Raynell Williams' loss; Andrade's loss, Vodopyanov's loss, the Russian 106 loss, Beterbiev's loss against a Chinese "boxer" in particular was bad (and that leads into the gifts the Chinese have been getting). All those ones jump to mind at first. **** China. Andrade was right to flip those ****ers off. I would have done the same after that ****. Apparently all you need to do to win in Beijing is be from somewhere in East Asia.
Russo will be awfully hard to beat. I just saw his fight with Usyk of Ukraine and if it were a pro fight, with pro judges, Usyk would win 3 rounds to 1. But with the scoring system the way it is, Russo's style is tailor-made for amateur boxing. He reminds me a lot of Sam Soliman, running around and darting in and out with wide punches in unpredictable outbursts. On the other hand, Usyk will be an excellent pro, only 21 years old, technically sound, and a body-punching southpaw to boot. I was very impressed with him. Regaring Wilder vs. Russo, if Deontay stands straight up or backs straight up like today he will get picked apart, because he is not quick enough to stand in the center and keep a charging Russo at bay with his jab. I think Wilder must swarm Russo and come forward, getting him on the inside, then when Russo's arms are constricted, use the jab to paw or push off to block Russo's vision then come back with the straight right. Then repeat. That's his only chance, because if the fight is fought in the center of the ring, Wilder will get potshotted at will.
Kolya, was the warning given because the Moroccan led with his head? I don't remember him getting a prior warning before that. Did he?
USA boxing results not surprising at all. USA, Puerto Rico and Mexico boxers train to be professionals.
Actually, they are surprising, because the team had performed well at Worlds last year and had been in CS supposedly preparing for the international style.
Well, the fact that we had 4 medal winners as late as 2000, with 8 total boxers making it at least to the Round of 8, shows that despite the limited talent pool, USA Boxing still has medal-quality talent to work with. There is no excuse. Countries like Puerto Rico and Mexico, on the other hand, have less people, and like you said, turn pro as most come from poor backgrounds, so their amateur programs are not as solid as countries like Kazakhstan, who have incentives like $1 million and a new car for their medalists.
Can someone explain what actually happened with the warning that gave Wilder the win? Was it for leading with the head? Did the ref give Moussaui a warning first at least before docking 2 big points?
He had to have cautioned him multiple times, because it's EXTREMELY rare, borderline not done, to give a warning in the 4th round.
So it was for leading with the head? I didn't think it was a particularly dirty fight, so for the ref to dock him 2 PTS with a minute left seemed really shady. For all the talk regarding Andrade getting robbed, unless the ref cautioned Moussaui multiple times, Wilder got one the other way so it kinda evens out.
The opponent was warned for holding, Sweet Pea. Either way, just making it to the medal rounds is huge for him, considering his lack of experience.