(SEPT 27)
Team USA enjoyed a highly
successful day of competition on Thursday at the 2014 Elite
Women’s Continental Championships in Guadalajara, Mexico. Six
U.S. boxers earned semifinal wins on the day to join light
welterweight Destiny
Chearino (Warwick,
R.I.) in the championship round. Flyweight Marlen
Esparza (Houston,
Texas), bantamweight
Christina Cruz (New
York, N.Y.), featherweight Tiara
Brown (Fort
Myers, Fla.), welterweight Danyelle
Wolf (San
Diego, Calif.), middleweight Claressa
Shields (Flint,
Mich.), and heavyweight Krystal
Dixon (New
Rochelle, N.Y.) all emerged victorious in their semifinal
match-ups. After two victories under belt in Mexico,
lightweight Queen
Underwood (Seattle,
Wash.) dropped her semifinal contest and will take home a bronze
medal.
Esparza took on a familiar face
in the first U.S. bout of the day, battling Mexico’s own Sulem
Urbina.
Esparza wasn’t deterred by her opponent’s home ring advantage,
winning a unanimous decision victory over Urbina. She will face
Brazil’s Clelia
Costa for
flyweight gold in a rematch of the semifinal showdown between
the two at the Pan American Olympic festival in July.
Cruz looked to make a statement
in her bantamweight bout with the Dominican Republic’s Laura
Alcantara and
she did so with a third round TKO win. The Olympic Training
Center resident dominated the contest over the first two rounds
before stopping Alcantara at the 1:25 mark of the third round.
The victory advances Cruz on to a championship round contest
with Argentina’s Leonela
Sanchez.
Brown, the reigning world
champion, enjoyed a convincing win in her semifinal bout as
well. She won all four rounds in her match-up with Argentina’s Florencia
Juarez,
taking a unanimous decision victory. Brown moves on to a
featherweight final round bout with Brazil’s Taynna
Cardoso.
Wolf took the ring for the second
time in Mexico, facing the Dominican Republic’s Yosmira
Borges for
a berth in the welterweight championship bout. She won a 2-1
decision over Borges to clinch a berth in the finals with
Canada’s Myriam
da Silva. The
Canadian owns two victories over Wolf in duel action earlier
this year so she will be looking to avenge those earlier losses
in Saturday’s final round bout.
Team USA’s Olympic champion
always enjoys stepping through the ropes for international
competition and Shields’ bout with Brazil’s Flavia
Figueiredo on
Thursday was no exception. Despite suffering from food poisoning
earlier in the week, Shields took every round on the judges’
scorecards to win a unanimous decision victory and a berth in
the event final. She will take on Canada’s Arine
Forti for
middleweight gold on Saturday.
Dixon was the last American boxer
to compete in Mexico and she closed the night with a win in her
bout with Mexico’s Nancy
Patino. The
reigning U.S. champion won a 2-0 decision over the home nation
boxer to join her teammates in Saturday’s championship round.
She will face Canada’s Vanessa
Lepage in
the heavyweight final round bout.
Chearino earned her berth in the
final round with a semifinal win on Wednesday and will take on
Mexico’s Esmerelda
Falcon on
Saturday. All of the competitors will enjoy a rest day on
Friday before Saturday’s final round competition.
Coaches Benny
Roman (New
York, N.Y.), Israel
Acosta (Milwaukee,
Wis.), and Juan
Estrada (San
Diego, Calif.) are leading the U.S. team at the Women’s
Continental Championships in Guadalajara.
Thursday’s U.S. Results
112 lbs: Marlen
Esparza, Houston, Texas/USA,
dec. Sulem Urbina, MEX, 3-0
119 lbs: Christina
Cruz, New York, N.Y./USA won
on TKO over Laura Alcantara, DOM, TKO-3
125 lbs: Tiara
Brown, Fort Myers, Fla./USA dec.
Florencia Juarez, ARG, 3-0
132 lbs: Victoria Torres, MEX,
dec. Queen
Underwood, Seattle, Wash./USA,
3-0
152 lbs: Danyelle
Wolf, San Diego, Calif./USA dec.
Yosmira Borges, DOM, 2-1
165 lbs: Claressa
Shields, Flint, Mich./USA dec.
Flavia Figueiredo, BRA, 3-0
178+ lbs: Krystal
Dixon, New Rochelle, N.Y./USA,
dec. Vanessa Lepage, CAN, 2-0
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