(APR 4)  (COLORADO SPRINGS, COLO) – 2012 Women’s Continental Championships action will begin tonight at the NAV Center in Cornwall, Ontario, Canada and five U.S. boxers will the ring on the first day of competition. Light flyweight Alex Love (Monroe, Wash.), bantamweight Christina Cruz (New York, N.Y.), lightweight Queen Underwood (Seattle, Wash.), light welterweight Mikaela Mayer (Los Angeles, Calif.) and light heavyweight Franchon Crews (Baltimore, Md.) will all compete in Wednesday night’s action.

Love, Mayer and Crews will all be competing in semifinal round action tonight while Cruz boxes in the quarterfinal round on Wednesday. Underwood will battle Erika Cruz of Mexico in the lone first round bout of the tournament. Love, Cruz and Mayer will both take on home nation boxers with Love battling Kim Klavel, Mayer challenging Melissa Redmond of Canada and Cruz facing Vicky Pelletier. Crews will be the final U.S. boxer to compete on Wednesday in her light heavyweight contest with Brazil’s Andrela Bandeira.

The lightweight class is the only weight division with enough competitors to necessitate a first round bout and should Underwood win each of her bouts, she will compete everyday through Saturday. Love, Mayer and Crews will each be off until Saturday’s final round contests if they are victorious on Wednesday. Cruz will return to action on Friday should she win her quarterfinal bout tonight.

Flyweight Marlen Esparza (Houston, Texas) and featherweight Tiara Brown (Lehigh Acres, Fla.) will open competition on Thursday in quarterfinal contests with Pemela Benavidez of Argentina and Edelme Jeffrey of Saint Lucia respectively. Welterweight Raquel Miller (San Francisco, Calif.) will be the third U.S. boxer to box on Thursday, taking on Myriam de Silva of Canada in semifinal competition.

Seventeen-year-old middleweight Claressa Shields (Flint, Mich.) will open action on Friday in a semifinal contest with Brazil’s Rosel Feitosa. Heavyweight Victoria Perez (Ventura, Calif.) will not compete until Saturday’s finals as she takes on Brazil’s Erika Cabrera.

The U.S. team arrived in Canada on Sunday and has been training on site in Cornwall since that time. The official event draw was held today following the general weigh-in.