(SEPT 29)
Three American boxers will return
home with gold medals hanging around their necks following an
outstanding showing by the United States squad at the team’s
first Women’s Junior/Youth World Championships in Bulgaria. Team
USA closed the tournament with an undefeated day in Saturday’s
final round action. 2012 Olympic gold medalist
Claressa Shields
(Flint, Mich.) added her first
world championships title to her history-making resume with a
gold medal in the youth division. Two junior boxers showcased
the bright future that awaits them as pinweight
Caitlin Orosco
(Anaheim, Calif.) and
featherweight
JaJaira Gonzalez
(Glendora, Calif.) both won gold
medals in Saturday’s action.
Shields continued her dominating
run through the tournament in a championship round contest with
her Polish foe. The 18-year-old college freshman didn’t make it
through halftime in her first three bouts of the tournament,
winning TKOs in the opening two rounds in all of her advancing
bouts. After stopping her quarterfinal opponet in only 24
seconds in Wednesday’s quarterfinal round competition, she won a
won a second round TKO over Russia’s
Matren Iachkina
in the youth middleweight
semifinal contest on Friday. A tournament celebrity at the
event, Shields stayed focused on the mission at hand in her
championship bout with Poland’s
Elzibieta Wojckik
in today’s action. Shields won a
2-1 decision over Wojckik to take the middleweight title.
Orosco introduced herself to the
international scene earlier this year at the Pirkka Tournament
in Finland where she not only won a gold medal, but was also
named the tournament’s Outstanding Boxer. She won her second
straight international gold medal with a final round victory in
a pinweight showdown with Kazakhstan’s
Nazerlee Jurgarayeva
on Saturday. Orosco advanced to
the championship bout with a unanimous decision win over
Ukraine’s
Veronika Shaksuy
in Friday’s semifinal action. The
15-year-old American boxer took home the first gold medal for
the United States with a 2-1 victory in the pinweight finale.
Gonzalez was the second United
States boxer to take the ring in Saturday’s final round action,
following four straight victories in her first World
Championships competition in Bulgaria. The 16-year-old recorded
solely unanimous decision wins in her contested bouts in
Bulgaria, culminating with a featherweight final round bout
against Russia’s
Anastasia Nesiyanova
on Saturday. Gonzalez advanced to
the championship bout with a 3-0 win over
Nazym Chshanova
of Kazakhstan in semifinal round
competition on Friday. She kept her streak alive in the
championship bout, winning a 3-0 decision over her Russian foe
to take featherweight gold.
Despite having only five
representatives in junior division action, the United States
finished third in the team standings with the two gold and one
bronze medal win from lightweight
Iesha Kenney
(Alexandria, Va.) at the 2013
Women’s Junior/Youth World Championships. Only Russia and
Kazakhstan finished ahead of the United States and the two
boxing powerhouses boasted 13 and 12 registered athletes
respectively in the major international tournament.
The United States earned a total
of six medals in the first-ever Women’s Junior/Youth World
Championships with more than half of the 10 American
representatives returning home with hardware. Youth light
flyweight
Marisol Lopez
(Stratford, Calif.) and youth
welterweight
Samantha Kinchen
(Lexington, Ky.) won bronze as
well following strong showings in the World Championships debut
for both boxers.
The six medal haul in Bulgaria
brings the United States total to 75 on the year and eight in
World Championships action including four gold medals for USA
Boxing’s athletes in the past month. The elite men will close
World Championships series in October at the 2013 AIBA Men’s
World Championships, October 14-26 in Almaty, Kazakhstan.
Coaches
Jason Crutchfield
(Flint, Mich.),
William Farris
(Lexington, Ky.),
Michael Newson
(Las Vegas, Nev.), and
Bienvenido “Benny” Roman
(Brooklyn, N.Y.), led the U.S.
boxers in Bulgaria with
Dr. Larry Lovelace
(Oklahoma City, Okla.) serving as
the Team Physician.
U.S. Results
101 lbs/junior:
Caitlin Orosco, Anaheim,
Calif./USA
dec. Nazerlee Jargarayeva, KAZ,
2-1
125 lbs/junior:
JaJaira Gonzalez, Glendora,
Calif./USA
dec. Anastasia Nesmiyanova, RUS,
3-0
165 lbs/youth:
Claressa Shields/Flint, Mich./USA
dec.
Elzibieta Wojckik,
POL, 2-1
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