Two American boxers competed in Olympic qualifying competition to start the week and the pair went one and one on the day. Heavyweight Cam F. Awesome (Lenexa, Kansas) recorded his second tournament victory on Monday at the World Olympic Qualifying Event in Baku, Azerbaijan. Welterweight Paul Kroll (Philadelphia, Pa.) fell in his third bout of the tournament in Monday’s preliminary competition at the Sarhadchi Arena.
Awesome faced off with Kosovo’s Armend Xhoxhaj in Monday’s afternoon session and he put on a strong performance in his second bout in Azerbaijan. The American heavyweight swept all three rounds on the judges’ scorecards to take another unanimous decision win in the Olympic qualifier. The victory advances Awesome on to a quarterfinal contest with number two tournament seed Julio Cesa Castillo Torres of Ecuador tomorrow night. Awesome must win the tournament to qualify his Olympic spot so he will need three more victories to clinch his berth.
Kroll entered Monday’s action with two tournament victories under his belt but he dropped his third bout to Hungary’s Imre Balaz Acckai in the evening session. Acckai pulled out a 2-1 decision over Kroll to eliminate him from the tournament. Kroll will have one more opportunity to qualify for the Olympic Games July 3-8 in Vargas, Venezuela.
Tuesday’s action will feature Awesome and three more American boxers as flyweight Antonio Vargas (Kissimmee, Fla.), light welterweight Gary Russell (Capitol Heights, Md.), and super heavyweight Marlo Moore (Hayward, Calif.) will all compete in the Olympic qualifying event tomorrow.
Vargas will open the competition in a bout with Guatemala’s Eddie Valenzuela Barillas in the first bout of the afternoon session. Russell will also compete in the early session against Australia’s David Biddle. Both Vargas and Russell will advance to the quarterfinals with wins in Tuesday’s competition. Moore will box in the final bout of the day in a quarterfinal contest with Bulgaria’s Petar Rumenov Velberov.
Male light flyweight Nico Hernandez (Wichita, Kansas), male bantamweight Shakur Stevenson (Newark, N.J.), female lightweight Mikaela Mayer (Los Angeles, Calif.), male lightweight Carlos Balderas (Santa Maria, Calif.), female middleweight Claressa Shields (Flint, Mich.), and male middleweight Charles Conwell (Cleveland, Ohio) have previously qualified for the 2016 Olympic Games.
U.S. Result
152 lbs/69 kg: Imre Balaz Acckai, HUN, dec. Paul Kroll, Philadelphia, Pa./USA, 2-1
201 lbs/91 kg: Cam F. Awesome, Lenexa, Kansas/USA dec. Armend Xhoxhaj, KOS, 3-0
Three American boxers earned victories in second round competition at the World Olympic Qualifying Event on Sunday in Baku, Azerbaijan. Flyweight
Antonio Vargas (Kissimmee, Fla.), light welterweight Gary Russell (Capitol Heights, Md.), and super heavyweight Marlo Moore (Hayward, Calif.) all recorded wins at the Sarhadchi Arena. Light heavyweight Jonathan Esquivel (Anaheim, Calif.) lost a split decision in his second round bout.
Russell made it a quick afternoon in his bout with against Ethiopia’s Girmachew Bahiru Tedesse on Sunday afternoon. He stopped Tedesse in the final seconds of the opening round of their light welterweight bout to take the TKO victory and his second win of the tournament. He will compete for a spot in the quarterfinal round on Tuesday afternoon against Australia’s David Biddle.
Moore was the final American boxer to compete in the World Olympic Qualifying event. He faced off with Korea’s Dohyeon Kim in super heavyweight preliminary round competition late in Sunday’s afternoon session. Due to an accidental head butt, the bout was stopped at the 2:57 mark of the opening round and went to the scorecards. Moore took a unanimous decision victory on the judges’ scorecards to claim a victory in his tournament opener. He will back in action on Tuesday evening in a contest with Bulgaria’s Peter Rumenov Belberov.
Vargas competed in the only American bout of the evening session in a contest with Venezuela’s Yoel Segundo Finol Rivas. He dominated the bout, winning all three rounds on the judges’ scorecards to win a unanimous decision. He will compete for a spot on the quarterfinal round against Guatemala’s Eddie Valenzuela Barillas on Tuesday afternoon.
Esquivel dropped a razor-split decision in his light heavyweight bout with Mongolia’s Erdenebayar Sandagsuren. Sandagsuren pulled the decision out by one round on one judges’ scorecards, eliminating Esquivel from the tournament. He will have one more opportunity to qualify for the Olympic Games, July 3-8 in Vargas, Venezuela.
Welterweight Paul Kroll (Philadelphia, Pa.) and heavyweight Cam F. Awesome (Lenexa, Kansas) will return to action on Monday in Baku. Kroll will face Hungary’s Imre Balaz Acckai on Monday evening and
Awesome will battle Kosovo’s Armend Xhoxhaj on Monday afternoon.
Male light flyweight Nico Hernandez (Wichita, Kansas), male bantamweight Shakur Stevenson (Newark, N.J.), female lightweight Mikaela Mayer (Los Angeles, Calif.), male lightweight Carlos Balderas (Santa Maria, Calif.), and male middleweight Charles Conwell (Cleveland, Ohio) have previously qualified for the 2016 Olympic Games.
U.S. Result
114 lbs/52 kg: Antonio Vargas, Kissimmee, Fla./USA dec. Yoel Segundo Finol Rivas, VEN, 3-0
141 lbs/64 kg: Gary Russell, Capitol Heights, Md./USA won on TKO over Girmachew Bahiru Tedesse, ETH, TKO-1 (2:58)
178 lbs/81 kg: Erdenebayar Sandagsuren, MGL, dec. Jonathan Esquivel, Anaheim, Calif./USA, 2-1
201+ lbs/91+ kg: Marlo Moore, Hayward, Calif./USA dec. Dohyeon Kim, KOR, 3-0
