA, 18-15
152 lbs/69 kg: Alex Martin, Joilet, Ill./USA, vs. dec. Diego DiLuisa, ITA, 17-8
165 lbs/75 kg: Terrell Gausha, Cleveland, Ohio/USA dec. Luca Podda, ITA, 18-16
178 lbs/81 kg: Simone Fiori, ITA, dec. Siju Shabazz, Las Cruces, N.M./USA, 17-15
201 lbs/91 kg: Clemente Russo, ITA, dec. Jordan Shimmell, Hudsonville, Mich./USA, 9-2
201+ lbs/91+ kg: Roberto Cammarelle, ITA dec. Javier Torres, Commerce, Calif./USA, 20-2
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). It is responsible for the selection and management of the United States Olympic Boxing Team, and for the governance and oversight of USA Boxing’s national organization of 38,000 members, 1,400 individual boxing clubs, and 1,600 sanctioned events annually.
