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The super heavyweights got started this morning in London, with Team USA's Dominic Breazeale unfortunately outclassed, and defending gold medalist Roberto Cammarelle of Italy surviving a late rush from the young Ecuadorian Ytalo Pera.
[ Morning Results: Bantamweight / Heavyweight ]
Magomedrasul Medzhidov (Azerbaijan) vs Meji Mwanba (Democratic Republic of the Congo) via stoppage (round two): Well this was about as bad a mismatch as we've seen to date. Medzhidov is the top seed and the world rated No. 1, and Mwanba got here because they couldn't find a headguard big enough for him at a previous qualifying tournament, so he got a wild card. Medzhidov demolished him for a round and a half or so before LITERALLY KNOCKING HIS HEADGUARD OFF, at which point the referee wisely stopped the slaughter. Hey, if you're going to beat a woefully overmatched opponent, you can at least KNOCK HIS HEADGUARD OFF.
Magomed Omarov (Russia) def. Dominic Breazeale (United States), 19-8: Absolute destruction as the wheels fall off of Team USA with their fifth straight loss. Totally outclassed was Breazeale, which was frankly expected. The former Northern Colorado quarterback is a baby in the sport and it showed. Omarov hurt him and put it on him throughout the fight, but Breazeale showed a lot of guts hanging in with a far better fighter. Medzhidov-Omarov could be a slugfest.
Mohammed Arjaoui (Morocco) def. Blaise Yemou (Cameroon), 15-6: Pretty much one-way action for Arjaoui, a chubby fellow with good agility and solid stamina despite his appearance.
Roberto Cammarelle (Italy) def. Ytalo Perea (Ecuador), 18-10: The 2008 gold medalist Cammarelle had an even easier time than the score would tell you overall, as Perea really did nothing in this fight until the very end when he threw some bombs and staggered Cammarelle. It was interesting for the last 30 seconds, but the rest was Cammarelle showing his class against the 19-year-old.