(SEPT 14) (COLORADO SPRINGS,
COLO.) – Lightweight Queen Underwood (Seattle, Wash.), light
welterweight Cashmere Jackson (Cleveland, Ohio) and welterweight
Andrecia Wasson (Centerline, Mich.) all clinched quarterfinal
berths with victories in preliminary action on Monday at the
2010 Women’s World Championships in Bridgetown, Barbados. The
trio now stands only one victory away world championships
hardware.
Underwood notched her third victory of the tournament, defeating
Thailand’s Sudaporn Seesondee in the first bout of the day for
the U.S. squad. The three-time national champion enjoyed a more
comfortable victory than her tiebreaker win on Saturday, holding
Seesondee scoreless throughout the full eight minutes of action
at the Garfield Sabers Sports Complex. Underwood fought a
disciplined and patient bout, taking a small early lead and
building on her edge round by round. She held a five-point lead
as the final period began and enjoyed her highest point output
in the final two minutes, winning an 8-0 final decision.
Underwood will take on Bulgaria’s European Championships silver
medalist Denitsa Eliseeva in quarterfinal action on Wednesday
afternoon.
Shortly after Underwood’s bout, Jackson took the ring for her
second bout of the 2010 Women’s World Championships. She enjoyed
a victorious outcome in her bout as well, winning a 13-7
decision over China’s Qinqin Yang. Jackson opened the bout on
fire, and her 7-2 edge in the first round was the key to the
bout. Her pace slowed in the second stanza and Jackson held a
10-4 lead at the halfway mark of the bout. Yang kept the bout
even over the final two rounds, including a scoreless final
round by both boxers and Jackson claimed the 13-7 victory to
move on to the quarterfinal round at her first World
Championships. Jackson will face North Korea’s Yong Ri Suk in
Wednesday evening’s quarterfinal action.
Two U.S. boxers competed in the evening session, beginning with
Wasson’s bout with Russian Svetlana Kosova. The welterweight
bout was a strategic chess match as neither boxer recorded a
scoring blow in the opening round. Wasson struck first in the
second period and the bout moved into the halfway point with the
American boxer holding a slim 1-0 lead. She began to find the
mark in the third, scoring three points while Kosova recorded
her first scoring blow. Wasson enjoyed a three-point lead as the
final round began, and held the same advantage at the end of the
bout, winning a 5-2 final decision. The American welterweight’s
victory advances her on to quarterfinal competition against
Australia’s Naomi Lee Fischer-Rasmussen.
Middleweight Tiffanie Hearn (Louisville, Ky.) didn’t enjoy the
same ending as her teammates in the final U.S. bout of the day.
Hearn took on The Netherland’s Nouchka Fontijn in her second
World Championships bout on Monday night. Hearn kept the bout
close through the first half of the contest, facing only a 6-4
disadvantage after two rounds. Yet the second half of the bout
told a different story with Fontijn holding Hearn scoreless en
route to a 14-4 victory for the Dutch boxer.
Flyweight Marlen Esparza (Houston, Texas) will return to the
ring on Tuesday afternoon to take on Thailand’s Peamwilai
Laopeam, in her third bout of the tournament. Esparza will be
the lone U.S. competitor on Tuesday and hopes to join her three
U.S. teammates in the quarterfinal round with a win in Tuesday’s
action. She is fresh off an upset victory over defending
champion Kim Ok Hyang in Sunday’s preliminary competition.
132 lbs: Queen Underwood, Seattle, Wash./USA dec.Sudaporn
Seesondee, THA, 8-0
125 lbs: Cashmere Jackson, Cleveland, Ohio/USA dec. Qinqin Yang,
CHN, 13-7
152 lbs: Andrecia Wasson, Centerline, Mich./USA dec. Svetlana
Kosova, RUS, 5-2
165 lbs: Nouchka Fontijn, NED, dec. Tiffanie Hearn, Louisville,
Ky./USA, 14-4
USA Boxing, as the national governing body for Olympic-style
boxing, is the United States’ member organization of the
International Amateur Boxing Association (AIBA) and a member of
the United States Olympic Committee (USOC).
