Errol Spence Advances to
Quarterfinal Action Following a United States Protest
While Rau’shee Warren’s Olympic Journey Ends
August 4, 2012
Photo credit: Kyle Terada
/USA TODAY Sports
LONDON, ENGLAND – The 2012
U.S. Olympic Boxing Team appeared to face an end to their medal run on
the men’s side with apparent losses by flyweight Rau’shee Warren
(Cincinnati, Ohio) and welterweight Errol Spence (Desoto, Texas) on
Friday. Yet following a protest by the United States, Spence’s decision
was overturned and he will advance to the quarterfinal round. Warren,
who made history before throwing a punch in London by becoming the first
three-time U.S. Olympic boxer, lost a one-point decision to France’s
Nordine Oubaali in his London opener.
The 25-year-old Warren lost his opening first bout at both the 2004 and
2008 Olympic Games and he stepped into the ring looking for his
first-ever Olympic win in London, but it wasn’t meant to be for the
decorated amateur boxer. Warren took the early lead in the bout, boxing
his way to a 9-6 lead after the first round. Yet Oubaali began to come
back in the second, pulling the bout to within one after the second
round. Warren, who lost both contacts during the bout, tried to hold on
to his tenuous lead in the third, but he wasn’t able to do so and
Oubaali won a 19-18 final decision. The loss ends an outstanding amateur
career for Warren, who owns every piece of Olympic-style boxing hardware
other than an Olympic medal. He came back for a third run at Olympic
glory in the hopes of accomplishing his dream of placing an Olympic gold
medal around his mother’s neck but it wasn’t meant to be for the
Cincinnati native.
“I came out in the first round really strong, throwing combinations. In
the second and third rounds, I was kind of sitting on my shots, waiting
for one shot so I could catch him coming in and try to drop the big left
hand and hurt him and work off that but that didn’t work,” Warren said.
“After the first round, I was kind of flicking the jab and delivering
one shot instead of three or four shots and I guess that’s what cost me
the fight, he was more aggressive. I was just trying to land my shots
and deliver them with power.”
Spence wasted no time getting started in his bout with India’s Krishan
Vikas, staying busy and aggressive through all nine minutes of boxing.
Yet Vikas took a 4-2 advantage after the first round. Spence continued
to press the action in the second round, peppering Vikas with
combinations despite the Indian’s constant movement. Although Spence was
the much more active boxer in the second round, Vikas held on to a
one-point lead after the second. The American boxer picked up his output
even further in the third round while Vikas held throughout the last
three minutes. Spence’s efforts weren’t enough for the five judges and
Vikas was initially named the winner on an 13-11 decision.
“I felt I needed to be aggressive because he was the favorite. He was
the top seeded boxer, so I know that the judges see that,” said Spence.
“He’s more known than me internationally so I felt that I needed to be
aggressive and pick up the pace and throw more shots and I thought I
landed more shots than he did. “It was kind of frustrating, but he was
fighting to the computer system so I’m kind of used to that because I
was the aggressor. I kind of switched the game plan up and I adjusted
well.”
Yet following a United States protest of the bout result, the
Competition Jury hearing the appeal ruled in Spence’s favor, noting two
different rule violations that should have added four points to the
American’s point total. For the full details, see the AIBA release
below. Spence will return to the ring for quarterfinal action on Tuesday
in a bout with Russia’s Andrey Zamkovoy of Russia.
Women’s boxing will open action on Sunday with lightweight Queen
Underwood (Seattle, Wash.) taking the ring in afternoon action.
Flyweight Marlen Esparza (Houston, Texas) and middleweight Claressa
Shields (Flint, Mich.) will compete on Monday following a first round
bye.
“I thought I had the decision, but overall you don’t know what they are
counting and what they are scoring. It’s a bit disappointing, coming for
my third time and losing in the first round. As you can see, I feel that
this isn’t my lane anymore, going to the Olympics and trying to bring a
gold medal on the United States.”
“He got the decision, I thank everybody back home for supporting me.
This isn’t the end of Rau’shee Warren. My journey is going to continue,
I’m going to stay hungry no matter what I’m doing.”
