Shakur Stevenson among five boxers to win titles at Men's U.S. Olympic Trials

Five boxers from the winners bracket won their fourth consecutive bouts without a loss Saturday to win the 2016 U.S. Men's Olympic Trials titles in their weight divisions at the Reno (Nev.) Events Center.

Four other weight divisions were pushed to a second day of finals, which will be decided Sunday afternoon in winners-take-all matches. All U.S. Trials champions still have to qualify internationally for a spot on the 2016 U.S. Olympic team.

The five Trials champions included bantamweight Shakur Stevenson (Newark, N.J.), middleweight Charles Conwell (Cleveland Heights, Ohio), light heavyweight Jonathan Esquivel (Anaheim, Calif.), heavyweight Cam F. Awesome (Lenexa, Kan.), and super heavyweight Marlo Moore (Hayward, Calif.). Lightweight Teofimo Lopez (Davie, Fla.) won the lightweight division in non-Olympic Trials competition.

The four remaining bouts will start at 3 p.m. ET Sunday with the winners taking the Olympic Trials title.

Stevenson, the Junior and Youth World Champion and Youth Olympic gold medalist, avenged two 2015 losses to Ruben Villa (Salinas, Calif.) by defeating him twice at the Olympic Trials, including a 3-0 win on Saturday. Stevenson won the Trials' Outstanding Boxer award.

"I can't believe this. It's a dream come true. My jab helped me out a lot in that fight. I got it done," Stevenson said. "I think my chances of qualifying internationally are really good. I've never lost overseas. This really is a dream come true. . . . It's exactly the way I pictured it. Every decision was a 3-0 just the way I pictured it."

The lightweights entered the event knowing that they couldn't win the chance to represent the USA in the Olympic Games but their effort certainly didn't reflect that. Lopez defeated Maliek Montgomery 2-1 to take the gold medal.

Two-time youth national champion Conwell, 18, defeated two-time USA Boxing national champion Leshawn Rodriquez (Medford, N.Y.) 3-0 to win the middleweight division. It was his second win against Rodriguez at the Trials.

"I'm just thankful for my team, my family, all of my supporters from Cleveland and everywhere else. I'm speechless right now," Conwell said. "I got started about seven years ago when my dad took me to the gym and we connected with this guy right here, Otha Jones and ever since then we've been working our way up to the top.I can't wait to go to Argentina. All my dreams are coming true, I'm just thankful right now and overwhelmed."

In the light heavyweight division, Esquivel defeated Elvis Figueroa (New Haven, Conn.) 3-0.

"After all this hard work and all these years I've been boxing, it's as elite as it gets. I feel great. I'm going to celebrate tonight with family and everyone who came out from Anaheim and then get back at it on Monday," Esquivel said. "My dad thought (boxing) would keep me out of trouble so he put me in a boxing gym as a little troubled kid and who knows what would have happened now. It keeps me out of trouble because you're traveling all the time and if you're slacking you're not going to win. You're staying out of the streets and focusing in the gym and you get a victory like I did today."

Awesome entered the 2016 Olympic Trials slimmer and trimmer than ever, but totally focused on his longtime goal of becoming an Olympian. Awesome defeated veteran Derae Crane (Colorado Springs) 3-0 decision and his second consecutive Olympic Trials title.

"I'm trying not to cry. It's a long road and a very emotional week. I felt like I held myself together long enough that I can go cry now," Awesome said. "I'm very confident going into internationals. You just have to qualify in the top three but my goal is to win and try and make a name for myself in the international scene and be ranked going into the Olympics for winning one of those tournaments. . . . I've never been in this type of shape. I changed weight classes, my only issue was that I kept losing too much weight. It's just the beginning but this is where my life picks up from 2012."

Super heavyweight Moore wasn't one of the favorites entering the 2016 Olympic Trials for Men's Boxing but he proved he belonged with four victories in Reno. A product of renowned trainer Virgil Hunter's gym, Moore defeated challengers bracket champion Brandon Lynch (Albany, N.Y.) 3-0. "I'm feeling good, it just hasn't sunk in. We put the last win in the back and moved on and here we are, on our way to Rio," Moore said. "It's an amazing feeling, words can't describe it."

All of the Trials titlists will have three international qualifying opportunities beginning with a continental tournament in March in Buenos Aires, followed by a tournament for APB/WSB athletes and a last chance qualifier.

Here are the Sunday matchups to decide the other four U.S. Olympic Trials titlists:

108 lbs: Leroy Davila, Princeton, N.J., vs. Nico Hernandez, Wichita, Kan.

114 lbs: Antonio Vargas, Kissimmee, Fla. vs. Brent Venegas, Sacramento

141 lbs: Gary Russell, Capitol Heights, Md., vs. Jaron Ennis, Philadelphia

152 lbs: Paul Kroll, Philadelphia, vs. Ardreal Holmes, Flint, Mich.

(USA Boxing photo, from left, Charles Conwell, Jonathan Esquivel, 2004 Athens Games gold medalist Andre Ward, Shakur Stevenson, Marlo Moore and Cam F. Awesome)