The 3rd Panamerican Games Qualification Tournament has started in Panama, where the athletes have a last chance to qualify for the forthcoming Panamerican Games.
The Cuban and Ecuadorian male team have already secured the maximum number of qualification places to the Panamerican Games but some of the continent's top boxers do not yet have their tickets to Guadalajara.
US National Championships quarter-finalist Michael Benedosso had an unexpectedly close fight against Juan Flores of El Salvador on the opening day, with the talented US boxer winning the light flyweight contest by a close 8:6.
In the flyweight class Puerto Rico's teenager Carlos Ortiz caused the biggest surprise on the first day by shocking the Argentinean ringside with his victory over AIBA Youth World Championships quarter-finalist and WSB boxer Fernando Martinez. The final verdict was a clear 10:4 to Ortiz who advanced to the semi-final.
Venezuela's Angel Rodriguez is member of the national team since 2006 and had no problems beating Alexander Espinoza of Nicaragua by 10:5 in their bantamweight quarter-final. Rodriguez will face Joselito Aguirre of Guatemala in the gold medal contest.
Guyana's young Stefan Gouveia also caused a huge surprise in Panama City where he eliminated Dominican Republic's AIBA Youth World Championships quarter-finalist Wellington Arias in the opening lightweight contest.
Panama's Cesar Rivas continued the string of the surprises at the event by stopping former US National Champion Pedro Sosa. The light welterweight bout finished before the first break when the US boxer got injured and was unable to start the second round of the contest.
Bahamas' Central American and Caribbean Games bronze medalist Carl Heild took his first step on the road to Guadalajara. The experienced boxer triumphed over local favorite Lesvy Maure of Panama by 12:4 and will face Luis Miranda of Peru for the medal.
Trinidad & Tobago's Central American and Caribbean Games silver medalist Andrew Fermin defeated Leandro Sanchez of Argentina with a large margin of points in the middleweight division, while Saint Vincent and Grenadine's best boxer Keithland King also won his opening contest in Panama City.
In the light heavyweight class the local spectators saw two very close fights. Firstly Canada's National Champion Jonathan Savard won over Panama's Melaneo Flores by 4:3 and then Puerto Rico's Jose Soto almost lost his quarter-final contest against Lenon Bannis of Dominica but finally won the bout by one point.
US National Champion and AIBA World Championships competitor Jordan Shimmell had also a hectic battle against Miguel Veliz and the 23-year-old heavyweight fighter had to show all of his skills to beat his Chilean rival by 7:6.
In the women's competition Ingrid Valencia of Colombia caused a huge surprise when she eliminated Brazil's multiple Panamerican Champion Erika Matos by 8:7 in the Olympic flyweight class.
Copyright © 2010 AIBA http://www.aiba.org