2016 Rio Olympics boxing results: Day 5, evening session (August 10)

Day 5 of the boxing in Rio has concluded, and we’ve got eight men guaranteed a medal in the light flyweight and heavyweight divisions.

Men’s light flyweight (49kg) – Quarterfinals

Hasanboy Dusmatov (Uzbekistan) def. Birzhan Zhakypov (Kazakhstan)

• Scores: 30-27, 30-27, 30-27

This was an extremely impressive performance by Dusmatov, who just handled almost every moment of this fight and showed his class, beating a veteran and a very good fighter, who comes up short in the Olympics for a third straight year. To note, Zhakypov lost in the quarters in ’08 and ’12, too, both times to Zou Shiming, who went on to win gold both years, so if you believe in cosmic crap, maybe put a few bucks down on Dusmatov to win the gold.

Nico Hernandez (United States) def. Carlos Quipo (Ecuador)

• Scores: 29-28, 29-28, 29-28

This guarantees the U.S. its first medal on the men’s side since Deontay Wilder’s bronze back in 2008. The outcome here was worthy of debate — Quipo fought well, Hernandez fought well, too. It could’ve been 2-1 either way. I thought Quipo won the first, I thought the second was up for grabs, and I thought Hernandez won the third.

Men’s bantamweight (56kg) – Round of 32

Dzmitry Asanau (Belarus) def. Hector Garcia (Dominican Republic)

• Scores: 27-30, 29-28, 29-28

This one was debatable, too, maybe closer to a robbery. I thought Garcia largely bossed this fight and did well, but Asanau moves on to the round of 16 anyway. The crowd did not approve, either, but they’ve disapproved of lots of decisions.

Tsendbaatar Erdenbat (Mongolia) def. Benson Gicharu Njangiru (Kenya)

• Scores: 29-28, 30-26, 29-28

Really liked the style of Erdenbat, and he outclassed the Kenyan quite handily here, including a big shot in the second that resulted in a knockdown, though the referee seemed to determine it to be a slip, waving it off and not giving a count. Erdenbat will face Asanau next round, and I heavily favor the Mongolian based on what we saw today.

Robenílson de Jesus (Brazil) def. Fahem Hammachi (Algeria)

• Scores: (split decision)

Eeeeehhhhh, maybe a bit of home cooking for this one, not through scandal even, but at least through crowd reactions. de Jesus was obviously the favorite in Rio, and he fought OK, but Hammachi was right there with him and could easily be argued as the winner. de Jesus moves on to face Shakur Stevenson of the U.S., who is considered Team USA’s top gold medal hope.

Men’s light welterweight (64kg) – Round of 32

Fazliddin Gaibnazarov (Uzbekistan) vs Dival Malonga Dzalamou (Congo)

• TKO-3

This was a drubbing, plain and simple. Gaibnazarov was just on another level. Not much more to say than that.

Manoj Kumar (India) def. Evaldas Petrauskas (Lithuania)

• Scores: 29-28, 29-28, 28-29

This one I didn’t like as a decision. I thought Petrauskas, a 2012 bronze medalist, deserved both of the first two rounds, but the judges saw it differently. Petrauskas, 24, absolutely has a pro style, and I’d love to see him try his luck in the paid ranks. I thought he got the shaft here, but life goes on.

Gary Antuanne Russell (United States) def. Richardson Hitchins (Haiti)

• Scores: 30-27, 30-27, 29-28

A nice performance here from Russell, and he continues the solid display thus far from the American fighters. Hitchins is also an American himself, like Honduras representative Teófimo Lopez, representing Haiti because his parents are from Haiti. Both of these guys have real potential.

Men’s light heavyweight (81kg) – Round of 16

Mathieu Bauderlique (France) def. Juan Carlos Carrillo (Colombia)

• Scores: 30-27, 30-27, 30-27

A class showing from Bauderlique, who received a bye in the first round. Carrillo had pulled something of an upset in the opening round, but that was not in the cards in this one.

Carlos Mina (Ecuador) def. Joe Ward (Ireland)

• Scores: 27-28, 28-27, 28-27

This one is going to spark some controversy, as Ward lost because of point deductions. While on the one hand you can say that’s his own fault, you do have to consider whether or not they were truly deserved, and in this specific case, Mina could easily have been docked a point for rough tactics, too, but he wasn’t.

Men’s heavyweight (91kg) – Quarterfinals

Vassiliy Levit (Kazakhstan) vs Kennedy St-Pierre (Mauritius)

• Scores: 30-27, 30-27, 30-27

Clean sweep for Levit, the third seed in the tournament, who repeatedly denied a game St-Pierre in the Mauritian’s attempts to work his way into this fight. It’s a second straight dominant performance for Levit, who is now guaranteed at least a bronze.

Erislandy Savón (Cuba) def. Yamil Peralta (Argentina)

• Scores: 30-27, 29-28, 29-28

I agreed with the judge who had the shutout. This was the fight expected, and now we move on to the semifinals, where Savón faces Levit in what could be a really good fight.