(FEB 12)
(COLORADO SPRINGS, COLO.) – Three
American boxers opened 2014 international action in victorious
fashion at the 2014 Independence Cup in Santiago, Dominican
Republic. Male lightweight Genaro
Gamez (San
Diego, Calif.), female lightweight Queen
Underwood (Seattle,
Wash.), and male light welterweight Abraham
Nova (Albany,
N.Y.) all earned preliminary victories in the international
event to advance in tournament action.
Gamez opened the Independence Cup
in the same manner he ended the 2014 USA Boxing National
Championships, with a first round TKO. The American lightweight
stopped Mexico’s Daniel
Flores Albavera in
the first stanza of their opening round bout, giving his U.S.
team their first victory of the tournament. He won a 2-1
decision over host nation boxer Edinson
Garcia of
the Dominican Republic on Tuesday to move on to Thursday’s
semifinal competition.
Female lightweight Underwood
competed in her first bout of the 2014 event on Tuesday and she
enjoyed a successful opener, taking a unanimous decision victory
over Mexico’s Reyna
Viridiana.
She will face the Dominican Republic’s Jasiel
Cena Milkih in
today’s competition.
Nova closed the 2014 USA Boxing
National Championships with a stoppage victory in his
championship bout as well, and he repeated the feat in his
Independence Cup debut on Tuesday. An American boxer of
Dominican descent, Nova enjoyed extra motivation in his first
round bout with Puerto Rico’s Hector
Ortiz.
Ortiz won a TKO in the second round of their preliminary contest
to advance to today’s competition. He will battle Mexico’s Juan
Pablo Romero Martin in
Wednesday’s action.
Heavyweight Sardius
Simmons (Flint,
Mich.) and super heavyweight Cam
F. Awesome (Lenexa,
Kansas) will both make their tournament debuts against host
nation boxers in today’s competition in Santiago. Simmons will
face Jose
Almonte while
Awesome challenges Nilson
Abigail Perez on
Wednesday.
Bantamweight Jarico
O’Quinn (Detroit,
Mich.) dropped a 2-1 decision to the Dominican Republic’s Alfredo
Santiago in
Monday’s preliminary competition, eliminating him from the
tournament. Two U.S. boxers suffered losses on Tuesday with the
Dominican Republic’s Leonel
de los Santos defeating
light flyweight Leroy
Davila (New
Brunswick, N.J.) by split decision and light heavyweight Julius
Butler (St.
Louis, Mo.) falling by a 3-0 margin to Ecuador’s Carlos
Gongora on
Tuesday.
Coaches Enrique
Cedeno (Milwaukee,
Wis.), Jason
Crutchfield (Flint,
Mich.) and Luis
Gamez (San
Diego, Calif.) are leading the squad in Santiago with Dr.
Robin Goodfellow (Albion,
Mich.) serving as the Team Physician at her second straight
Independence Cup.
U.S. Results
Tuesday
108 lbs/male:
Leonel de los Santos, DOM, dec. Leroy Davila, New Brunswick,
N.J./USA, 2-1
132
lbs/female: Queen Underwood, Seattle, Wash./USA dec.
Reyna Viridiana, MEX, 3-0
132 lbs/male: Genaro
Gamez, San Diego, Calif./USA dec. Edinson Garcia, DOM, 2-1
141 lbs/male: Abraham Nova, Albany, N.Y./USA won on TKO
over Hector Ortiz, PUR, TKO-2
178 lbs/male:
Carlos Gongora, ECU, dec. Julius Butler, St. Louis, Mo./USA, 3-0
Monday
123
lbs/male: Alfredo Santiago, DOM, dec Jarico O’Quinn, Detroit,
Mich./USA, 2-1
132 lbs/male: Genardo
Gamez, San Diego, Calif./USA won on TKO over Daniel Flores
Albavera, MEX, TKO-1
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