(MAY 20)
(NEW TAIPEI CITY, TAIWAN) – After
a quarterfinal day dominated by USA Boxing’s junior ladies, the
youth women turned it on in their quarterfinal session on
Wednesday night at the Xinzhuang Stadium in New Taipei City.
2013 Junior World Champion and 2014 Youth Olympic gold medalist
Jajaira Gonzalez
(Glendora, Calif.), junior
lightweight
Guadalupe Gutierrez
(Sacramento, Calif.), youth light
welterweight
Ariel Arismendez
(Tollleson, Ariz.), and youth
middleweight
Iesha Kenney
(Alexandria, Va.) all clinched
semifinals berths with wins on Wednesday.
Gutierrez had to wait until the
fifth day of the tournament to compete in Taipei but she made
sure the wait was worthwhile in her quarterfinal contest with
India’s
Nisha.
She was aggressive from the opening bell, pressing the action in
the three-round bout. Gutierrez outworked and outpunched her
Indian opponent to take a 3-0 decision in the match. She moves
on to Friday’s semifinals with the win and will face Chinese
Taipei’s
Ya-Xuan Lin
in her next bout.
Team USA controlled the Xinzhuang
Stadium for a 10-minute period in Wednesday’s evening action as
U.S. boxers competed in quarterfinal action in both rings
simultaneously. Arismendez took the ring approximately two
minutes before Gonzalez in the eighth bout in both rings. The
American light welterweight faced off with Youth Olympic Games
silver medalist
Ciara Ginty
of Ireland in her second bout of
the tournament. Arismendez used strong head movement and
effective punching to outbox the Irish star. She won a unanimous
decision over Ginty to advance on to a semifinal match-up with
Russia’s
Elizaveta Nemtseva.
With her teammate boxing just
feet away, Gonzalez stepped in to the ring for her third bout of
the tournament with France’s
Marion Ensfelder.
Gonzalez got to work right away, overwhelming Ensfelder in the
opening minute of the bout. Her combinations resulted in three
standing eight counts in the opening two rounds and both
Ensfelder and the referee had seen enough and the bout was
stopped at the 2:00 mark of the second. The win moves her on to
another international semifinal bout and a battle with
Kazakhstan’s
Nazym Ichshanova.
Kenney once again closed the show
for the United States and she did so in impressive fashion. Her
second bout of the tournament featured a match-up with Hungary’s
Fanni Szokol
in middleweight action. Kenney used her strong jab and effective
straight shots to pepper Szokol in a competitive first round.
She turned up the heat in the next two rounds, giving Szokol two
standing eight counts before the referee called a halt to the
match at the 1:07 mark of the third. The win clinches at least a
second bronze medal in World Championships action for Kenney.
She returns to action in a semifinal bout with China’s
Lu Zheng
on Friday.
Two junior boxers fell in the
afternoon session in Wednesday’s quarterfinal action. Light
bantamweight
Pauline Viesca
(Commerce, Calif.) took on
China’s
Jiawen Huang
in her second bout of the
tournament. Huang’s unique movement and awkward style earned her
a 3-0 win over the American boxer in the quarterfinal contest.
Junior middleweight
Destiny Navarro
(El Centro, Calif.) finally took
the ring for her first bout of the tournament in Wednesday’s
afternoon competition. She took on Russia’s
Anastasia Sigaeva
in the final U.S. bout of the
early session. The two boxers traded heavy shots throughout the
three round contest with Navarro catching Sigaeva with several
strong punches. At the end of three rounds, the judges give
Sigaeva the victory by split decision.
Thursday will be an off day for
all of the competitors with semifinal action in both the junior
and youth divisions being contested on Friday in Taipei.
Christy Halbert
(Nashville, Tenn.),
Kay Koroma
(Burke, Va.),
Don Fain
(Reno, Nev.),
Caroline Barry
(Boulder, Colo.), and
Arthur James
(Anaheim, Calif.) are leading the
United States team in Taipei.
U.S. Results
114 lbs/junior: Jiawen Huang, CHN,
dec.
Pauline Viesca, Commerce,
Calif./USA,
3-0
132 lbs/junior:
Guadalupe Gutierrez, Sacramento,
Calif./USA
dec. Nisha, IND, 3-0
154 lbs/junior: Anastasia Sigaeva,
RUS, dec.
Destiny Navarro, El Centro,
Calif./USA,
2-1
132 lbs/youth:
Jajaira Gonzalez, Glendora,
Calif./USA
won on TKO over Mario Ensfelder,
FRA, TKO-2
141 lbs/youth:
Ariel Arismendez, Tolleson,
Ariz./USA
dec. Ciara Ginty, IRL, 3-0
165 lbs/youth:
Iesha Kenney, Alexandria, Va./USA
won on TKO over Fanni Szokol,
HUN, TKO-3 1:07
