Who have they been so far? I'll start the list with some easy ones: Chinese light flyweight Zou Shiming has gotten a lot of international press being the face of the Chinese boxing team to other countries. British super heavyweight David Price scored a huge knockout of Russian Islam Timurziev. Ukraine heavyweight Oleksandr Usyk looked good yesterday beating his Chinese opponent and during it got the most praise of any heavyweight to that point from US announcers Atlas and Papa. American Demetrius Andrade won again today and is still alive as a potential gold medal favorite.
Not sure how far he'll go, but I have to say I've become a big fan of welterweight Tureano Johnson, the lone member of the Bahama squad. He may very well lose his next fight - he goes up against someone from China. Vastine, the 139 lb from France, is enjoying a nice little run as well. He scored a nice upset early this morning against Bradley Saunders, avenging a loss to him last year no less.
Bradley Saunders didn't want to be there however, there is something very wrong going on with that squad. I like Munkh-Erdene Uranchimeg, I thought Khedafi Djelkhir had an exciting pro style....David Price had a good moment but he's not really very good I think, its a weak division however so he may get a medal
I haven't watched too much so far, mainly just the british fights......but out of everyone i have seen, yes, the Ukranian Usyk was very impressive....started out as a middleweight and he has carried the speed up with him....his Chinese opponent's defence was awful though
I agree, he looked good. A cursory analogy might be an improved version of Sultan Ibragimov. After seeing Wilder yesterday I thought he looked like a fighter that could develop, especially if he fills out that 6'7 frame of his. I wasn't able to watch any super heavyweight action yet, though, not even sure they showed it yesterday.
When I turned on the rebroadcast after getting home I missed Johnson's fight, but did see his emotional reaction. At first, I thought his dad had recently died or something. But then he says he's back home in the Bahamas. :: Seems like a good kid.
Vasyl Lomanchenko looks pretty darn good after two rounds. The Ukrainian team looks to have some good prospects here. Maybe K2 promotions could actually try promotiong someone other than themselves. ::
yeah Lomanchenko is damn tough. I hope he beats the brakes off of Li Yang on Monday (or whenever the featherweight quarterfinals begin). The shit Yang got away with this morning against that Ecuadorian kid was disgusting. But yeah, Lomanchenko's already faced murderer's row - and is breezing throgh them as if they're sparring partners, no less - just to get to the quarterfinals. Providing he gets past Yang, I don't see anyone standing in the way of capturing a Gold medal. It might be a different story if Alexei Tishchenko stayed at featherweight, but coulda should woulda's needn't apply. Speaking of which, Tishchenko is basically on a tour of mass destruction at lightweight. The bottom half bracket looks tough and could pose a formidable challenge in the Gold medal round. Still, he looks to be the safest "sure thing" pick in this year's Games.
Agreed on Tischenko. If I had to guess, I'd say its looking like a Tischenko-Ugas final. That could be a really good fight. They both have sorta similar approaches and mentalities, but they go about it very differently (and they're on opposite ends of the physical spectrum). Tischenko, shorter, more of a counter-puncher, moves out of the way of more punches, and throws sharp, accurate more power punches, on the sides. Ugas, bigger, stronger, longer, keeps his hands up more, tight defensive, blocks more punches, and his punches are primarily down the middle - jab, right hand - very straight. Neither is overly active, in terms of punch count, but they make their punches count and do a good job with their lower bodies, their footwork looks solid and steady, and it gets them close. They both like to make their opponent adapt to them. Both are in their early to mid 20's. Could be a nice Russian-Cuban fight for gold.
Too early,so it's hard to say. I do have to admit that no team is as pathetic as this years Team USA:kick: I don't even think ONE SINGLE boxer from Team USA will win any metal of any kind!! We may be lucky to get one Silver,at best! I also noticed that the two "Mexican" Americans I've seen so far representing Team USA,aren't even American! They're about as American as Apu from The Simpsons::
