Four American boxers qualify for Rio Olympic Games
Four American boxers qualified for the Rio Olympics Thursday at the Americas Qualifier in Buenos Aires, and lightweight Mikaela Mayer advanced to her qualifying bout on Saturday.
Light flyweight Nico Hernandez, bantamweight Shakur Stevenson, and middleweights Claressa Shields and Charles Conwell scored qualifying bout victories to officially punch their tickets for Rio.
Heavyweight Cam F. Awesome dropped his semifinal bout and can clinch his spot in the 2016 Olympic Games with a win in Friday's heavyweight consolation bout.
Female flyweight Virginia Fuchs, male light welterweight Gary Russell, and light heavyweight Jonathan Esquivel each fell in Thursday's semifinal competition but they will have future opportunities to qualify for the 2016 Games.
Hernandez, 20, defeated Argentina's Leandro Blanc, making it clear early that he was not going to fall victim to a hometown decision by setting the tone and landing clean punches. He kept the heat turned up throughout the bout, and once again scoring repeatedly with a strong left hook. Hernandez closed strongly to stake his claim on his berth in the 2016 Olympic Games.
"Man, it feels great. Since last year I've been trying to make it from the World Series of Boxing. I failed a couple of times but I just went back and worked harder and it paid off," Hernandez said. "My game plan was to just feint a lot, good boxing. . . . The hook was landing again, it's called the Coach Billy hook."
Hernandez will face Colombia's Yurberjen Herney Martinez Rivas in the finals on Friday afternoon.
Conwell, 18, defeated Colombia's Jorge Luis Vivas Palacios in a semifinal bout. The two boxers opened the bout firing hard shots to the body and head in the ultimate slugfest. Palacios tried to outwork Conwell in the middleweight bout but the American teenager clearly had other plans. He picked up the pace, trapping Palacios and digging hard shots to both sides of his body. Conwell closed the bout impressively to win a unanimous decision and will take on Mexico's Misael Uziel Rodriguez Olivas in the finals tomorrow afternoon.
"It feels wonderful. It's a dream come true," Conwell said. Tough opponent, finals tomorrow, I can't wait. We're bringing home the gold, the job isn't over. We still have one more fight. The body shots and the feints really slowed him down. I capitalized off of the feints."
Olympic champion Shields celebrated her 21st birthday on Thursday and earned a second consecutive Olympic berth. After a hectic, wild bout on Tuesday, she settled in and handled business in her semifinal bout with the Dominican Republic's Yenebier Guillen Benitez. After a slower paced opening minute, Shields began firing tenacious combinations late in the first round, catching Benitez will several hard shots.
The trend continued over the next two rounds as Shields connected with quick combinations for which Benitez had no answer. The reigning Olympic, Pan American Games and World Champion, Shields enters the 2016 Olympics as the strong favorite after being the underdog in 2012. She will face Canada's Ariane Fortin-Bruchu in the finals on Saturday.
"I can officially say I'm a two-time Olympian, one-time Olympic gold medalist. It feels great. I'm ready for Rio, I'm ready to conquer the other side of the world now. The plan was to stay off the ropes, box to my left and step with my jab. The only round I didn't follow the plan was the second round. The coaches told me and I got right back to it," Shields said.
"The first go around I was the underdog, this go around I was the top dog. I like them both. I think people think that when you've been on top so long, you stop training as hard and that you get big-headed. . . . When I was the underdog, nobody knew who I was. I think that both of them are good but being the top dog and people thinking I have a big head is an advantage for me."
Stevenson faced Venezuela's Johan Jose Gonzalez Mendez and looked to neutralize Mendez's range by controlling the distance and making his opponent uncomfortable and he succeeded in doing so. In the second round, Stevenson walked Mendez down and unloaded on him, dominating in such strong fashion that the judges gave him a 10-8 round. He went on to win a 3-0 decision and earn a berth in the 2016 Olympics. Stevenson moved his international record to 22-0 with the win and will face Argentina's Ezequiel Alberto Melian in the finals on Saturday.
"It feels good knowing that all my dreams have good true and all my hard work has paid off. I saw a couple of close decisions that I felt were given away so my main point of this fight was to make sure that nothing was close and there was no way for them to give it to the other guy," Stevenson said.
"When I was younger, I was watching the 2012 Olympics and they didn't do so well and I decided that I wanted to be the one to put the United States back on top. I definitely plan to capitalize on this opportunity."
Mayer defeated Puerto Rico's Kiria Tapia, avenging a loss at the Pan American Games qualifier which kept her from competing from the 2015 event. She closed out the bout successfully on her way to a unanimous decision win and a berth in the finals against Mexico's Victoria Torres.
Her women's lightweight division requires a gold medal finish so she will need a victory in Saturday's championship bout to clinch her berth in the Olympic Games.
Awesome faced Argentina's Yamir Alberto Peralta Jara, who took the decision 3-0. Awesome will return in the consolation bout on Friday afternoon against Brazil's Juan Goncalves Nogueira. If he is victorious, he will qualify for the Olympic Games.
"Apparently I didn't do enough this fight but the top three qualify so I'm more concerned with my fight against Brazil tomorrow. I'm going to do the same thing I've been doing every day. I don't believe I was blown out this fight. The world is full of complaints, I don't have any. I just have to stay positive and deal with tomorrow," Awesome said.
(Photo at top of Mikaela Mayer, right, by Julie Goldsticker, USA Boxing)