Boxing at the Summer Games of the XXXII Olympiad, Tokyo

All the upcoming men's welter QF's are pretty interesting, actually.

We get a pair of them momentarily, as soon as this women's bout ends, round 3 currently underway. Alcinda Helena Panguana (Mozambique) vs. Gu Hong (China), 69kg

 

Hong takes a shutout UD - and at least a bronze - her skill trumping Panguana's will.

 

Roniel Iglesias Sotolongo (CUBA) vs. Delante Johnson (USA), 69kg

 

Round 1

Iglesias sneaking a right jab onto the forehead of Johnson after using a series of waving feints and dropping both hands to his side before striking between the relaxed guard. Johnson flurries hard but Iglesias able to shimmy & twist in the pocket to slip everything and land some fast counters stepping back out to mid-range. Iglesias controlling with speed (mostly right jabs, occasional 1-2) & timely clinching. Johnson's left jab not finding the mark as Iglesias squeezes his palms together over his nose and shrinks away into a seated crouch or steps in to clinch.

10-9 Iglesias

 

All five judges gave the 1st to Iglesias.

 

Round 2

Iglesias is driving Johnson into a corner, pressuring behind the southpaw jab but still pumping the brakes every few paces, cautiously stalking. Johnson triples a left jab on the backfoot and then springloads a quick ambush right uppercut as Iglesias closes in for the kill, scoring. Johnson unable to get any breathing room as Iglesias walks him down. Johnson fires a bunch of hard jabs into the air coming forward, Iglesias making him miss and then clapping round his ear with a right hook and then entering a clinch where he and Johnson both thump on the body.

10-9 Iglesias, closer but still clear

20-18 Iglesias

 

Judges split 4-1 on the second round...with only the America judge seeing it for Johnson.

 

Round 3

A couple of hard right hands from Johnson early, but he spends most of his energy in the first minute and eats more in counters than he's dishing out. Iglesias throwing hard shots down the pipe, jabbing the nose and then following through with a left cross, melting into a crouch on the way out and rising up to sway back inside like a cobra with a right hook. Johnson aggressive in spurts with left jabs in multiples hoping to set up big swatting power shots but the head of Iglesias proving too elusive to find consistently with anything other than incidental grazing contact.

10-9 Iglesias

30-27 Iglesias

 

Medal guaranteed for the Cuban.

This is more in line with how I expected him to look in the Games, switched-on and firing on all cylinders, motivated to medal again in probably his last appearance - but after that performance on Tuesday versus Okazawa I was doubting he could still hang. The fact that he showed vintage form today and more or less dominated Johnson shows that Okazawa is pretty legit (or at least a bad style for Iglesias at this stage of his career, and/or caught him on a bad day).

 

Eskerkhan Madiev (GEO) vs Andrey Viktorovoich Zamkovoy (ROC), 69kg

 

Zamkovoy another veteran, in fact two years older than Iglesias. This will almost certainly be his final Olympics as well, having turned 34 earlier this month. He is on pace to walk away with bronze at minimum, if things continue as they did in the 1st. A spirited effort from the young Chechen representing Georgia, throwing nonstop bombs at the seasoned Russian southpaw but getting countered viciously with pinball-launcher left hands.