Texas Boxers Advance at Olympic Trials

Photo caption: Houston's Hylon Williams (red) punches at Rico Ramos in his 125-pound class bout at the U.S. Boxing Olympic Trials in Houston. (photo by Kristine Kelly-TexSport Publications)

By Robert H. Kelly

(HOUSTON, TX, August 21, 2007) On the first day at the George R. Brown Convention Center in Houston, fans saw six out of seven Texas boxers win their bouts advance to the winner bracket in the 2008 USA Boxing Olympic Trials. A lone Texas boxer went into the consolation round as day one concluded in the seven day trials.

During the afternoon session, all five Texas boxers advanced with Luis Tanez (Duncanville, Texas) defeated Malcolm Franklin, from Rialto California 27-12 in the 106-pound weight class.

In the 119-pound class, Roberto Marroquin of Dallas won a close decision 18-17 over Gary Russell, Jr. (Capital Heights, MD). Los Fresnos’ Sergio Perales also took a close decision 15-14 over California’s David Clark.

Dallas’ Charles Hatley, competing in the 152-pound division, defeated Anthony Campbell 24-15 to advance.

In the most lopsided bout of the session, Jerry Belmontes, from Corpus Christi destroyed Columbus, Ohio’s Antton Slaugher 22-1

The evening session saw Houston native Hylon Williams stop Troy Wohosky 30-8 to round out the winner’s bracket.

In the lone Texas defeat of their day, Juan Leija, from Alvin saw a tough match against Rau’shee Warren when the referee stopped the match 1 minute 6 seconds in the second round.

Day 2 saw Williams, Yanez, Marroquin and Belmontes win their second bouts, with Hatley being stopped 1:22 in the third round by Demetrius Andrate.

The best bout of the day was the come from behind win by Leija over John Franklin of the UA Army, 33-20. Leija was helped by the tremendous fan support at ringside. Clad in yellow t-shirts reading “Team Leija,” family, friends, and teammates from his boxing club in Alvin yelled, screamed, and went crazy every time he threw a punch.

When the result was announced, Franklin, who was visibly upset, stormed from the ring, hurling obscenities and ranting about how he was wronged.

Leija, who is a student at Santa Fe High School, show his joy by jumping up and hugging his coach and manager. He will now advance, along with all of the day 2 winners, to the semi-finals in Wednesday.

Action continues on Wednesday with bouts at 12 noon and 6:00 pm.