(CHICAGO, ILL.) – Flyweight Rau’shee Warren (Cincinnati, Ohio) officially made history on Wednesday, becoming the first U.S. boxer since 1976 to go to two Olympic Games with a 25-11 victory over the Philippines Violito Payla. Light flyweight Luis Yanez (Duncanville, Texas) had to wait over a week, but he enjoyed a successful debut, winning a second round stoppage over Australia’s Stephen Sutherland. The victory guaranteed Yanez a berth in the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, China, bringing the U.S. total to three.
Yanez was familiar with his Australian opponent having sparred with him during training camp at the U.S. Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colo. He used that experience to his advantage in the short bout on Wednesday. Yanez opened the bout slowly, picking his shots and building a 6-2 lead at the end of the round. Yet he took over in the second, catching Sutherland with hard shots to build a double-digit advantage one minute into the round. A strong hook pushed Sutherland back and caused the first of three standing eight counts. He continued to land powerful punches and upon the third standing eight count, the referee stopped the bout with 18 seconds remaining in the round. Yanez was leading by a 17-3 margin at the time of the stoppage.
“I was catching him with my left and my right hook. In the second round, I just walked him down and threw punches. I threw a hook and he was hurt, so after that, I took a step back and took a deep breath and said watch this,” Yanez said.” I got him again, and the referee stopped it and I’m just getting ready for the next bout tomorrow.”
He will face the Philippines’ Harry Tanamor in quarterfinal action on Thursday.
Warren opened the bout quickly, landing several hooks in the first round to take a commanding 9-1 lead after one round. His pace slowed slightly in the second, but he continued his strong defense and enjoyed a 13-3 lead at the halfway mark of the bout. Warren continued to control the contest in the third round of action, dictating the pace and extending his lead to a 19-7 margin. Payla came charging in the fourth round, looking to trap Warren on the ropes and score, but he couldn’t dent Warren’s lead and he went on to a 25-11 final decision to claim his second straight Olympic berth.
Warren battle face familiar foe, Georgy Balakshin of Russia in quarterfinal competition on Thursday.
Luis Yanez quotes
“It actually went pretty well just like I expected it. I came out in the first round, just checking him and seeing what he was going to do.”
“I know him, he sparred with me and I know him pretty well. I went in there, did what I had to do and get the W. His style was the same.”
“I was telling myself that I have to watch those points, I was just countering those punches and making sure I didn’t give up any points. I was keeping my hands up and going.”
“I know that he keeps his hands down, every time he gets finished punching, he always keeps his hands down. I knew if I land a good body shot, always come back up and it won’t fail.”
“I have quite a few tough bouts left, the guy from China, the boy from Hungary and the guy from France came up to me and said he’s ready for me but I have something for him.”
“My mind is my greatest strength and that’s always going to be there. I have speed and power and that’s something that he couldn’t handle.”
“I’ve been antsy waiting to box, I’ve just been in my room, trying to lay down. I was ready to box, every time I hit that heavy bag, I thought this is him so it was like I was in the ring. Hard work pays off. “
“We aren’t only Romo fans, we’re Cowboys fans.”
“I feel happy, I’m there. My first goal was to qualify, my second goal is to get that gold and that’s what I’m out for. I wouldn’t be disappointed (if I didn’t win gold), I would just know what I have to work with. If I lose, I would have to look at the tape, see what I did wrong and know I’ve qualified and I’ll be back for him.”
Rau’shee Warren quotes
“After the first round, I hurt my right shoulder. I didn’t tell the coaches because I didn’t want them to panic so I keep moving, staying on toes and scoring points. He was coming and I knew I had to keep moving.”
“My hooks were scoring, every time I caught him, I was counting, that’s one, that’s two, that’s three. My straight punches were working also but he just kept coming. I thought I have to keep him off me but I knew he wasn’t scoring.”
“I try to get my points real early and make him play catch up. When they play catch up, they start coming forward and putting pressure.”
“This is something I was dreaming about, qualifying with the rest of my teammates. We still have a couple people that we need to qualify, Demetrius and Michael Hunter. We are waiting on the two of them to qualify.”
“When I was little, I never thought there was another country, but now I’ve been across the world, seeing new places and meeting different people. Beijing, here I come.”
“I hurt it in the first round, the coaches asked me did I hurt my shoulder? I told them I didn’t hurt it and just kept using it.”
“This is boxing, if you don’t see anything wrong with me, evidently I’m not getting touched.”
“My next opponent will be the Russian; this is our third time boxing. The first time was in his country. When we fought in the last worlds, I got the victory, then I moved on to the medal round and I came out with the bronze. He knows what’s coming to him tomorrow.”
