Wednesday, September 27, 2000
Local boxer clinches bronze
But Cuban Luna will be Williams' toughest test yet
By Paul Daugherty
The Cincinnati Enquirer
Ricardo Williams won his third fight today.
(AP photos)
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SYDNEY, Australia — Ricardo Williams Jr. will be coming home to Cincinnati with no worse than a bronze medal.
The 19-year-old Taft High light welterweight outpointed Russian Alex Leonov, 17-12, in the Olympic quarterfinals Wednesday. He'll face Cuban Diogeges Luna in the semifinals Friday night.
“I know he takes a lot of punches, and I know I throw a lot,” Williams said of Luna. “He leaves himself open, and I'm gonna make him pay.”
Unlike his first two fights, which Williams won in routs, this one he had to pick his spots. Leonov was not a hard puncher but was effective with counters and difficult to hit.
Williams lands head blow.
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Williams trailed 7-6 after two rounds, then all but clinched the fight in Round 3. He piled up seven points in a row, many on short left jabs, before Leonov scored one point in the last few seconds of the round. That gave Williams a 13-8 cushion that Leonov couldn't overcome.
“His awkward style messed with me a little bit,” Williams said. “He sat back and waited on me, and I sat back and waited on him. It made for a dull fight.”
Luna will be by far the best fighter Williams has faced here. The Cuban won a World Cup title in 1998. After a first-round bye, he took out Willy Blain of France, 25-14. Blain was second in the world last year. Then Wednesday, Luna scored a technical knockout with 1:31 left in the second round.
But Williams is undeterred.
“I didn't come for no bronze,” Williams said. “I came for a gold ... “May the best man win. I've trained too hard for this. I don't want it to go down the drain.”
Unlike most Cuban boxers, Luna comes right at his opponent. That may play into the plan of the left-handed Williams, who likes to counterpunch off an opponent's miss.
U.S. coach Tom Mustin said the key for Williams will be to stay away from Luna's right hand.
“He's got great punching power, but he can be hit fairly easy,” Mustin said of the Cuban.
The last Cincinnatian to earn an Olympic boxing medal was Tim Austin, who won a bronze in 1992.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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