It was another mammoth day of competition on the last day of the preliminaries at the AIBA American Olympic Qualifying Event in the picturesque city of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. 33 bouts took place across five weight categories as the quarter-final stages beckoned for the winners.
Day 3 Full Results
The Flyweights got proceedings underway in the afternoon session with first up the tricky Brazilian Juliao Henriques delighting his corner with a comprehensive 17:8 victory against Colombia's Johan Vargas. Experienced campaigner Braulio Avila of Mexico then made light work of Trinidad's Lawrence Singh as he overawed his opponent to win 21:6. There was also a passage to the quarter-finals for Guatemala's Eddie Valenzuela who prevailed 18:6 over Dante Colque from Bolivia. Tanjit Lally walked-over to the next round after the Canadian's opponent, Uruguay's Ruben Casero, was unable to take part. The last Flyweight contest saw Puerto Rico's Jeyvier Cintron dominate Amrit Herrera from Panama to win 17:5. Only the two finalists will get quota places for the London 2012 Olympic Games.
Sixteen Middleweights then took to the ring with a place in the last eight for those who progressed. First Ecuador's Marlo Delgado dispatched of Alan Castano of Argentina 17:10 before Mexican Marcos Mendez powered past Antigua's Damian Davidson 11:5. USA's savvy fighter Terrell Gausha demonstrated his quality with a comprehensive 22:5 victory over Nicaragua's Oliver Ballestero, the American will now be facing in the next round Enrique Collazo of Puerto Rico, who defeated Jamaica's Jermaine Burnett 15:9.
Andrew Firmin gave nothing away in his bout as the Trinidad man won 9:0 against Dominica's Rowain Christopher to set up a meeting with Venezuela's Jose Espinoza, who overwhelmed Stan Staniclasse from Haiti in brutal fashion with the referee stopping the contest in the first round. Brody Blair put in a clinic against the inexperienced Bolivia Miguel Ugarte with the Canadian irrepressible en route to a 34:6 victory; he will now pit his wits against Junior Castillo who saw his opponent Emilio Correa from Cuba disqualified. Five Middleweights will qualify for the Olympic Games in Rio.
The evening session saw twenty bouts take place with the Lightweights taking to the canvas first. The Dominican Republic's Wellington Arrias saw of the challenge of Venezuela's experienced Hector Manzanilla 16:9 to progress to the quarter-finals where he will now face Luis Porozo of Ecuador, who defeated Peru's Tyson Martinez 18:9. American sensation Jose Ramirez's barrage of combination punches saw him move deeper into the competition as the referee stepped in to stop his contest with Michael Alexander from Trinidad as he led 12:6 in the third round. The 19-year-old will be full of confidence when he fights Canada's Alejandro Rynn, who was classy in his 25:9 victory over Cobia Breedy of Barbados.
Colombia's Eduar Marriaga quickly asserted his authority against Elias Roca of Bolivia to win 19:6; his next opponent will be the Guyana's Stefan Gouveia who outscored his Honduran rival Teofilo Jeronimo 16:7 to progress. Angel Gutierrez continued the impressive Mexican performances in Rio with a polished display against Juan Huertas of Panama, the final score reading 14:8 to the red corner. 18-year-old Puerto Rican Felix Verdejo completed the Lightweight quarter-final line-up after he dispatched of Guatemala's Juan Reyes 14:7, he will now face Gutierrez for a place in the last four and the Olympic quota place.
In the first Welterweight contest, Mexico's 2008 Olympian Oscar Molina caught his opponent Nathan Ridings from El Salvador with some stinging shots, giving him a bloody nose in the third round which forced the referee to stop the contest with Molina 12:4 up on the judges' scorecards. Hard-hitting Argentinean Carlos Castano was in blistering form against the St Vincent's Keithland King as he overwhelmed his rival with the referee stopping the contest in the second round. Castano will now face Molina in the quarter-finals. Carl Leviticus Hield from the Bahamas left himself exposed too many times as he succumbed to a 14:7 defeat to Puerto Rico's Prichard Colon. Gabriel Maestre stormed into the next round of the competition with a first round stoppage against the Dominican Republic's Lucien Hewlette, the Venezuelan will now battle it out with Colon for a place in the semi-finals.
Luis Miranda of Peru made the difference in the second round when he faced Uruguayan Carlos Martinez, it was tight but Miranda edged it to win 8:4 and set-up a quarter-final face-off with Ecuador's Carlos Sanchez, who outmanoeuvred John Renteria of Panama 19:7. Canada's Custio Clayton made light work of Costa Rican Arturo Izquierdo with a comprehensive 21:5 victory that saw him move into the next round of the competition where he will lock horns with the experienced Brazilian Myke Ribeiro, who overcame the challenge of Arisnoidys Despaigne 17:9.
Closing the show for the day were the Super Heavyweights with first up Benjey Gilton Zimmerman, recently crowned World Series of Boxing Team Champion with the Dolce & Gabbana Milano Thunder, versus Barbados's Damian Sealy. Zimmerman unleashed a furious hook to his rival's body in the first round and with Sealy unable to continue, he was awarded the win by KO. There was elation for Puerto Rico's Gerardo Bisbal after he was declared the winner of his fight Isaia Mena of Colombia with the final score tied at 15:15. It will be Zimmerman versus Bisbal in the semi-finals.
Gidelson Silva delighted his home crowd after overturning a first round deficit to win convincingly against the taller Virgin Islander Clayton Laurent 16:11. The Super Heavyweight Brazilian will face American Dominic Breazeale, who after losing the first two rounds eventually inflicted defeat on Jose Payares of Venezuela 12:10 after a sensational final round. The top three in this weight category will qualify for the London 2012 Olympic Games.
The fourth day of competition will see the first of the quarter-finals with the Light Flyweights and Light Heavyweights taking to the ring in the afternoon before Bantam, Light Welter and Heavyweights seek semi-final places in the evening session.
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