Ireland Puts Record 3 Boxers into Semi-Finals

Today's Olympic boxing action brought the quarterfinals round to a close, with Friday opening the medal semi-finals. Each weight class will see two fights, with the winners meeting in the finals to compete over the Silver and Gold Medals. The losers will be matched in a "loser's final," which is for sheer bragging rights as both losers will receive a Bronze Medal.

In today's Flyweight action, Vincenzo Picardi of Italy made a strong statement of his Gold potential by whomping Walid Cherif of Tunisia. Cherif previously scored a big upset over Lee Ok-sung of South Korea, who had previously beaten the opening division favorite Rau'shee Warren of the US. In the semi-finals, Picardi is set to meet 33 year old veteran Somjit Jongjohor of Thailand, who got past his Tajik opponent by 8-1.

The other two boxers to enter the Flyweight semi-finals are Russia's Georgy Balakshin and Andris Laffita Hernandez of Cuba, who will meet in a showdown between descendants of the two great, old Communist bloc boxing programs. Balashkin beat his Indian opponent in an exciting, high scoring slugfest. Hernandez defeated his Puerto Rican rival McWilliams Arroyo by 11-2.

Winning a big victory for Ireland, Middleweight Darren John Sutherland pounded out a resounding 11-1 upset over Alfonso Blanco Parra of Venezuela. With Sutherland's win, the Irish team will put three boxers into the medal rounds for the first time in Olympic history. That Blano Parra won Silver at the World Amateur Championships only makes Sutherland's win that much more impressive. Joining Sutherland are Light Flyweight Paddy Barnes and Light Heavyweight Kenny Egan.

Sutherland will face James DeGale of the UK in a cross-isles match. DeGale will prove a formidable opponent, as he beat the Athens Gold Medalist Bakhtiyar Artayev of Kazakhstan to secure his semi-final berth.

The two remaining Middleweights to go to the medal rounds are Vijender Kumar of India and Emilio Correa Bayeaux of Cuba. Vijender Kumar's win guarantees him a medal of some kind (as with all semi-finalists), making him the first Indian to ever win an Olympic boxing medal.

When Olympic boxing resumes, the sole remaining member of the US team will be Heavyweight Deontay Wilder. On Friday, August 22nd, Wilder will face a severe test when he faces one of the few surviving favorites to enter this session of Olympic Boxing: Italy's Celmente Russo. Although the 6'7" Wilder will tower over the 5'11" Russo, Russo is the heavy favorite and reigning World Amateur Champion. If Wilder, who was not thought of as a medal prospect when the Olympics opened, can defeat Russo, it will be the crowning upset in an Olympic boxing tournament defined by them.

Sources: http://en.beijing2008.cn/news/sports/headlines/boxing/n214568252.shtml; http://results.beijing2008.cn/WRM/ENG/Schedule/BX_2008-08-20.shtml; BBC, Briton DeGale wins boxing medal; http://www.aiba.org/en-US/news/ozqsp/newsId/924/news.aspx