Antonio Vargas (52kg) and Gary Russell (64kg) moved one win away from a spot in Rio after winning round of 16 matches on Tuesday while Marlo Moore (+91kg) is into the semifinals and now needs just two wins to grab an Olympic spot. In the busiest day of fighting in Baku with 60 bouts between two rings Olympic dreams were not fulfilled for Cam F. Awesome (91kg) who had advanced on Monday but lost to Ecuador’s Julio Cesar Castillo Torres 3-0, with two judges scoring it 29-28 and one 30-27. Awesome came up a few wins short here in Baku and will have to try at the last qualifier for an Olympic spot.
The bright performances for the US began in the afternoon session with both Vargas and Russell putting up strong wins. Russell dominated Australia’s David Biddle winning all three rounds according to all three judges. Vargas did the same in his win over Guatemala’s Eddie Valenzuela Barillas. Moore wrapped up the evening with a tight 2-1 win over Bulgaria’s Petar Rumenov Belberov. Each man won the bout according to one judge 29-27 but the third judge scored it a draw and preferred Moore as the winner to send him through.
Vargas and Moore will be competing for Olympic spots on Thursday afternoon in the quarterfinals while Moore has two days off until Friday’s semifinals.
Cam F. Awesome (91kg) put on a strong performance Monday in the round of 16 dispatching Kosovo’s Armend Xhoxhaj 30-27 according to all three judges to move one step closer to reach the Olympics. Awesome is one of just eight boxers remaining in his weight class but needs three more wins to advance to Rio. Awesome will fight again in the quarterfinals on Tuesday. Paul Kroll (69kg) will not qualify for the Olympics in Baku after he lost a split decision to Hungary’s Imre Balazs Bacskai. All three judges saw it as a 29-28 right but two of the three gave it to the Bacskai.
Tuesday will also feature Antonio Vargas (52kg) and Gary Russell (64kg) in round of 16 matches, and Marlo Moore (+91kg) in his quarterfinal match.
Preliminaries for the weight classes with more than 16 fighters in contention wrap up Tuesday to narrow fields down to eight in each weight class for quarterfinals that will take place on Thursday. The weight classes already down to eight will have quarterfinals Tuesday before having Wednesday and Thursday off in advance of Friday’s semifinals.
Three Americans kept their Olympic hopes alive on Sunday in Baku while one tasted defeated and won’t qualify for Rio here. Antonio Vargas (52kg), Gary Russell (64kg), and Marlo Moore (+91kg) all grabbed victories to reach the quarterfinals with all there winning fairly comfortably. Vargas went the distance but got 30-27 scores from all three judges in a win over Yoel Segundo Finol Rivas of Venezuela. Things went a bit quicker for Rusell and Moore as Russell got a TKO at 2:58 of the first round against Ethiopia’s Girmachew Bahiru Tadesse while Moore beat Dohyeon Kim of Korea 10-9 according to all three judges after the fight was stopped at the end of the first round. Vargas and Russell are among 16 left in their respective weight classes needing to finish in the top five to qualify while Moore has reached the quarterfinals but needs to win his weight class.
Things didn’t go as well for Jonathan Esquivel (81kg) who lost 29-28 according to two judges and won 29-28 according to the third in a 2-1 loss to Mongolia’s Erdenebayar Sandagsuren.
Paul Kroll (69kg) and Cam F. Awesome (91kg) will return to the ring on Monday for their round of 16 bouts.
Preliminaries continue Monday and run through Tuesday to narrow fields down to eight in each weight class for quarterfinals that will take place on Tuesday and Thursday of next week.
Through three days of the Olympic Qualifying event in Baku the American boxers have yet to taste defeat in six bouts. Paul Kroll won his second bout and Cam F. Awesome his first as they stayed in contention for spots in Rio. Kroll defeated Guatemala’s Lester Normandy Martinez Tut 29-27 according to all three judges in his 69kg bout while Awesome was a 29-28 winner according to all three judges in a 91kg win over Chile’s Miguel Angel Veliz Correa. Kroll has reached the final 16 with five Olympic spots up for grabs in his class while Awesome is one of 16 left but with only the winner qualifying. Both will have their round of 16 fight on Monday.
On Sunday Antonio Vargas (52kg), Gary Russell (64kg), and Jonathan Esquivel (81kg) return to the ring for their second fights while Marlo Moore (+91kg) makes his debut in Baku.
Preliminaries continue Sunday and run through Tuesday to narrow fields down to eight in each weight class for quarterfinals that will take place on Tuesday and Thursday of next week.
All of the American boxers competing in Baku have remained on track to qualify for the Olympics as three more boxers won their opening matches on Friday. Antonio Vargas (52kg), Gary Russell (64kg), and Jonathan Esquivel (81kg) all took 3-0 decisions on Friday to advance to the next round. Vargas took his matchup with India’s Gaurav Bidhuri 29-27 according to all three judges while Russell won 30-27 according to all three judges when he beat Ukraine’s Viktor Petrov. Esquivel defeated Jordan’s Mohammad Alyazouri by three 30-27 scores as well. These three will fight again on Sunday.
Paul Kroll will fight again on Saturday in his second bout at 69kg while Cam F. Awesome (91kg) has his first bout. Marlo Moore (+91kg) will continue to wait for his first bout.
