(COLORADO SPRINGS, COLO.) – Team USA endured a rough opening day of action at the 2011 Pan American Games on a historic Friday night in Guadalajara. Female flyweight Christina Cruz (New York, N.Y.) became the first female American boxer to compete in the Pan Am Games, but lost a heartbreaking tiebreaker in her quarterfinal contest. Male middleweight Damarius Russell (Camp Lejeune, N.C.) suffered a loss in the first bout of the tournament for his U.S. squad.
Cruz boxed in the second female bout of the tournament in a flyweight contest against Ingrid Valencia of Colombia, and the boxers traded rounds throughout the low scoring affair. Valencia held a 1-0 lead after one but it was Cruz enjoying the momentum in the middle rounds. The American held a slim 4-2 lead with one round remaining, but Valencia won the final stanza to push the bout to a 4-4 tie at the final bell. Valencia won the contest on her 29-27 total punch count edge to eliminate Cruz from the Pan American Games. Despite her disappointment, Cruz appreciated the place in history she earned in the first-ever Pan American Games for women’s boxing. “It (being the first U.S. woman to compete in the Pan Am Games) felt good. Tonight was back and forth. I’m very upset right now,” Cruz said.
Head Coach Gloria Peek added, “It is very important in the grand scheme of things because it is profiling women and what they are capable of. You can tell the skill is there. We just fell down on some basic things tonight.”
Russell faced an internationally seasoned foe in his first bout of the tournament. He battled 2008 Olympic silver medalist and reigning Pan American Games champion Emilio Correa of Cuba in Friday’s preliminary round action. Correa held a 7-2 lead after the first and blew it open in the second. Russell faced a 20-3 deficit as the final round began, and Correa went on to win a 27-4 decision over the American boxer. The loss eliminates Russell from Pan American Games contention. “I learned one thing tonight. I have to get my hands up. I’ve got a lot to learn,” Russell said. “This was my mid-40th fight. I learned that this is really a point system game.”
2010 Women’s World Championships bronze medalist Queen Underwood (Seattle, Wash.) will be the lone U.S. boxer to compete in Saturday’s action. She will battle Puerto Rico’s Kiria Tapia in lightweight quarterfinal competition.
Weights: Dulorme-Navarro, Galarza-Perez
Weights from Panama
Thomas Dulorme 146.25 / Charlie José Navarro 147
Kenny Galarza 140 / Johan Pérez 140
KEEP ON TRUCKIN: MADDALONE STILL HOPING FOR HEAVYWEIGHT GLORY
ATLANTIC CITY (October 22, 2011)-He has always been known as one of the most exciting Heavyweights in the world due to his never say die attitude but now Vinny Maddalone wants his shot.
Maddalone (33-7, 24 KO’s), who fights Mike Sheppard (20-12-1, 9 KO’s) tonight at the Tropicana Casino & Resort knows that he could be just a couple fights away from that goal.
The card is promoted by Joe DeGuardia’s Star Boxing and will be broadcasted on Azteca America.
In the main event, Raymond Serrano (16-0, 8 KO’s) will put his perfect record on the line when he takes on Angel Rios (9-7, 6 KO’s) in a ten round Jr. Welterweight bout.
“I have been right on the brink on a couple of occasions”, said the popular native of Queens, New York.
“Look at my last two losses. I lose to Tomasz Adamek he gets a shot at (WBC Champion) Vitali Klitschko and Jean Marc Mormeck and now he is getting (IBF/WBO/WBA) champion Wladimir in December”
Maddalone will be stepping into the ring for the first time since being stopped by Adamek last December.
“I have been down this road before. I know what I have to do to get that opportunity. I have to take care of Sheppard and then maybe go overseas again and get a big victory over there”
Maddalone almost pulled off that feat when he traveled to France and took on the former Cruiserweight champion on December 17th, 2009
Maddalone dropped a close decision and it was back to square-one.
“That’s the one that really eats away at me. I was right there with him and now he is getting his shot”
Maddalone knows that with a couple big wins that he brings more to the table then a lot of the recent title challengers
“I see what the Klitschko’s are doing. They are fighting guys from different countries who may bring a fan base. Well I am a popular Heavyweight from the biggest city in the world and I know what I need to do and that’s win and I believe this can become a reality”
Star Boxing’s Shamone Alvarez (21-4, 12 KO’s) will battle the grizzled veteran Doel Carrasquillo ( 15-18-1 13 KO’s) in an eight round Welterweight bout.
Super Middleweight prospect Jason Escalera (11-0, 10 KO’s) will look to stay perfect when he fights Mickey Scarborough (6-3, 6 KO’s) in a six round bout.
Local favorite, Chazz Witherspoon (28-2, 20 KO’s) will see action against Ty Cobb (14-2, 8 KO’s) in a eight round Heavyweight attraction
Tickets for October 22nd are available by calling the Star Boxing office at (718) 823-20 [0.7642585551330798] 00 or visiting www.starboxing.com. Tickets are priced at $30, $50, $100 and $200.
Tickets may also be purchased at any Ticketmaster outlet, or by going directly online to Ticketmaster.com. Tickets are also available for purchase at the Tropicana North Tower Box Office or by phone at (609) 340-4000. Doors for the event will open at 7:00PM with the first bout scheduled for 7:30PM. All action will take place in the Tropicana Showroom. The Tropicana Casino and Resort is located at 2831 Boardwalk, Atlantic City, NJ.