Wednesday, March 29, 2000
Local boxers advance in Olympic qualifier
A good day for U.S. team
The Associated Press
TAMPA, Fla. — Cincinnatians Ricardo Williams Jr. and Dante Craig passed their first tests Tuesday in the Americas Olympic qualifying tournament in Exposition Hall.
Craig, 21, a graduate of Woodward High, shook off a second-round standing 8-count with a big fourth round for a 10-7 win over Charlie Navarro of Venezuela in a first-round match at 147 pounds.
“I was nervous, super nervous,” Craig said of his international debut against an opponent who was a Pan American Games bronze medalist. Navarro wobbled Craig with a left-right combination and led 3-2 after two rounds.
“I took it like a man and came back like a champion,” said Craig, who evened the match at 6-6 after three rounds, then outscored Navarro 4-1 in the final two minutes.
Williams, 18, a graduate of Taft High, beat Jorge Padilla of Mexico 19-7 at 139 pounds.
“I couldn't lose in front of him,” Williams said, referring to his infant son who was present. Ricardo Williams III was born March 1.
Other U.S. boxers to win:
• Clarence Vinson of Washington, D.C., built a 4-0 lead after the first of four two-minute rounds, then escaped with a 5-4 win over Jefferson Loiola of Brazil in a first-round bout at 119 pounds
• Marshall Martinez of Fontana, Calif., boxing for the second time in less than 18 hours, outpointed Miguel Cotto of Puerto Rico 10-5 in a 132-pound quarterfinal.
• Jermain Taylor of Little Rock, Ark., boxing for the second time, advanced to the 156-pound semifinals by stopping Luis Sierra of Puerto Rico in the third round.
• Brian Viloria won a first-round match over Patricio Calero of Ecuador 18-2, and Liborio Romero outpointed Dominic Filane of Canada 11-1 Tuesday.
• World champion Michael Simms Jr., of Sacramento, Calif., edged Shawn Corbin of Guyana 4-3. Simms, who forced a standing 8-count in the fourth round, said he wasn't worried about his narrow escape but did wonder why it was so close.
Simms tied the scored at 3-3 with four seconds remaining in the bout, then registered the winning blow two seconds later.
There were 154 boxers from 23 countries in North, South and Central America and the Caribbean entered in this competition, which concludes Saturday.
The two finalists in each of 10 weight classes from 106 through 178 pounds and the winners at 201 pounds and super heavy weight qualify for the Olympics in September at Sydney.
Losers here can qualify April 17-22 at Mexico City or May 23-38 at Buenos Aires. Under the same format used in Tampa, 22 boxers will qualify at Mexico City. The 10 winners at 106 through 178 at Buenos Aires will qualify.
The International Boxing Association has ruled that 66 boxers from the Americas can compete in the Olympics. Cuba, the world's No.1 team, automatically gets a full team of 12 boxers in the Games.
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