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Tuesday, September 19
American boxers now 9-for-9
Associated Press
SYDNEY, Australia -- The U.S. boxing bandwagon continued to
roll noisily along at the Olympics as Ricardo Williams Jr. became
the ninth American to advance.
|  | | Ricardo Williams, in blue, fell behind Australia's Henry Collins early, but then bounced back quickly. |
Williams fell behind 3-0 to Australia's Henry Collins and was
tied 3-3 after one round Wednesday. The
19-year-old Williams then proceeded to give the apprentice
cabinetmaker a shellacking until the 139-pound bout was stopped in
the fourth round on the 15-point rule, 21-5.
Although there are obstacles remaining on the road to gold
medals, many of them being Cuban boxers, Williams is confident.
"I think we'll get better and better," said Williams, who
admitted to spending sleepless nights while waiting for his
first-round bout in the Sydney Convention Center.
Williams became the second Cincinnati boxer to advance. Dante
Craig is in the second round at 147 pounds.
"My sister used to baby-sit him when he was little," Williams
said. "We're good friend of his family and they're good friends of
mine."
Williams found the range in the second round and led 8-4. The
margin was 14-5 after three rounds, then Williams unleashed a
barrage that ended the bout.
When the score reached 20-5, the Indonesian referee didn't hear
the signal to stop the fight, and Williams got in another scoring
blow.
Williams' second-round opponent is Olusegun Ajose of Nigeria,
winner on a walkover against Iranian Anoushirvan Nourian, who was
barred from boxing because of steroids.
Jermain Taylor of Little Rock, Ark., was spectacular in stopping
Dimitriy Usagin of Bulgaria in the first round of a 156-pound bout
Tuesday night. Taylor knocked down Usagin with crashing right to
the jaw. Usagin got up, staggered a couple of steps and fell into
ring post. The bout was stopped with 10 seconds remaining in the
round.
"It was a good lick," Taylor said. "It caught him right on
the button."
Michael Bennett, at 29 the oldest member of the U.S. team, will
make his Olympic debut Thursday in a
201-pound match against Wojciech Bartnik of Poland. On the same
card, Felix Savon of Cuba will fight Rasmus Ojemaye of Nigeria.
Arguably the most anticipated bout is a potential quarterfinal
meeting of Bennett, a world and U.S. champion from Chicago, and
Savon, seeking a third Olympic gold medal.
Super heavyweight Calvin Brock of Charlotte, N.C., fights for
the first time Saturday night against Paolo Vidoz of Italy. Olanda
Anderson, who got a first-round bye at 178 pounds, will make his
debut against Rudolph Kraj of Czech Republic on Sunday.
Cuba was 7-0, with Israel Alvarez to box at 178 pounds later
Wednesday.
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ALSO SEE
Taylor right on target for U.S. boxers
Juarez, Lacy latest U.S. boxers to advance
Viloria holds on after almost blowing lead
Craig, Vinson get first wins for U.S. boxing team
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