(AUG 5) RIO DE JANEIRO,
BRAZIL - The eight members of the 2016 U.S. Olympic Boxing
Team now know their opening round foes at the 2016 Olympic
Games. The official tournament draw took place on Thursday
morning at the Teatro Bradesco in Rio de Janeiro. All 13 weight
divisions learned their road to the Olympic medal stand at the
Olympic Games on Thursday.
"We're very happy at this stage. We've been sitting on edge for
the last week or so waiting for the draw. We're happy to know
where we are at. We're ready to roll. The team's been ready for
awhile. They're all excited to get in to the Olympic arena and
produce some of the best performances," U.S. Olympic Boxing
Coach Billy Walsh said. "We're going to take it one fight at a
time, one round at a time, one minute at a time and we'll work
our way from there."
Lightweight Carlos Balderas (Santa Maria, Calif.) will open
competition for the United States in a bout with Kazakhstan's
Berik Abdrahkhmanov in the early session on Saturday. Light
flyweight Nico Hernandez (Wichita, Kansas) will compete on the
first day of action at the Riocentro Pavilion 6 as well.
Hernandez will face off with Italy's Manuel Cappai in light
flyweight competition on Saturday night.
Male middleweight Charles Conwell (Cleveland Heights, Ohio) will
make his Olympic debut on Monday evening in a bout with India's
Krishan Vikas.
Light welterweight Gary Antuanne Russell (Capitol Heights, Md.)
will be the fourth American boxer to compete in Rio de Janeiro.
Russell will challenge a familiar face in his opening contest on
August 10, taking on Haiti's Richardson Hitchins in preliminary
round competition.
The women will take the ring for the first time on August 12 and
female lightweight Mikaela Mayer (Los Angeles, Calif.) will open
her Olympic Games in a bout with Jennifer Chieng from the
Federated States of Micronesia in the evening session.
2015 Pan American Games champion Antonio Vargas (Kissimmee,
Fla.) will return to the international stage on August 13 as he
faces host nation boxer Juliao Neto of Brazil.
Two American boxers received first round byes in the draw based
on their seeding. Junior and Youth World Champion and Youth
Olympic Games gold medalist Shakur Stevenson (Newark, N.J.) was
the number four seed in his bantamweight division and therefore
received an opening round bye. He will compete for the first
time on August 14 against the winner of the first round match-up
between Brazil and Algeria.
2012 Olympic gold medalist and two-time world champion Claressa
Shields (Flint, Mich.) entered the Olympic Games as the number
one seed. She therefore received an opening round bye and will
step in the to the ring on August 17 where she will face the
victor of a bout between Chinese Taipei and Russia.
Boxing competition will take place in two sessions daily at 11
a.m. and 5 p.m., at the the Rioecentro Pavilion 6. Full
tournament brackets should be posted on www.aiba.org shortly.
Opening Round Bouts
108 lbs/male: Nico Hernandez, Wichita, Kansas vs. Manuel Cappai,
ITA on August 6
114 lbs/male: Antonio Vargas, Kissimmee, Fla./USA vs. Juliao
Neto, FRA on August 13
123 lbs/male: Shakur Stevenson, Newark, N.J./USA vs. winner of
Brazil and Algeria after first round bye on August 14
132 lbs/male: Carlos Balderas, Santa Maria, Calif./USA vs. Berik
Abdrahkhmanov, KAZ on August 6
132 lbs/female: Mikaela Mayer, Los Angeles, Calif./USA vs.
Jennifer Chieng, FSM on August 12
141 lbs/male: Gary Antuanne Russell, Capitol Heights, Md./USA
vs. Richardson Hitchins, HAI, on August 10
165 lbs/male: Charles Conwell, Cleveland Heights, Ohio/USA vs.
Krishan Vikas, IND on August 8
165 lbs/female: Claressa Shields, Flint, Mich./USA vs. winner of
TPE/RUS on August 17