(COLORADO SPRINGS, COLO.) – Four U.S. boxers recorded international dual victories on Friday at the USA vs. Puerto Rico Dual at the Cosme Behitía Coliseum in Cataño, Puerto Rico. A trio of male boxers and female lightweight Stephanie Han (El Paso, Texas) all won their dual bouts in the final international competition of the year for USA Boxing.
Bantamweight Joseph Diaz, Jr. (El Monte, Calif.) earned the first victory of the night for the U.S. squad, taking a 3-2 decision over Puerto Rico’s Josue Machado in the third bout of the evening.. Han was the second U.S. boxer to claim a dual win, recording a convincing 9-1 victory over the host nation’s Kiria Tapia. Light heavyweight Jerry Odom (Temple Hills, Md.) made it two in a row for the squad with a second convincing victory for Team USA as he won a 14-1 bout over Puerto Rio’s Hector Cervantes. Light welterweight Abel Ramos (Arizona City, Ariz.) claimed the final win of the event for his U.S. squad, recording an 8-5 decision over Puerto Rico’s Prichard Colon.
Team USA was led by two 2000 Olympic Coaches, Israel Acosta (Milwaukee, Wis.) and Candy Lopez (San Jose, Calif.), and Jennifer Han (El Paso, Texas). USA Boxing Board of Directors member Gary Pliner (Janesville, Wis.) served as the Team Manager for the event with Angel Franklin (Milwaukee, Wis.) working as the AIBA official and Dr. Armando Sanchez (Milwaukee, Wis.) joining the squad as the Team Physician.
USA vs. Puerto Rico Results
108 lbs: Angel Acosta, Puerto Rico, dec. Eros Correa, San Jose, Calif./USA, 9-6
114 lbs: Edwin Rodriguez, Puerto Rico, dec. Miguel Cartagena, Philadelphia, Pa./USA, 9-7
123 lbs: Joseph Diaz, El Monte, Calif./USA, dec. Josue Machado, Puerto Rico, 3-2
201 lbs: Jose Santiago, Puerto Rico, dec. Pernell Mitchell, Melbourne, Fla./USA, 9-6
132 lbs/female: Stephanie Han, El Paso, Texas/USA, dec. Kiria Tapia, Puerto Rico, 9-1
178 lbs: Jerry Odom, Temple Hills, Md./USA, dec. Hector Cervantes, Puerto Rico, 14-1
152 lbs: Christian Peguero, Puerto Rico, dec. Luis Olivares, Jr., Glendale, Ariz./USA, 9-1
114 lbs: Jonathan Gonzalez, Puerto Rico, dec. Adam Lopez, San Antonio, Texas/USA, 9-1
141 lbs: Abel Ramos, Arizona, City, Ariz./USA, dec. Prichard Colon, Puerto Rico, 8-5
165 lbs: Enrique Collazo, Puerto Rico, dec. Daquan Arnett, Orlando, Fla./USA, 4-1
132 lbs Jose Pedraza, Puerto Rico, dec. Duran Caferro, Helena, Mont./USA, 16-3
201+ lbs: Gerardo Bisbal, Puerto Rico, dec. Danny Kelly, Washington D.C./USA, 5-4
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).