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Monday, September 18
Americans now 6-for-6 in first round
Associated Press
SYDNEY, Australia -- U.S. boxers don't seem satisfied with
just winning their Olympic bouts. Now they're starting to dominate
them.
Jeff Lacy and Ricardo Juarez showed Monday why medal
expectations are so high among American boxers with a pair of
spectacular victories that kept the U.S. team undefeated through six
Olympic fights.
|  | | Jeff Lacy, right, posted an easy 17-2 victory over his Brazilian opponent, forcing him to take two standing 8-counts.
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Juarez pitched a shutout, while Lacy nearly knocked his opponent
out of the ring with some thundering punches in an impressive
display that underscored the strength of the American team after
three days of competition.
"I was trying to strike some fear in those middleweight
minds," Lacy said. "I'm pretty sure I'm the hardest puncher on
the U.S. team."
Actually, Lacy is, at least according to a computerized heavy
bag that U.S. team officials used to measure punch strength in
training.
A different type of measure was used Monday. It was the body and
head of Brazil's Cleiton Conceicao, both of whom took a beating
before the fight was finally stopped with 1:02 left in the third
round.
Lacy won the 165-pound fight by the 15-point rule, 17-2. But he
might well have knocked Conceicao out had the fight gone any
further.
"I sensed that he was a little bit afraid of me," Lacy said.
"I came here with one thing on my mind -- bring the gold back to
St. Petersburg, Fla."
To do so, Lacy will have to get past Cuba's Jorge Gutierrez, who
won his opening fight 20-11 against Somchai Cimlum of Thailand. And
Juarez has both 1996 gold medalist Somluck Kamsing of Thailand and
Yosvany Aguilera of Cuba on his end of a tough 125-pound bracket.
Both Kamsing and Aguilera won easily -- by identical 17-2 scores
in the third round -- on Monday, with Kamsing enjoying the backing
of a large and noisy group of his countrymen. Aguilera's victory kept
the Cuban team undefeated at 5-0, all on easy triumphs.
But that's a familiar tale for most of the 12 U.S. boxers, who
came into these games fully aware of the Cuban boxing mystique that
accounted for four gold medals and two silver in Atlanta.
"There's not a doubt in my mind that we're going to be here all
the way," Lacy said. "This is a bunch of good guys. We've all
come together as one."
Even coach Tom Mustin was impressed after watching Juarez stop
Iran's Bijan Batmani 15-0 in the third round and then going right
back out a few fights later to see a thundering punching display by
Lacy.
"I thought we'd have a pretty good team, but I wasn't sure how
good," Mustin said. "These guys are only thinking gold. That's
all they've got in their mind."
Not entirely, at least in the case of Juarez.
The 19-year-old who won a world championship last year at 125
pounds said listening to a sports psychologist with the U.S. team
has helped him focus on the moment in the ring and not think about
what future fights might bring.
He certainly looked focused against Batmani, who took a
battering from the second round on before a right uppercut gave
Juarez the final point he needed to win by the 15-point rule with
1:08 left in the third round.
"I always knew what I was doing in the ring, but he has helped
me stay focused by thinking of how I am at my best," Juarez said.
"More advice certainly won't hurt me."
Juarez, whose father gave him the middle name Rocky in honor of
Rocky Marciano, said winning the world championship in his hometown
of Houston gave him a reputation in his division but no more
pressure to win a medal than any of his teammates.
Still, he admitted to a case of jitters as he waited to get into
the ring for his first fight.
"Nervous, very nervous," Juarez said. "These are the biggest
fights of my life."
Six Americans still have to make their Olympic debuts, including
heavyweight Michael Bennett and super heavyweight Calvin Brock. But
the team's quick start had Mustin smiling even as he carefully
balanced the ever-present toothpick in his mouth.
"We've got a great beginning and we're just trying to keep
rolling," he said. "Nobody wants to be the first to lose. So
they're going to fight their hearts out not to lose."
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