Preliminaries continue Saturday and run through Tuesday to narrow fields down to eight in each weight class for quarterfinals that will take place on Tuesday and Thursday of next week.
Paul Kroll started his quest to make the Olympics on the right foot Thursday defeating Greece’s Dimitrios Poulikos Tsagkrakos 3-0 with all three judges scoring in 30-27 to the American. Kroll’s 69kg division has the second largest field of the ten divisions competing with 47 entrants so Kroll still has a lot of competition for the five Olympic spots with 32 boxers still remaining. Kroll will fight next on Saturday.
Friday will be the first bouts for Antonio Vargas (52kg), Gary Russell (64kg), and Jonathan Esquivel (81kg). Cam F. Awesome (91kg) and Marlo Moore (+91kg) will continue to wait for their first bout.
Preliminaries continue Friday and run through Tuesday to narrow fields down to eight in each weight class for quarterfinals that will take place on Tuesday and Thursday of next week.
Previous 2016 AIBA World Olympic Qualifying Event Coverage: Preview
With the opportunities to qualify for the Olympics drawing to a close six US men’s boxers are still looking for their berth and are off to Baku, Azerbaijan in pursuit of that this weekend. Antonio Vargas (52kg), Gary Russell (64kg), Paul Kroll (69kg), Jonathan Esquivel (81kg), Cam F. Awesome (91kg), and Marlo Moore (+91kg) will look to join the four US men who have already qualified for Rio. Vargas, Russell, Kroll, and Esquivel are competing in weight classes where more fighters will be in the Olympics. Therefore they can reach the Olympics by finishing in the top five of this tournament. Things aren’t so easy for Awesome and Moore who compete in weight classes with smaller spots in the Olympics and thus they need to win in Baku.
Preliminaries start Thursday and run through Tuesday to narrow fields down to eight in each weight class for quarterfinals that will take place on Tuesday and Thursday of next week. Only Kroll will be competing for the US on the first day of competition.
Ever since Claressa Shields burst on to the scene with a stunning gold medal run in the 2012 Olympics no one has been able to stop her. Shields earned her second straight World Championship on Friday defeating the Netherland’s Nouchka Fontijn, a bronze medalist from 2014, in the finals 3-0. Shields for the first time in the tournament didn’t win by a sweep on all three judges cards with two of them scoring it 39-37. Still with the way she performed over the last week and her dominance over the last four years it would be a major surprise to see Shields not standing with a gold medal around her neck in Rio.
It’s a shame that all the women’s weight classes aren’t going to Rio because Shadasia Green in the +81kg division was really impressive this week and despite losing 3-0 (all judges 39-37) to Kazakhstan’s Lazzat Kungeibayeva in the final would be a real good story in Rio after winning a silver this week.
Some of these US women may be competing in the Women’s National Golden Gloves Tournament in Fort Lauderdale, Florida July 5th-9th.
Two American boxers advanced to Friday’s finals with victories in Thursday’s semifinals as the US hopes to have two gold medalists for the second straight world championships. Claressa Shields made it look easy once again in the 75kg division where she defeated Chinese Taipei’s Nien-Chin Chen 3-0 with all the judges once again scoring it a sweep. She’s joined in Friday’s finals by Shadasia Green who advanced to the +81kg final with a sweep of Turkey’s Sennur Demir.
For the other three Americans competing on Thursday things didn’t go so well and they will have to settle for bronze. Marlen Esparza lost to China’s Yuyan Wang in the 45-48kg division with all three judges seeing in 39-37. 2015 Golden Gloves champion Christina Cruz in the 54kg division lost 3-0 as well to Bulgaria’s Stoyka Petrova with one judge having it 40-36 and the other two at 39-37. Franchon Crewsin the 81kg division had a more interesting bout with China’s Xialoi Yang as two judges had it 38-36 and one 39-35, a fight she was certainly in.
The US will match their 2012 haul of five medals, the most ever in US history, at the 2016 AIBA Women’s World Boxing Championships after five of their six boxers advanced in the quarterfinals on Tuesday. 2012 gold medalist Claressa Shields continued her dominance of the 75kg division with another 3-0 win on Tuesday, this one over Violleta Kanyazeva of Kazakhstan. All of the judges gave all four rounds to Shields. Two other 3-0 winners were Marlen Esparza in the 45-48kg division over Altantsetseg Lutsaikhan of Mongolia and Franchon Crews over Hungary’s Maria Kovacsin the 81kg division. Shadasia Green had a close bout with Russia’s Zenfira Magomedalieva in the +81kg division. Two of the judges scored it a draw with each preferring a different winner. The third judge scored it 39-37 in favor of Green as she clinched a medal. 2015 Golden Gloves champion Christina Cruz in the 54kg division was the final American to clinch a medal as she dispatched Delphine Mancini of France 2-0 with one judge even scoring it 40-36 in her favor. The only American to lose was Naomi Graham in the 69k division who lost 3-0 to Germany’s Nadine Apetz.
All of the weight classes have a day off Wednesday before Thursday’s semifinals. The US will need three wins in the semifinals to match the number of finalists they had in 2012 when they grabbed one gold and two silvers to go along with two bronzes.