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Wednesday, September 27
Juarez lands most of his blows late


SYDNEY, Australia -- Attacking like the heavyweight champion he was named for, featherweight Rocky Juarez powered past a 1996 Olympic champion and into the Olympic boxing semifinals.

Ricardo Juarez
Rocky Juarez stands over a defeated Somluck Kamsing of Thailand.

Juarez, a 1999 world champion, landed 23 scoring blows in the final two rounds and stopped Somluck Kamsing of Thailand on the 15-point rule (31-16) with eight seconds remaining in the 125-pound bout Wednesday night.

It was a sensational performance by the 20-year-old, 5-foot-3 boxer from Houston, whose first name is Ricardo, but who has a middle name of Rocky because his father admired Rocky Marciano.

Juarez became the third American to advance to the semifinals. All semifinalists are assured at least bronze medals.

Jermain Taylor, of Little Rock, Ark., then became the last American semifinalist when he beat Adnan Catic of Germany 19-13 in a sloppily boxed 156-pound match.

Ricardo Williams Jr., of Cincinnati, who boxes at 139 pounds, and 119-pounder Clarence Vinson, of Washington, D.C., also have reached the semifinals.

The total of four medals will be two less than American boxers got in 1996 at Atlanta, when they collected one gold and five bronze, but it will be one more than they won in Barcelona in 1992, when the team got a gold, a silver and a bronze.

The Cubans have six semifinalists, but it was a bad day for them. After a victory in the afternoon, they lost four bouts.

The first Cuban to lose was 6-foot-8 super heavyweight Alexis Rubalcaba, who beat up Mukhtarkhan Dildabekov of Kazakstan in the first round before Dildabekov turned the tables on him and won 25-12 in the afternoon.

The last Cuban to lose was Juan Hernandez, an Olympic silver medalist in 1992-96, who was outpointed 15-7 by Yermakhan Ibraimov of Kazakstan at 156 at night.

"It feels great to know I'm going to win that gold medal, I'm going to win it," said Taylor. The first obstacle he must clear is Ibraimov, who will be his semifinal opponent Friday night.

Taylor opened a 7-1 lead, but Catic scored the next six points before the American used his right hand to score eight of the next points. He was penalized two points in the fourth round for holding.

Juarez led Kamsing 6-2 after one round, but the Olympic champion closed to 8-7 after two rounds.

Juarez's left jab began working in the second round and, he said, "The coaches told me to keep throwing it. They said, 'This time (the third round) move some more, but throw it.' It worked today. It set up my right hand, my body shots and all the rest of my punches."

Kamsing took a 11-9 lead third before Juarez unleashed eight consecutive scoring blows to the head and took a 19-3 lead at the end of the round. The American jumped all over the Thai in the fourth round.

The Thai team coach, Juan Bautista of Cuba, claimed Kamsing is not in top shape.

The 19-year-old Williams outpointed Russian Alexandre Leonov 17-12 at 139 pounds Wednesday.

Another 19-year-old American lost on the afternoon. Jose Navarro of Los Angeles was outpointed 23-12 to Jerome Thomas of France at 112 pounds.

"I think I was a little off today," Williams said. "I don't know what took me so long to get off, but I got the victory and I'm happy to be moving on to the semifinals."

The left-handed Williams fell behind 7-6 in the third round, when Leonov landed the last three scoring blows. Then American got untracked in the third round when he landed seven consecutive scoring blows to build a 13-7 lead.

Some observers thought the third round of Navarro's bout was shorter than the two-minute limit, but Navarro saw no problem with the round.

Navarro closed to 14-11 late in the third round, but then Thomas dominated the final two minutes.

"He was slick, I give him a lot of credit," Navarro said. "He beat me, so he's better than myself. He proved that today."

Vinson won his quarterfinal match Tuesday. He now will box Guillermo Rigondeaux Thursday night. Williams will box Diogenes Luna on Friday night, and Juarez will box Russian Kamil Dzamalutdinov, also Friday night.



 

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Savon overpowers Bennett as only one U.S. boxer advances

Navarro clubs way into flyweight quarterfinals

Juarez, Taylor make it five U.S. boxers into the quarters

Boxing official says Viloria didn't get points he deserved

Vinson makes second round as U.S. boxers go 11-for-12

Williams falls behind early, but then advances as well

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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