Flyweight Rau’shee Warren (Cincinnati, Ohio) put on a show for his hometown crowd on Friday afternoon, winning a 26-13 decision over Azerbaijan’s Samir Mammadov to advance to final round action.

Spurred by his family in attendance, Warren jumped off to a fast start, but Mammadov pulled to within a 6-5 margin at the end of the first. Mammadov managed to take a one point lead for a short period in the second but that is the only lead that he would see. Warren finished the round with a strong flurry to take a 12-9 advantage into the second half of the bout. The third round belonged to Warren, he showcased his speed and accuracy, throwing flurries early in the bout to build up his points. Mammadov grew more frustrated as the round wore on and Warren pot-shotted him with left hands. He took a convincing 22-11 advantage into the fourth round, and continued to dominate. Mammadov couldn’t make a dent in Warren’s lead and he went on to win the 26-13 decision.

“I felt like he was going to come forward because he felt like I was a boxer so he was going to come forward and try to catch me and counter me,” Warren said. We had a game plan on him, just keep touching him and keep scoring.”

Warren will face Somjit Songjohor of Thailand in final round action on Saturday afternoon.

“I feel good right now but it’s only a B+. The job isn’t done until I get the gold medal around my neck, see the flag going up and hear the national anthem,” Warren said.

Welterweight Demetrius Andrade (Providence, R.I.) will look to join Warren in final round action in his semifinal contest with Turkey’s Adem Killici.

Rau’shee Warren quotes
“That was a good paced bout for me, it wasn’t rough, it wasn’t hard. I was countering him but when I was catching him with the hook, I could feel it in my shoulder. I’m going to go the doctor, ice it down and get ready for the finals.”

“If you were at the gym, watching us train, you would understand why I don’t stay in front of him. We have drills for that, all of us do it. We get in the ring and circle, throw one-two-threes, one-twos and keep circling because there’s always going to be a boxer out there trying to press you.”

“My main goal was to qualify and after that I had to change my mind set and get the gold.”

“I felt like I used my left hand more than any other punch because that was the punch that was really scoring. He was running into it, he was really desperate, and he kept throwing his hands down and telling me to come forward and fight. Why would I do that, I wasn’t going to do anything but listen to the coaches in the corner and do my job.”

“I didn’t expect it to come, I knew he was going to come in. He wanted me to stand there and bang with him, but he had power. I said I’m not about to stand in front of this guy and let him hit me. He hit me once and I told the coaches that he was strong and I’m going to keep moving and keep scoring.”

“Our main goal was to come here and qualify, that was the only thing that was leaning on me. I was worried about other teammates not being focused. As you can see, we have five that qualified and six to go. That’s a good job for a young team. America better get ready for Beijing, we have a young team that isn’t expected to do well, but we’re there.”

“This is one step closer to the Olympics, all of the people here will be at the Olympics. I just have to keep working hard and stay focused.”

Welterweight Demetrius Andrade (Providence, R.I.) joined his U.S. Olympic Training Center roommate Rau’shee Warren in the final round on Friday with a 22-6 victory over Turkey’s Adem Killici in the lone U.S. semifinal contest of evening action.

Andrade controlled the pace throughout, beginning with a slow first round, which ended with the home country boxer holding a 3-1 lead. Andrade turned up his offense in the second stanza, holding Killici to one point, but landing four scoring blows of his own to move out to a 7-2 edge at the halfway mark. Once he had his lead in hand, Andrade began to break down the Turkish boxer, landing long straight shots and mixing in uppercuts to take a nine-point advantage into the final round of boxing. With a strong U.S. crowd spurring him own, Andrade continued to dominate Killici, mixing up his punches and landing with outstanding accuracy. At the sound of the final bell, Andrade had won a 22-6 decision and a spot in final round action.

“I knew going in there that he was a little longer than me and taller than me so the plan was to use the jab and throw the straight left to the body. I was doing it and it started wearing him down like it always does,” Andrade said. “I knew going into the second round, I had it control, I started finding my distance and going to the body more. He was trying to move with hands down and with the good conditioning I have, I attacked.”

Andrade will face Thailand’s Non Boonjumnong in final round action on Saturday.

Demetrius Andrade quotes

“My key was to use the jab and go to the body. That works well, every time I use it, I win.”

“Rau’shee and I are going to the finals. We worked hard, we’re going to the finals and we’re ready to bring the gold home for the United States.”

“I heard the crowd a lot but I heard my dad, Paul Andrade and my other coach, David Keith. They worked with my corner and everything worked well.”

“It feels good to hear USA, when I hear that I know to go after him.”

“I don’t know what the general public thinks, but to myself, I’m always the underdog. You have to see somebody go to work before you can judge them.”

“In international boxing, the best thing to do is get up in the first two rounds. I make sure if I don’t score, he doesn’t score. Then I try to score and make sure he doesn’t score and in the third round, I pick it up and they can’t do anything. If they want to fight, I’ll fight.”