While Marlen Esparza is the first American female boxer to have one a place at theOlympics, she is still avid to medal at the 2012 AIBA Women's World Boxing Championships!
Christina Cruz, Credit: Feng Li/Getty Images AsiaPac
In early results from today’s bouts it seems that the USA Boxing team has come out a winner so far.
Christina Cruz (54kg) fought a tough close bout against Sopida Saturmrum of Thailand, but managed to take the bout by the score of 29:19. Cruz managed to tie the first round 3:3, but actually lost the second and third round trailing by a total of two points before she put everything she had into the fourth round to take it by the score of 6:3. She advances to the semi-finals against Italy'sTerry Gordini on May 18th, giving her a well-need rest day.
In the third afternoon fight for the American team, Franchon Crews had a big win outscoring her opponent for Kasakhstan, Dariga Shakimova by the score of 30:12. Franchon came out blasting from the beginning and finished her fight with a devastating 10:2 round. As of this writing, Franchon's opponent in the semifinals is still undetermined. Her fight is also scheduled for May 18th.
Still to come in the 7:00 PM (local time) sessions are three fights:
Yesterday, Marlen Esparza's (51kg) became the first American female boxer in history to win a spot in the Olympic Games. Today, she hopes to continue winning in her quarterfinal bout against China's Cancan Ren.
Tiara Brown (57kg) who is considered the top seed in her division will also fight her quarterfinal bout against another member of China's boxing team, Jian Quin.
To round out the PM session, Mikaela Mayer (64kg), following her fantastic win yesterday by the score of 34:13, will be taking on India's Meena Rani. In yesterday's bout, Mayer led throughout with huge scores in the second and third rounds (10:4 & 10:3).
Queen Underwood in her heartbreaking lost to Ingrid Egner, Credit: Feng Li/Getty Images
As a reminder, in a true heartbreaker, Queen Underwood (60kg) lost her very close battle with Norway’s Ingrid Egner by the score of 26:25. Egner held a slight advantage in the first two rounds scoring 6:4 and 8:5. Queen was able to tie up the score 6:6 in the third round and came back with a fierce fourth round scoring 6:10, however, it was not enough. This is very, very tough for Queen, and she joins Claressa Shields in the waiting game for a place in the Olympics.
In a couple of notes on the Lightweight division, Ingrid Egner went on to lose today toNatasha Jonas of England by the score of 32:9. While Ireland’s Katie Taylor received a walkover against Mihaela Lacatus.
