(HOUSTON, TEXAS) — Athletes in the flyweight, featherweight, light welterweight, middleweight and heavyweight divisions donned their gloves once more at the evening session of the 2008 Olympic Team Trials—Boxing at the George R. Brown Convention Center in Houston, Texas.
In the flyweight division, Aaron Alafa (Visalia, Calif.) and Bruno Escalante (Waimanalo, Hawaii/NMU) met in the ring each trying to advance to tomorrow’s winner bracket bout. Escalante came prepared and led 6-2 at the end of the first round. Alafa chipped away at Escalante’s lead in the second, making it 9-7 and tying it up at 10 at the end of the third. Alafa turned up the heat in the fourth, scoring 10 points and holding Escalante to only two. He defeated Escalante 20-12. “I feel it’s a great accomplishment to get this far,” Alafa said. “I feel really confident and am trying to keep a humble state of mind. I want to travel with that throughout this competition. I am much more experienced with elite level competition this time (his second Olympic Trials).”
Featherweights Robert Rodriguez (Evans, Colo.) and Duran Caferro (Helena, Mont.) faced each other in what proved to be an exciting bout. The two each earned eight points in the first round, but Caferro began to pull away in the second, leading 15-12. Rodriguez could not recover from the deficit and Caferro was victorious, winning 25-19. “I lost yesterday but I tried to stay positive,” Caferro said. “Even though I’m coming out of the challenger’s bracket, it can still be done.”
Danny Garcia (Philadelphia, Pa.) and Samuel Martinez (Jacksonville, N.C.) were paired in the light welterweight division. Garcia got off to a quick start, earning a 12-3 lead by the end of the first. Garcia finished off Martinez in the second, outscoring him 25-5 to win the mandatory stoppage victory. “I feel good but I have a lot more to do,” Garcia said. “He was kind of rough, pushing me around, but I was landing clean shots.”
A great bout was contested in the middleweight division between Fernando Guerrero (Salisbury, Md.) and Shawn Estrada (Downey, Calif.). Estrada held a slim 1-0 lead going into the second, but Guerrero came back to tie it at seven going into the third. However, Estrada pulled away in the last two rounds and held on to win, 20-12. “I feel good. I’m confident, I was moving around the ring, and landing flush punches,” Estrada said. “I have faced him once before and that gave me confidence because I already knew his style.”
Super heavyweights Deontay Wilder (Tuscaloosa, Ala.) and Joe Guzman (Fort Carson, Colo.) battled it out in the hopes of keeping their Olympic dreams alive. Wilder was strong right out of the gate and had a 5-1 lead after one. Guzman put up a good fight in the second, scoring seven points in the round, which was enough to cut Wilder’s lead to 3. However, Guzman was unable to close the gap and Wilder won 26-14. “Day by day I get stronger and faster,” Wilder said. “In the beginning, I warmed up to get a feel for him and as I went on I got faster, stronger and smarter. If my power hand came available, I used it.”
Boxing will continue tomorrow at noon in the George R. Brown Convention Center with one winners bracket bout in each weight division and two challengers bracket in each of the 11 weight classes.
Tuesday’s Evening Results
112 lbs/51 kg: Rau’shee Warren, Cincinnati, Ohio, stopped Qa’id Muhammad, Atlantic City, N.J., RSC-2 (:31)
112 lbs/51 kg: Aaron Alafa, Visalia, Calif., dec. Bruno Escalante, Waimanalo, Hawaii/NMU, 20-12
112 lbs/51 kg: David Gaspar, Wilmington, N.C., dec. Timothy Ibarra, Brighton, Colo., 24-12
112 lbs/51 kg: Juan Leija, Alvin, Texas, dec. John Franklin, Fort Carson, Colo., 33-20
125 lbs/57 kg: Raynell Williams, Clveland, Ohio, dec. Shemuel Pagan, Brooklyn, N.Y., 22-12
125 lbs/57 kg: Hylon Williams, Jr., Houston, Texas, dec. Rico Ramos, Los Angeles, Calif., 18-12
125 lbs/57 kg: Troy Wohosky, Medford, Ore., won on walkover over Rosey Summerville, San Antonio, Texas, W/O
125 lbs/57 kg: Duran Cafero, Helena, Mont., dec. Roert Rodriguez, Evans, Colo., 25-19
141 lbs/64 kg: Dan O’Connor, Framingham, Mass., dec. Michael Dallas, Bakersfield, Calif., 24-11
141 lbs/64 kg: Javier Molina, Commerce, Calif., dec. Jeremy Bryan, Clifton, N.J., 27-20
141 lbs/64 kg: Danny Garcia, Philadelphia, Pa., stopped Samuel Martinez, Jacksonville, N.C., RSCO-2 (:16)
141 lbs/64 kg: Andre Sherard, Milwaukee, Wis., dec. Brad Solomon, Douglasville, Ga., 12-12 (25-22)
165 lbs/75 kg: Shawn Estrada, Downey, Calif. dec. Fernando Guerrero, Salisbury, Md., 20-12
165 lbs/75 kg: Zach Hardrick, Fort Carson, Colo., dec. Angel Santos, Newark, N.J., 23-21
165 lbs/75 kg: Daniel Jacobs, Brooklyn, N.Y., dec. Dominic Wade, Largo, Md., 18-10
165 lbs/75 kg: Shawn Porter, Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio, stopped Jonathan Nelson, Little Rock, Ark., RSCO-3 (0:06)
201 lbs/91 kg: Quantis Graves, Cut Off, La., dec. Adam Willett, Bellport, N.Y., 16-14
201 lbs/91 kg: David Carey, Anchorage, Alaska, won on medical disqualification over James Zimmerman, San Jose, Calif.
