19.10.05 – LIVERPOOL, ENGLAND – Heavyweight (189 lbs) Isiah Thomas (Detroit, Mich.) won his first world title at the 2005 Cadet World Championships on Tuesday in Liverpool, England. The two-time junior Olympic national champion was the lone gold medal winner for the United States after three impressive victories over boxers from amateur boxing powerhouses Ukraine, Russia and Azerbaijan.
Thomas won a strong 16-4 victory over I. Asim of Azerbaijan to win the heavyweight gold medal. In addition to Thomas’ gold medal, Team USA won two silver medals on Tuesday. Light flyweight Luis Yanez (Duncanville, Texas) dropped a 26-19 decision to K. Saeed of England and middleweight Dominic Wade (Clinton, Md.) lost a 24-10 decision to A. Sablirov of Russia.
Thomas has already enjoyed an impressive amateur career with numerous national titles and he will now prepare to make the step to the senior level with a world title on his resume. The talented teenager plans to move down to the light heavyweight (178 lbs) division when he makes the leap to the senior level and will look to follow in the footsteps of 2004 light heavyweight Olympic gold medalist Andre Ward.
In addition to Yanez and Wade’s silver medals, featherweight Jerry Belmontes (Corpus Christi, Texas) and light welterweight Raymond Serrano (Philadelphia, Pa.) won bronze medals at the event.
Team USA has been led by a group of the nation’s elite coaches including USA Boxing National Coaching Director Dan Campbell (Hampton, Va.); Alvin Simpson (Charlotte, N.C.), and Winston “Buddy” Shaw (St. Louis, Mo.). USA Boxing Junior Olympic chairman Howard “Sonny” Duncan (Colorado Springs, Colo.) is serving as team manager, Dr. Mario Ficarola (Santa Ana, Calif.) is the team physician and Joe Sanchez (Darien, Ill.) is working as the AIBA official for the event.
Thomas’ Results:
Finals: dec. I. Asim, Azerbaijan, 16-4
Semifinals: dec. S. Pakul, Russia, 16-8
Quarterfinals: O. Vikhovskyy, UKR, 13-2
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).