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Thursday, September 21
Bennett all set for bout with Savon
Associated Press
SYDNEY, Australia -- Little Clarence Vinson became the first
American to win two bouts at the Olympics, stretching the U.S.
winning streak to 11 matches.
The 5-foot-2 Vinson of Washington, D.C., outpointed Taalaibek
Kadiraliev of Kyrgyzstan 12-7 in a rough-and-tumble fight at 119
pounds Thursday in the Sydney Exhibition Center.
|  | | Clarence Vinson, left, ducks a blow from Kyrgyzstan's Taalaibek Kadiraliev in the second-round victory for the American. |
"I'll take an ugly win over a loss any day," the 22-year-old
Vinson said. "He was a rough inside fighter. He had an awkward
style."
Vinson's win was the 11th straight for the U.S. team. But then
the 22-year-old Craig lost 9-4 to Bulent Ulusoy of Turkey in a
second-round match at 147 pounds.
"I'm mad because I believed before I went into the ring I was
the better man," Craig said. "It's just hard to be the first one
to lose."
Michael Bennett of Chicago gave the Americans their 10th victory
when he outpointed mauling Wojciech Bartnik of Poland 11-2 and set
up a much-anticipated 201-pound quarterfinal match against Cuban
great Felix Savon next Tuesday afternoon (Monday, U.S. time).
Savon, bidding to become the third boxer to win three Olympic
gold medals, stopped Rasmus Ojemaye of Nigeria in the second round
on the 15-point rule (17-2) in the afternoon.
"I'm not intimidated by any man," said the 29-year-old
Bennett, who became a U.S. and world champion after being released
in July 1998 from prison. He had served seven years for robbery.
Vinson caught the circling, backpedaling Kadiraliev enough in
the first three rounds to build a 7-5 lead. Then in rough fourth, Kadiraliev was penalized for holding (a penalty adds two points to
the opponent's score) to give Vinson a 10-5 lead. Vinson was
penalized for pushing and his lead was cut to 10-7, but the
American then clinched the match by scoring with a left hook and a
right to the head.
The 6-foot Bennett, the reigning U.S. champion, chased the
32-year-old Bartnik, a 1996 Olympic bronze medalist at 178 pounds,
for the first two rounds and built a 5-0 lead. Two of those scoring
blows came when Bennett switch to a left-handed style for part of
the second round. Bartnik resorted to rough-house tactics to no
avail in the final two rounds. Just before the final bell,
32-year-old Bartnik hit Bennett hard with a shoulder.
"I got a 'W,' Bennett said. "It was difficult because he
didn't come to box."
The 6-6 Savon, a six-time world champion, who lists his age as
33, had about an 8-inch height advantage over Ojemaye, who took two
standing eight counts. Savon landing hard rights and stiff left
jabs led 12-1 after one round.
"He looked kind of vulnerable . . . . but you still have reach
him," said Tom Mustin, head coach of the U.S. team.
Bennett was supposed to box Savon in the final at the world
championships last year in Houston, but he won on a walkover when
Savon refused to fight in protest against a decision that went
against a Cuban in an earlier bout.
"I've been looking forward to it (boxing Savon) since the
worlds," Bennett said. "I want to compete against the best."
Craig couldn't solve Ulusoy's left-handed style. The Turk took
charge in the second round when he knocked down Craig with a right
to the head and built a 5-3 lead. Craig was off-balance when he was
hit with the right, but it was a legitimate knockdown.
A frustrated Craig began lunging and did not score a point in
the third round when Ulusoy padded his lead to 8-3 and clinched the
victory.
The Cubans' first defeat after eight victories came earlier on
the card Thursday when Dorel Simion of Romania, a 1997 world and
reigning European champion, outpointed Roberto Guerra 11-7.
Simion wouldn't let the rangy Cuban fight outside, and outscored
Guerra 6-2 in the last two rounds. Simion's brother Marin, the 1996
Olympic 147-pound bronze medalist, is fighting here at 156.
In another 147-pound bout in the afternoon, Oleg Saitov of
Russian, a 1996 Olympic champion, boxed circles around Francisco
Calderon of Colombia for an 11-7 victory.
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