(CHICAGO, ILL.) – Returning Olympian Rau’shee Warren (Cincinnati, Ohio) had a score to settle in his 2007 World Championships debut on Thursday in Chicago. Warren faced off with 2004 Olympian Tulashboy Doniyorov of Uzbekistan, in flyweight preliminary action, winning a 20-8 decision. Doniyorov was a familiar face to Warren, having defeated 2004 Olympic teammate and fellow Cincinnati boxer Ron Siler in the 2004 Olympic Games..
Doniyorov pulled out every roughhouse tactic in the book in their four round match-up, throwing elbows and forearms throughout the bout. It was the visiting boxer who held the first lead in the bout, but Warren grabbed a slim 4-3 lead at the end of the first. He picked up the pace in the second round, finding openings and using straight shots to take a 9-4 lead at the halfway mark. Warren found his rhythm in the third stanza, utilizing his speed and movement to land shots and evade Doniyorov’s punches and his efforts earned the 20-year-old a commanding 16-5 advantage at the end of three. The dirty tactics continued into the fourth as Doniyorov pulled Warren to the ground, but the American boxer kept his composure, going on to win the 20-8 final victory.
“That was rough, he was strong, he kept elbowing me and head-butting me; I was getting frustrated, but I just kept listening to my coach in the corner,” Warren said. “In the first round, I had to feel him out, that was my main purpose. They said he was a 2004 Olympian, but I told them rthat they had to worry about me. When I came out in the second round, I was trying to out-power him and show him I was strong. My coach, Mike Stafford, told me to use my speed, no power and just work. In the last round, he told me just not get hit, but as you could tell, it was a rough bout.”
Rau’shee Warren quotes
“This is boxing, nobody takes it easy in the ring. If they take it easy, they might as well kiss you. Every bout is going to be rough.”
“You have to thank plyometrics (for my stamina). Patrick (the USOC strength and conditioning coach) had us running, using a lot of speed, and doing a lot of drills to build our legs up so that when we got in the ring, we could use the circle drill and our movement. It was a rough bout for my first one, I would have rather that happened in the finals.”
“He fought Ron Siler in the Olympics and he beat Ron, one of the Cincinnati boys. I didn’t get in the ring, thinking that he beat one of my boys; its going to be a tough fight. I just got in the ring with a game plan to fight hard.”
“You could see whose hand the referee pulled up, my hand. He has to go to another qualifier while I’m at home. I’m the returning Olympian, and I’m going to stay that way. I’m going to show the world what being an Olympian means.”
“Everyone who is here isn’t playing around, they came to fight and they are hungry just like I am.”
“This means a lot, if you don’t win this, you can’t go to the Olympics, you’ve got to go to another qualifier. My main focus is to qualify so I can go to Beijing. Right now, my focus is on Chicago.”
“I’m glad I had this fight today, it woke me up. My main plan was to throw straight punches and work off the jab. I wanted to move side-to-side and not back up because I was giving up points when I was backing up. I wanted to move side-to-side and use the circle drill like we do in the gym.”
U.S. Results
112 lbs/51 kg: Rau’shee Warren, Cincinnati, Ohio/USA dec. Tulashboy Doniyorov, UZB, 20-8