Jonathan Esquivel wins Olympic qualifier opener, while Cam F. Awesome, Paul Kroll eliminated from Rio Games

Light heavyweight Jonathan Esquivel won his Olympic Qualifying event debut on Monday at the final qualifier in Vargas, Venezuela.

He is the only American boxer remaining in contention at the event as super heavyweight Brandon Lynch dropped his opener on Sunday in his first major international bout and welterweight Paul Kroll and heavyweight Cam F. Awesome fell on Monday.

Esquivel took on Bulgaria's Spas Genov and won a split decision. The 21-year-old Olympic Trials champion will face veteran professional Hassan N'Dam N'Jikam of Cameroon in his second bout Tuesday. Esquivel needs two more victories to clinch his berth in the 2016 Olympic Games.

Awesome lost a 3-0 decision against Ecuador's Julio Cesar Castillo Torres in his opening bout. He lost a 3-0 decision was eliminated from the tournament and 2016 Olympic Games contention. Awesome is a two-time Olympic Trials champion and multi-time USA Boxing National Championships gold medalist in the heavyweight and super heavyweight divisions.

Kroll boxed well in his debut against Germany's Arajik Marutjan, looking to control the contest with his stiff jab. Despite his strong effort, Kroll lost a 3-0 decision to Marutjan. The defeat ends Kroll's run at the 2016 Olympic Games. The Philadelphia native boxed his way out of the challengers' bracket to win the 2016 Olympic Trials in December and defeated a former world champion in World Series of Boxing competition earlier this year as a member of the USA Knockouts.

Lynch lost a unanimous decision to Ukraine's Rostyslav Arkhypenko. He is the 2016 U.S. Olympic Team Trials silver medalist.

(Photo of Esquivel, right, courtesy of Jonathan Esquivel)