Winning start: USA's Carlos Balderas, Nico Hernandez both win to open Rio Olympics
If the USA's boxing team was going to find more success at the Rio Olympics than it did in London in 2012, it needed a successful and confidence-boosting start.
The USA got exactly that as Carlos Balderas and Nico Hernandez started with victories Saturday.
Balderas opened the Games with a lightweight victory over Kazakhstan's Berik Abdrahkmanov.
The first round was a feeling out period for both boxers as Balderas looked to push through some early nerves and measure his distance and timing. He found his rhythm late in the round to set up a strong second round, when he opened with a strong hook that stopped the forward movement of his Kazakhstani opponent.
Battling both Abdrahkmanov and a hostile crowd, Balderas took control of the bout. Landing an effective mix of straight shots and hooks and punches to both the head and body, Balderas clearly won the second round. Although he took his foot off the gas slightly over the final three minutes, the lightweight won a clear, unanimous decision to kick off the Games for Team USA.
"I think I could have started faster. I did start off quick but I could have let me combinations go. I was throwing but I wasn't really thinking about what I was throwing," he said. "We can always work better. Coach Billy (Walsh) and Coach Kay (Koroma) told me what he fights like and what his weaknesses and strengths are. I just went out there and executed the plan."
Balderas, 19, was the first American boxer to qualify for the Olympic Games but his debut was nearly 13 years in the making. "I can't even explain the way I was feeling. I was nervous and excited at the same time," he said. "I felt pressure and I had a lot of anxiety because this is something that I've been working for since the age of seven but at the same time, I kind of wanted time to move a little slower as I was walking to the ring but we got the job done and that's what matters."
Balderas will return for second round action on Tuesday (10:15 a.m. ET) against Japan's Daisuke Narimatsu.
Hernandez faced Italy's Manuel Cappai. Like Balderas, he started slow but picked it up in the second round, landing a sharp 1-2 combination that caught the eye of the judges. He used well executed feints and a sharp jab in the middle round to take control of the matchup. Hernandez continued to box effectively in the third and final round to secure the victory and ensure an undefeated opening day for the U.S. team.
"In the first round, I was lunging in. I went back to the corner and made some adjustments and started using my feints more and working my way in and it worked. Billy told me that the first round was too close. You've got start using your jab more and work your way in," Hernandez said. "We were mixing it up and clinching but it was my first fight and I was getting the ring rust off."
Hernandez had to tune out a highly hostile crowd in the same manner Balderas did earlier in the day but he refused to allow the negativity to faze him. "I heard it but I didn't pay any attention to the crowd. I'm focused on my fight and the person in front of me," he said.
Hernandez will return to the ring on Monday in a matchup with No. 2 tournament seed Vasilii Egorov of Russia (4:45 p.m. ET).
All of the U.S. bouts are being shown live via livestream at this link. Boxing action can also be found on the various networks of NBC, including NBC Sports Network and Telemundo. The U.S. team was off on Sunday.
For full tournament brackets and schedule information, click here.
(Photo of Balderas, right, against Kazakhstan's Berik Abdrahkmanov, by Yuri Cortez, AFP/Getty Images)