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Andrade
seeking gold at Pan-Am games
PROVIDENCE (July 18, 2007) – Team USA boxing star Demetrius “Boo Boo”
Andrade is in beautiful Rio de Janerio, not for the hot nightlife and
gorgeous Brazilian women, rather to strike gold at the Pan-American
Games.
Andrade, the No. 1 rated welterweight in the U.S., is the two-time U.S.
National Championships and National Golden Gloves champion. The
19-year-old southpaw realizes that it’s not easy winning on the road,
but that it’s something he needs to experience and overcome, looking
ahead to next year’s Olympics in China.
The Pan-Am Games serves as a prelude, at least in this hemisphere, for
the following Olympic Games. Andrade’s main rival at the Pan-Am Games,
as well as in the Olympics, figures to be Cuban favorite Erislandi Lara,
who beat “Boo Boo” in their only match to date, 9-4. The world’s other
top 152-pound boxers are Russians Khairov and Andrey Balanov, who of
course will not be competing in the Pan-Am Games.
“I’m proud to be representing my country at the Pan-Am Games and I’m
looking forward to bringing the gold medal back home to Rhode Island,”
Andrade said. “But things happen overseas that make it difficult for
Americans to win gold medals. We’re fighting in South America and they
score high for their own. I’ll beat some of the same guys I’ll probably
face in the Olympics, but I won’t show it all to them at the Pan-Am
Games. They’ll have to wait to see it all at the Olympics. I’ve been
thinking about the Olympics since I was 10; it’s always been my goal.”
The draw to determine who boxes whom is scheduled for Friday. Andrade,
if he advances, is scheduled to box on ESPN Deportes on the following
days and times: first round, Saturday, July 21 (2 PM/ET); quarterfinals,
Sunday, July 22 (7 PM/ET); semifinals, July 24 (7 PM/ET); championship
final, Friday, July 27 (8 PM/ET). |
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