By Cliff Rold
Having finished the round of 16 in both the men’s lightweight and light flyweight divisions, Team USA finds themselves 4-1 as a unit and nine minutes, or one win, away from the medal stand in two classes.
Those nine minutes for Carlos Balderas and Nico Hernandez, respectively, are still a long way to go. Both young men have impressed so far and no one has been embarrassed. Even as Team USA suffered its first defeat at middleweight, it wasn’t for lack of effort.
Sometimes, the better fighter just happens to be in the other corner on a given day.
For the remaining members of Team USA, glory awaits only if victory continues.
Here’s a quick look at the fighters who have competed through the first four days of the tournament and their road ahead.
Nico Hernandez
Through the Round of Sixteen: Hernandez, 20, of Wichita, Kansas, is attempting to be the first US medalist in the 108 lb. class since Michael Carbajal won silver in 1988. Since the inception of the class at the 1968 Games, only three members of Team USA have won medals with Harlan Marbley winning bronze in 1968 and Paul Gonzalez winning gold in 1984.
Hernandez was efficient in his opening round win over Italy’s Manuel Cappai. Faced with a rangy style, Hernandez kept his punches compact and won a unanimous decision (2-1 twice and 3-0 on one card). It set the stage for one of the bigger upsets so far in Rio.
#2 rated in the world coming off a silver medal performance at the 2015 World’s, Russia’s Vasilii Egorov had to be considered a favorite to medal in Rio. Hernandez had other plans. Using a pinpoint left hook, Hernandez was able to land between the shots of the more free-swinging Russian southpaw. Hernandez won the first two rounds on two of three cards, and impressed enough in the third to win that round on one of the cards despite a furious assault from Egorov. It was a unanimous decision, 2-1 across the board.
Coming Next: Hernandez will fight again Wednesday in the quarterfinals. At the 2012 Games, infamous in Team USA lore for its empty medal haul, Errol Spence’s quarterfinals run is as far as anyone got. Hernandez can secure the first American medal since Deontay Wilder’s heavyweight bronze in 2008 with a win over Ecuador’s 26-year old Carlos Eduardo Quipo Pilataxi. Hernandez-Pliataxi is the final scheduled quarterfinal on Wednesday, slated to begin at 4:15 EST.
Carlos Balderas
Through the Round of Sixteen: Balderas, 19, of Santa Maria, California, is attempting to medal in one of the most storied Olympic classes dating to the Olympic debut of the sport in 1904. Balderas could become the first US fighter to medal in the 132 lb. class since Terrance Cauthen won bronze in 1996 and first gold medalist since Oscar de la Hoya in 1992.
Balderas got off to the good start in the round of 32, beating back Kazakhstan’s Berik Abdrakhmanov. Balderas lost the first round on two of three cards but came on strong with straight punching, quick hands, and a patient application of his craft. Scores were 2-1 across the board. He was even better on Tuesday morning in Rio, dominating Japan’s Daisuke Narimatsu in an entertaining three rounds.
Blocking well and firing back with stiff rights and an effective uppercut, Balderas lost the first round on one card and all three frames on two others. His reward for victory will be one of the toughest draws possible.
Coming Next: Balderas will face Cuba’s brilliant Lazaro Alvarez on Friday in the quarterfinals (11:30 AM EST). Win and he is guaranteed a medal. It’s a tall order. The 25-year old Alvarez won bronze in 2012 at bantamweight and is a three-time amateur world champion. Alvarez won those honors at bantamweight in 2011 and won both the 2013 and 2015 world championship tournaments at lightweight.
Charles Conwell
Exiting the Round of Thirty-Two: Entering his first match of 2016, Conwell was hoping to become the first middleweight (165 lbs.) to medal for Team USA since Andre Dirrell won bronze in 2004. No US middleweight has won gold since Michael Spinks in 1976.
Conwell, 18, of Cleveland Heights, Ohio, was the 2015 US National Golden Gloves champion. That may be the end of his amateur glories. Conwell could never quite solve India’s stylish southpaw Krishan Vikas. A bronze medalist at the 2011 World’s, Vikas did a good job of controlling the distance and walking Conwell into countering traps in the first two rounds. The gap in international experience was apparent.
After an aggressive first, Conwell settled down some and made a case for himself. He won the second on one of the scorecards and the third on two others. He impressed the wrong judges. It wasn’t until the third that he seemed to really find what he was looking for. Strangely, he only got the favor of two of the three. It should have been a unanimous frame. It didn’t matter. He was down 2-0 on two cards heading into the third. He needed more than just a winning round.
It wasn’t to be. It wasn’t his day.
Conwell could always make another run at the Olympics but with his speed it may be hard to stay away from the lure of the paid ranks. He appears to have professional upside. This may be only a small part of his story.
If it is, he did his country proud. He fought until the end and never gave up. He’ll continue to do so as a cheering teammate for the next couple of weeks.
Cliff Rold is the Managing Editor of BoxingScene and a member of the Transnational Boxing Rankings Board and the Boxing Writers Association of America. He can be reached at roldboxing@hotmail.com