2016 Rio Olympics boxing results: Day 1, evening session

With the evening session complete, day one of boxing at the Rio Olympics is now history. Here’s what we saw in the second batch of fights today.

Men’s light flyweight (49kg)

Joselito Velazquez (México) def. Leandro Blanc (Argentina)

• Scores: 30-27, 29-28, 30-27

Another good fight to get the afternoon session started, with Velazquez looking very good in victory. Blanc never went away here, but he was outclassed, particularly in the first two rounds. Velazquez has clear pro potential and is a serious medal contender, but he has to face Uzbekistan’s Hasanboy Dusmatov next. They’re recognized as two of the best fighters in this weight class, and have met before. That’s one to look forward to, for sure.

Mathias Hamunyela (Namibia) def. Rufat Huseynov (Azerbaijan)

• Scores: 30-27, 29-28, 29-28

A pretty noteworthy upset here, as Huseynov was definitely favored, and was the taller, more polished boxer. But without the headgear and with the way the fights are scored now as opposed to before, that gives a guy like Hamunyela, a bit rough around the edges to say the least, but tough and enthusiastic, a chance. And he pulled this one off, winning the latter two rounds and taking the victory, as well as sweeping one card. His aggression paid off, as he never let Huseynov get into any kind of rhythm. Four years ago, Huseynov probably would’ve poked and touched his way to a dull win. This is better. Hamunyela took him out of his comfort zone and it worked.

Nico Hernandez (United States) def. Manuel Cappai (Italy)

• Scores: 30-27, 29-28, 29-28

As much as I want to be Hacksaw Jim Duggan and yell USA USA USA at you all day long, I thought Cappai won the first two rounds here. But you could certainly debate one of them, and Hernandez won the third. Three-round fights always run a risk of not being quite conclusive when they go to the cards, and this is one of those. The good news for Nico Hernandez and Team USA is that he won here. The not so great news is he’ll be a major underdog in his next fight against Russia’s Vasilii Egorov.

Men’s lightweight (60kg)

Hurshid Tojibaev (Uzbekistan) def. Hakan Erseker (Qatar)

• Scores: 30-27, 30-27, 30-27

This one was a legitimate outclassing, about as much of one as we’ve seen today. Tojibaev was just a much better boxer. Erseker gave the effort, but he had nothing that Tojibaev couldn’t handle.

Joe Cordina (Great Britain) def. Charly Suarez (Philippines)

• Scores: 30-27, 29-28, 28-29

A good matchup on paper, talent wise, and played out as such. Not a barnburner fight or anything, but well-matched and both guys are good fighters. Cordina just edged it for me, and that’s how it wound up on the scorecards, too. Suarez has been fighting as an amateur for 10 years now (he’s 28), and nearly retired from competition due to injury. This is a heartbreaker for him, but he certainly did himself and his country proud with his effort.

Anvar Yunusov (Tajikistan) def. Shan Jun (China)

• Scores: 30-27, 30-27, 29-28

Another schooling in this one, as Yunusov pretty much dominated. Shan Jun, like others, gave it an effort, but the skill gap was too big. Yunusov, who injured his right arm in the second round and boxed one-handed from there, moves on to face Brazil’s Robson Conceição next, which is going to be a tall order, even if he’s got two healthy arms.

Men’s light heavyweight (81kg)

Michel Borges (Brazil) def. Hassan N’dam (Cameroon)

• Scores: 30-27, 30-27, 29-28

Crowd went nuts for the winner, of course, and I don’t think this was a bad decision at all. I thought N’dam won the first round, which none of the judges gave him, but the latter two rounds I preferred Borges’ work. N’dam just never got going. The outcome for professionals of any note entering the Olympics was going to go one of two ways: either they’d be too good, or they’d get embarrassed. N’dam going one-and-done is pretty lousy for him.

Juan Carlos Carrillo (Colombia) def. Erkin Adylbek Uulu (Kyrgyzstan)

• Scores: 30-27, 29-28, 30-27

Not sure which round Uulu was given, but, well, doesn’t matter, I guess. Carrillo has a stylishness to him, one that might backfire at some point in this tournament against a better opponent, as he tends to leave his hands down and invite shots to counter off of, but it worked here, and was fun to watch.

Men’s heavyweight (91kg)

Lawrence Okolie (Great Britain) def. Igor Jakubowski (Poland)

• Scores: 29-28, 29-28, 29-28

Okolie has a rawness to him, but also a lot potential. He’s tall, which helps, and he used his jab well, but he also showed his speed and punched in volume, and gave Jakubowski a ton of problems. Even when Jakubowski got close, Okolie was smart and didn’t let him work. Okolie now has a huge ask next round in Cuba’s Erislandy Savon.