Virginia Fuchs (R) competes at the AIBA Women's World Championships on Nov. 15, 2018 in New Delhi.
It’s never ideal to end a competition with a loss. But it’s a little sweeter when it comes with your first world championship medal.
That was the circumstance for Team USA’s Virginia Fuchs, Naomi Graham and Daniel Perkins, who all earned bronze medals by virtue of making it to the semifinals at the AIBA Women’s World Boxing Championships in New Delhi, India. While Fuchs and Graham lost 5-0 decisions in their bouts, Perkins never got to enter the ring due to medical reasons.
Fuchs, a flyweight who is the two-time defending national champion, lost to Chol Mi Pang of North Korea. Middleweight Naomi Graham, also a defending national champion in her weight class, earned her third international medal of the year, but couldn’t hold off China’s Qian Li. Perkins was set to do battle in the heavyweight semifinal against Yang Xiaoli of China before being forced to withdraw.
This was the 10th edition of the women’s world championships, first held in 2001 in Scranton, Pennsylvania. They’ve been held biennially since 2006, but the next edition will take place next year in Ulan-Ude, Russia.
The U.S. women will be stepping back into the ring soon in Salt Lake City, Utah, for the national championships. Action gets underway Dec. 2 and concludes Dec. 8.
Todd Kortemeier is a sportswriter, editor and children’s book author from Minneapolis. He is a contributor to TeamUSA.org on behalf of Red Line Editorial, Inc.
