Olympics 2020 boxing results (Day 7, Afternoon Session): Oshae Jones gets into medal rounds for USA, Delante Johnson eliminated, more

Team USA does have one medal guarantee, but another American was eliminated today.

By Scott Christ@scblh1 Jul 30, 2021, 7:23am EDT

Women’s lightweight

Beatriz Ferreira (Brazil) def. Shiy-yi Wu (Chinese Taipei), 5:0: Ferreira won the Worlds in 2019, has won some other tournaments in recent years, has the No. 3 seed in Tokyo. She’s clearly a threat. Good aggression, comes forward nicely without lunging sloppily, and moves her head well at range, actually fought better at range despite Wu being notably taller.
Raykhona Kodirova (Uzbekistan) def. Naomie Yumba (Democratic Republic of the Congo), 5:0: Strong performance from Kodirova, who now moves on to face Ferreira. Clearly more technically sound here, and just a tough outing for Yumba, who put the work in and tried to get something going, but couldn’t find the openings.
Esra Yildiz (Turkey) def. Dayana Sanchez (Argentina), 5:0: Yildiz and Sanchez mixed it up some in the first, Yildiz winning three of the five cards, but it looked like her superior technique would probably take over at some point, and it did. She didn’t totally cruise, but she was the better boxer and moves on to the quarterfinals.

Mira Potkonen (Finland) def. Yeonji Oh (Republic of Korea), 4:1: The 40-year-old Potkonen, who was gassed to hell but survived pro world titleholder Maiva Hamadouche in the round of 32, was gassed to hell here but beat Oh, the No. 2 seed in the draw. Potkonen breathes hard but just fights her ass off once the lights are on for every round, gives everything she has, and she’s still a damn good fighter and a medal contender. She won bronze at Rio 2016 and eliminated Katie Taylor there, and she just keeps rolling very strong. She’s a tough, tough out for anyone, and Yildiz will have her hands full in the quarterfinal.

Winners guaranteed at least a bronze medal.

Oshae Jones (United States) def. Maria Moronta (Dominican Republic), 4:0:1: Team USA have their first guaranteed medalist, as Jones advances to the semifinal round. Moronta went down in the second round, just caught on a good right hook, but Moronta really tried to get aggressive from there and keep it as close as she could, and look to maybe catch Jones in return. Didn’t happen. Mostly Jones had the better tactical approach here, but man did Moronta rush on and try to steal victory from the jaws of defeat.

Hong Gu (China) def. Alcinda Helena Panguana (Mozambique), 5:0: Gu, the No. 2 seed, pretty well dominated here, and she’s going to be a very tough matchup for Jones. She’s sound, fights clever, keeps range well, and makes opponents waste energy at times. Jones may have to try and lead more than she wants, but she should also be better able to neutralize some of Gu’s offense, as Panguana just didn’t have many answers there. Should be a very interesting matchup. Panguana put everything she had in here but it was never competitive, really.

Winners guaranteed at least a bronze medal.

Roniel Iglesias (Cuba) def. Delante Johnson (United States), 5:0: Experience and being tactically clever put Iglesias over Johnson as much as anything. Iglesias is a four-time Olympian, won bronze in 2008 and gold in 2012 as a light welterweight, came up medal-short in Rio. His footwork is still good, he’s still a smart fighter, but he’s not unbeatable. This was always going to be hard for Johnson and it was, he lost and that’s fair, but he did some good work here, especially inside and that often goes by without proper credit in the amateur game. Johnson has some pro prospects at 22.
Andrey Zamkovoy (Russian Olympic Committee) def. Eskerkhan Madiev (Georgia), 5:0: Madiev made a good, surprising run to get this far into the tournament, but Zamkovoy’s skill and experience just a bit too much. Madiev was able to make him at least a little uncomfortable with his pressure, but not enough of it resulted in effective work. This sets up a great veteran semifinal clash between Iglesias and Zamkovoy, a four-time Olympian against a three-time Olympian.

Winners guaranteed at least a bronze medal.

Arlen Lopez (Cuba) def. Rogelio Romero (Mexico), 5:0: Romero had a very fun round of 16 fight with Luka Plantic of Croatia, but this was a whole other ball of wax. Lopez, who won gold at Rio 2016 as a middleweight, isn’t as quick at this weight as he was then, but he still has terrific timing and technique, switches stances effectively, and just kept clipping Romero with clever shots. The Mexican couldn’t do much at all with Lopez, in all honesty.
Loren Alfonso Dominguez (Azerbaijan) def. Bayram Malkan (Turkey), 5:0: Missed pretty much this entire fight (all but the last 45 seconds) with NBC stream issues, but given how many hours I’ve put in one blip like that isn’t too bad, I’d say. Anyway, this sets up a Cuba vs ex-Cuba semifinal, which will be the second such matchup of the tournament. I’m assured I didn’t miss much actual boxing, but Malkan was pretty mad about the outcome.

Winners guaranteed at least a bronze medal.

Abner Teixeira (Brazil) def. Hussein Iashaish (Jordan), 4:1: This definitely could have gone the other way, but the result isn’t a bad one. Iashaish was giving up notable height and reach here, but he gave himself the best chance he had and forced Teixeira into a bit of a brawl, just spirited action all the way. Teixeira never got the chances to box at distance and couldn’t force Iashaish to back down any. So it was a fun, back-and-forth fight, and great respect shown between the two after, with some relief also coming from Teixeira.
Julio la Cruz (Cuba) def. Enmanuel Reyes Pla (Spain), 4:1: la Cruz won gold at Rio 2016 as a light heavyweight, now at heavyweight, and here he had to get through a tough test in Reyes Pla, an ex-Cuban now living in and representing Spain. This probably could have gone either way, and it was all on the line with three of the five judges in the third round, who had it even after two. (Other judges had it 20-18 to la Cruz and 20-18 to Reyes Pla.) la Cruz just a bit craftier, and Reyes Pla wasn’t able to flash the power that saw him eliminate No. 2 seed Vassiliy Levit in the round of 16. Wasn’t the prettiest or most thrilling fight, but there was mutual respect and a desire for each man to show up the other in the air. In the end, they embraced and la Cruz goes through to the semis to face Teixeira.