The first day of boxing action in Nantes, France at the first annual Alexis Vastine Tournament saw mixed results for the American delegation, as the team finished 4-3 for the day.
Flyweight Abraham Perez (Albuquerque, N.M.) picked up Team USA’s first win of the day to advance to Friday’s championship bout. Perez grabbed a victory over Theo Ticout of France to set up a matchup against 2019 World Championships silver medalist Amit of India.
Joseph Hicks (Grand Rapids, Mich.) and Rahim Gonzales (Las Vegas, Nev.) continued Team USA’s winning ways, picking up victories over Ramtin Musah of England and Sangwan Sumi of India, respectively. Hicks and Gonzales will join Perez in Friday’s championship bouts, their first international finals.
Andrea Medina (San Diego, Calif.) continued to impress on the international stage against Poland’s Sandra Kruk. Medina gave her opponent a standing 8 count in the second round and advanced to tomorrow’s semifinal matchup against Mona Mestiaen of France.
Anthony Herrera (Los Angeles, Calif.) put up a strong performance against Amit, however, fell short of victory and advancing to the finals. Herrera will leave the tournament with a bronze medal, his second international medal of 2020.
Welterweight Delante Johnson (Cleveland, Ohio) moved up to middleweight for this tournament after being the lone boxer in his normal weight category to enter the tournament. Johnson’s move to middleweight put him against a tough opponent in 2019 Asian Championships silver medalists Ashish Kumar of India. Johnson fell short of victory, however, grabs Team USA’s second bronze medal of the tournament.
Bantamweight Bruce Carrington (Brooklyn, N.Y.), who was making his return to the international stage since Jan., fell short of victory against Selim Bouaita of France to advance to the medal rounds.
Darius Fulghm (Houston, Texas),Charlie Sheehy (Brisbane, Calif.) and Richard Torrez Jr. (Tulare, Calif.) will make their tournament debut tomorrow.
Competition will begin at 11:00 a.m. EST and all the action from inside the ring can be followed by clicking here.
This is the first edition of the Alexis Vastine Tournament, which brought 43 boxers from eight different nations to compete for gold.
Day 1 Results
52 kg: Amit/IND dec. over Anthony Herrera, Los Angeles, Calif./USA, 2-1
52 kg: Abraham Perez, Albuquerque, N.M./USA, dec. over Theo Ticout/FRA, 2-1
57 kg: Selim Bouaita/FRA dec. over Bruce Carrington, Brooklyn, N.Y./USA, 3-0
57 kg: Andrea Medina, San Diego, Calif./USA, dec. over Sandra Kruk/POL, 3-0
75 kg: Joseph Hicks, Grand Rapids, Mich./USA, dec. over Ramtin Musah/ENG, 2-1
75 kg: Ashish Kumar/IND dec. over Delante Johnson, Cleveland, Ohio/USA, 2-1
81 kg: Rahim Gonzales, Las Vegas, Nev./USA, dec. over Sangwan Sumi/IND, 2-1
Day 2 Bouts
57 kg: Andrea Medina, San Diego, Calif./USA, vs. Mona Mestiaen/FRA
63 kg: Charlie Sheehy, Brisbane, Calif./USA, vs. Hugo Grau/FRA
91 kg: Darius Fulghum, Houston, Texas/USA, vs. Sanjeet/IND
91+kg : Richard Torrez Jr., Tulare, Calif./USA, vs. Satish Kumar/IND