“Stuff happens in the ring as far as you don’t know what the judges are
scoring. It might look to the person on the outside of the ring, it
might look like a person is winning the fight. But to the judges who
have been doing it for years, they like to score a lot of things – jabs,
hooks, body shots. You never know what they are scoring. There wasn’t
any pressure on me, I just went out there and did my thing. I came out
there really explosive in the first round and took the first round 9-6
and then tried to sit down on my shots.”
“It’s always a good experience to do something that isn’t normally done
like me being the first American boxer to go to the Olympics three
times. It isn’t a setback for me. I still have a lot of head for me. I’m
going to put this behind me, learn from it and take it to another
level.”
“My headgear kept going down over my eyes and my contacts fell out in
the first round and when they fall out, I have to wait for my opponent
to get a little closer so I can throw my shots. It always happens, even
in training. I get hit and my contacts come out and it will be really
blurry.”
“In Beijing, I felt like I won that fight. I felt like I did enough to
win. In this fight, I put a lot of that on my shoulders in not letting
my combinations go and trying to deliver big shots. I was trying to set
up off the jab but I was kind of rushing my shots. I feel like I didn’t
let anybody down because I was chasing a dream that I’ve had since I
went to my first Olympics in 2004. By coming here for the third time, it
shows people that I didn’t give up on my dream. My mom and I will have
to talk about getting something else, maybe a world title in the pros.”
“I didn’t give my whole life, I just gave my dream to the Olympics but I
have a lot of life ahead of me. This is just another step to success.
Working off this mistake and figure out what I’m going to do next. I’m
getting ready for my next journey.”
Errol Spence Quotes (prior to the bout being overturned)
“I thought I threw more punches and landed more shots and was the more
aggressive boxer. I thought I won, and the coaches and the crowd thought
I won but the judges didn’t think so.”
“Yes, I thought they announced me the winner.”
“This was a once in a lifetime experience being at the Olympics and I
will cherish this experience no matter what happens. The guy from India
is a good fighter, I take nothing from him and wish him the best of
luck.”
“Of course, it’s disappointing because we hate to lose and expect to
come home with medals and we didn’t. We’re kind of sad right now, it’s
kind of a sad day. I’m more sad than anything right now, I felt like I
let down a lot of people. My family and people that are at home.”
“I gave my everything in the ring so I’m not going to hang my head low
too long but there’s nothing I can do about that decision.”
“You just have to use angles, throw punches and adjust to what he’s
doing. I thought I had a high guard too and I thought I was landing
punches between his shots too. He’s a good fighter, I take nothing from
him.”
“My style is just to be really aggressive and throw a lot of punches,
I’ve always done that.”
“I thought I scored more than two punches in the first round but I’ve
seen it before, there’s nothing you can do.”
Errol Spence Quotes (Following the decision)
“I am obviously thrilled that my the competition jury overturned my
decision and I can continue chasing the gold medal I came here to win. I
am going to make the most of this second chance that I’ve been given. I
can’t wait to get back in that ring on Tuesday.”
USA Boxing, as the national governing body for Olympic-style boxing, is
the United States’ member organization of the International Amateur
Boxing Association (AIBA) and a member of the United States Olympic
Committee (USOC).
AIBA overturns the result of Bout #142
London, Great Britain, 04 August 2012 - After reviewing the video of
Bout #142 involving Welterweights (69kg) Krishan Vikas (India) and Errol
Spence (USA), the Competition Jury found the following:
- There were a total of nine (9) holding fouls committed by the Indian
boxer in the third round alone. However the Referee only gave one
caution;
- In the second round, at the time 02:38, the boxer from India spitted
out his gumshield intentionally. However the Referee didn't give any
warning
Based on these findings, the Competition Jury Members unanimously
decided the following:
- Decision #1: Based on the AIBA Technical & Competition Rules 12.1.9,
the Referee should have given at least two (2) warnings to the Indian
boxer;
- Decision #2: Although the boxer from India intentionally spitted out
his gumshield, the Referee's view was blocked by the boxer from the USA
and was not able to see the action;
- Final Decision: Based on Decision #1, at least four (4) points should
have been awarded to the boxer from the USA. Therefore the final score
should be 13:15 in favour of the USA. The protest is accepted and the
winner of Bout #142 is Errol Spence (USA).
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