201 lbs/91 kg: Deontay Wilder, Tuscaloosa, Al., dec. Joe Guzman, Fort Carson, Colo., 26-14
201 lbs/91 kg: Anthony Tettis, Ridgeway, Pa., dec. Aleco Lawton, Orlando, Fla., 28-8
Wednesday’s Bout Sheets
106 lbs/winners bracket: Luis Yanez, Duncanville, Texas vs. Diego Hurtado, Reno, Nev.
106 lbs/challengers bracket: Daniel Lozano, Bowling Green, Fla. vs. Malcom Franklin, Rialto, Calif.
106 lbs/challengers bracket: Jerail Singleton, St. Louis, Mo. vs. Roberto Ceron, Doraville, Ga.
119 lbs/winners bracket: Ronny Rios, Santa Ana, Calif. vs. Roberto Marroquin, Dallas, Texas
119 lbs/challengers bracket: Sergio Perales, Los Fresnos, Texas vs. Jessy Cruz, Miami, Fla.
119 lbs/challengers bracket: Samuel DiPace, Las Cruces, N.M. vs. Gary Russell, Jr., Capitol Heights, Md.
132 lbs/winners bracket: Sadam Ali, Brooklyn, N.Y. vs. Jerry Belmontes, Corpus Christi, Texas
132 lbs/challengers bracket: Mason Menard, Rayne, La. vs. Terence Crawford, Omaha, Nev.
132 lbs/challengers bracket: Miguel Gonzalez, Cleveland, Ohio vs. Antton Slaughter, Columbus, Ohio
152 lbs/winners bracket: Demetrius Andrade, Providence, R.I. vs. Keith Thurman, Oldsmar, Fla.
152 lbs/challengers bracket: Boyd Melson, Fort Carson, Colo. vs. Anthony Campbell
152 lbs/challengers bracket: Charles Hatley, Dallas, Texas vs. Mahlon Kerwick, Fort Carson, Colo.
178 lbs/winners bracket: Chris Downs, Fort Carson, Colo. vs. Yathomas Riley, San Diego, Calif.
178 lbs/challengers bracket: Siju Shabazz, Las Cruces, N.M. vs. Angel Concepcion, East Orange, N.J.
178 lbs/challengers bracket: Cymone Kearney, Oakland, Calif. vs. DeRae Crane, Davenport, Iowa/NMU
201+ lbs/winners bracket: Michael Hunter, Las Vegas, Nev. vs. Kimdo Bethel, Albany, N.Y.
201+ lbs/challengers bracket: Mike Wilson, Central Point, Ore. vs. Nate James, Malden, Mass./NMU
201+ lbs/challengers bracket: Andrew Shepherd, Fort Carson, Colo. vs. Lenroy Thompson, Port St. Lucie, Fla.
Wednesday Evening Bout Sheets
112 lbs/winners bracket: Rau’shee Warren, Cincinnati, Ohio vs. Aaron Alafa, Visalia, Calif.
112 lbs/challengers bracket: Bruno Escalante, Waimanalo, Hawaii/NMU vs. Juan Leija, Alvin, Texas
112 lbs/challengers bracket: Qa’id Muhammad, Atlantic City, N.J. vs. David Gaspar, Wilmington, N.C.
125 lbs/winners bracket: Raynell Williams, Cleveland, Ohio vs. Hylon Williams, Houston, Texas
125 lbs/challengers bracket: Rico Ramos, Los Angeles, Calif. vs. Duran Caferro, Helena, Mont.
125 lbs/challengers bracket: Shemuel Pagan, Brooklyn, N.Y. vs. Troy Wohosky, Medford, Ore.
141 lbs/winners bracket: Javier Molina, Commerce, Calif. vs. Dan O’Connor, Framingham, Mass.
141 lbs/challengers bracket: Michael Dallas, Bakersfield, Calif. vs. Fernando Guerrero, Salisbury, Md.
141 lbs/challengers bracket: Jeremy Bryan, Clifton, N.J. vs. Andre Sherard, Milwaukee, Wis.
165 lbs/winners bracket: Shawn Estrada, Downey, Calif. vs. Daniel Jacobs, Brooklyn, N.Y.
165 lbs/challengers bracket: Dominic Wade, Largo, Md. vs. Zach Hardrick, Fort Carson, Colo.
165 lbs/challengers bracket: Fernando Guerrero, Salisbury, Md. vs. Shawn Porter, Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio
201 lbs/winners bracket: Deontay Wilder, Tuscaloosa, Ala. vs. Quantis Graves, Cut Off, La.
201 lbs/challengers bracket: Adam Willett, Bellport, N.Y. vs. Anthony Tettis, Ridgeway, Pa.
201 lbs/challengers bracket: Joe Guzman, Fort Carson, Colo. vs. David Carey, Anchorage, Alaska