“When I see him I smile and he gives me his fight game look.”
“It was bothering me, but I tried not to show it too much because I didn’t want my coaches to change my game plan. They asked me if I was getting tired and I said, yes, tired of hitting him.”
“The last time I fought him was the 05 World Championships.”
“I feel like this worlds is easier because I’m older now and I know what’s standing in front of me. You can’t doubt anyone that got this far, everybody is on the same level. They are here for the same reason I am, to represent their country.”
“As you can tell, I was smiling as I went back to my corner because I can join my teammates already going to Beijing. We will still be there for the ones that didn’t make it; they are still part of our team.”
“I feel that if you train hard as you can in the ring, you won’t have to worry that there was something you could have done.”
Welterweight Demetrius Andrade (Providence, R.I.) wasted no time in his bout with 2005 World Championships silver medalist Magomed Nurundinov of Belarus, riding an explosive first round to a 26-6 victory and a berth at the 2008 Olympic Games. Super heavyweight Michael Hunter (Las Vegas, Nev.) finished off an undefeated day for the United States team with a 19-13 win over Iran’s Jasem Delavari. As the super heavyweight division athletes must make the top four to qualify for the 2008 Olympic Games, Hunter stands one win away from punching his ticket for Beijing.
Andrade came out on fire, landing long, accurate punches throughout the first round, and giving Nurundinov a standing eight count early in the bout. He held the Belarusian boxer scoreless in the opening stanza, earning a 9-0 lead after one. The pace stayed high throughout the second round with Nurundinov looking to rough Andrade up and attack his lead, but Andrade moved out to an 18-3 lead at the midway mark of the bout. Nurundinov kept up his dirty tactics in the third round, trying to find an opening in Andrade’s defense but there were few to find and the American boxer enjoyed a strong 23-6 advantage as the fourth round began. Andrade finished the bout in the same manner that he began it, holding Nurundinov scoreless over the final two minutes to win the 26-6 final decision and a welterweight berth at the 2008 Olympic Games.
“I go into the first round and see what I’m able to do. If he’s faster than me, then I have to be stronger. If he’s stronger than me, then I have to be faster than him. That’s the key thing that I look for,” Andrade said. “I didn’t have pressure, all I had on my mind was that this was the most important bout of my life.”
Andrade will take on Jack Culcay-Keth of Germany in quarterfinal round competition on Thursday.
Hunter followed the United States game plan by taking the early lead in the bout, using his speed and movement to take a 6-2 lead after one round. Yet Delavari came charging back in the second round as Hunter began to engage and the 19-year-old held only a 9-8 advantage after four minutes of action. He returned to his slick boxing style in the third round, evading Delavari’s oncoming shots and finding the mark to take a 13-10 edge into the final two minutes. Hunter controlled the final round to the delight of the large crowd supporting every punch and he went on to a 19-13 final decision.
“I just try to use my speed, lots of feints and once we got ahead, I tried to make it easy,” Hunter said. “He started coming forward more because at first I was trying to bang with him a little bit and that’s when he started to score so I had to go back to boxing.”
Hunter will battle Russia’s Islam Timurziev of Russia in the quarterfinal round on Thursday.
Demetrius Andrade quotes
“I was going on in aggressive, but he was doing stuff that wasn’t fair or in the books. He was hitting me with head butts, he was pushing me to the side, a whole bunch of things. I was aggressive in a positive way but everything he was doing was negative.”
“He kept tripping me on purpose, and that’s why I kept falling.”
“I tried not to let that interfere because you let that interfere, anything can happen. We’re just trying to keep a good roll.”
“Every bout, I come harder and faster, that’s how I always am. I start decent but I finish strong.”
“I just go in there and do what I’ve got to do and hope that everything goes well.”
“I tried to take him out, if I doesn’t work at certain times, just go back to plan A.”
“It (qualifying for the Olympics) feels good, it’s a load of my mind, but that was a short term goal. The long term goal is to get that gold.”
“I didn’t know what he was trying to do so I just kept it moving but then he got close to me like he wanted to fight me so I just backed him off me.”
Michael Hunter quotes
“I knew he was going to be coming.”
“I have to get ready for the next one, that’s in the past now, I have a couple more to go.”
“He’s just another person, he bleeds just like us.”
“I’m happy, but I’ve got a couple more fights so until I get that gold, I won’t be happy”.
“I just try to stay relaxed and try to enjoy myself while I have the chance.”
U.S. Results
152 lbs/69 kg: Demetrius Andrade, Providence, R.I./USA dec. Magomed Nurundinov, BLR, 26-6
201+ lbs/91+ kg: Michael Hunter, Las Vegas, Nev./USA dec. Jasem Delavari, IRI, 19-13
