Three American Boxers Dominate Their Opposition to Advance in the 2015 Pan American Games

(TORONTO, CANADA) - American flyweight Antonio Vargas (Kissimmee, Fla.) kicked off a strong day for the U.S. team with a dominating victory over qualified 2016 Olympian Jeyvier Cintron Ocasio of Puerto Rico on Tuesday afternoon at the 2015 Pan American Games. In the evening session, 2012 Olympic gold medalist Claressa Shields (Flint, Mich.) and reigning world champion Marlen Esparza (Houston, Texas) both advanced to tournament finals with impressive victories in their semifinal bouts at the Oshawa Sports Centre in Toronto. Light welterweight Luis Feliciano (Milwaukee, Wis.) and lightweight Carlos Balderas (Santa Maria, Calif.) both fell in Tuesday's quarterfinal competition.

Esparza boxed for the second consecutive day at the 2015 Pan American Games and once again she dominated her opponent. The 2014 World Champion picked Puerto Rico's Monica Gonzalez Rivera apart with her accurate punching and effective movement. Landing crisp combinations to Rivera's body and head, she picked up her output as the bout wore on. Esparza's efforts once again earned her a wide, unanimous decision and secured her spot in the gold medal bout with Canada's Mandy Bujold on Saturday.

"I was really just trying to go down and up, start on the body and come up and see what happens. Her jabs were more accurate than I expected so once I caught the timing on her jab, I felt like it started going more my way," Esparza said. "It worked out well, I felt good about my endurance. I felt like it unfolded well but I didn't go in with a game plan."

After a battle in her first bout, Shields put on a signature performance in her semifinal bout with Argentina's Lucia Perez. Landing thundering blows from every angle and out of both the orthodox and southpaw stances, Shields controlled every second of her middleweight semifinal bout. The Olympic champion displayed not only her power and speed but also the unique personality and style that has earned her fans across the world. She advanced to the finals with a unanimous decision victory and will face the Dominican Republic's Yenebier Guillen in the middleweight gold medal bout on Friday.

"I just wanted to improve on my last fight, I felt like I was on the ropes too much so I went back to the drawing board. It just wasn't good enough for me," Shields said. "My only goals today were to box her, have fun, use my combinations and do what I wanted to do and I did a great job. She tried to get in my head. She kept smiling and laughing. I thought it was pretty cute. No one has done that to me in awhile. I wanted to let her know that I can hit you whenever I feel like it so that's just what I did."

After featuring his aggressive side in his first bout, Vargas showcased his pure boxing skill and versatility in his match with Ocasio. Using strong movement and crisp punching, Vargas out-boxed and out-landed his Puerto Rican foe over the first two rounds. He began to sit down on his shots in the final round, landing a series of hard right hands in a dominating third round. Vargas took the victory by a 2-1 decision to move on to the semifinals where he will face Costa Rica's David Jimenez Rodriguez on Thursday. "He's a good fighter and I look forward to seeing him (Rodriguez) at the Olympics again but right now I'm ready to get that gold," Vargas said.

The son of a proud Puerto Rican, Vargas lived in Puerto Rico as a young child and his father often dreamt of his son representing the island nation in the Olympic Games. Vargas now hopes to fulfill that Olympic dream while representing the United States. "I honor my father and I love him to death so going to the Olympics is something I want to do for him," he said. "I was born here in the U.S., and it's a blessing to serve my country."

As Vargas triumphantly exited the ring, Feliciano stepped through the ropes for his bout with Cuba's Yasnier Toledo. The bout started slowly as Feliciano looked to solve the Cuban puzzle in front of him. Feliciano picked up his aggression in the third round, landing several strong hooks and body shots but he wasn't able to overcome his earlier deficit. Toledo won a 3-0 decision in the bout, eliminating Feliciano from the competition.

"Fighting one of the top guys, he's a gold medal contender will only make me better. It feels good to have this opportunity to represent my family, my city, and obviously my country," Feliciano said. Getting this far and fighting these elite fighters feels good and I'm just grateful for the opportunity."

Balderas had the longest wait on the United States team for his Pan American Games debut as the 18-year-old took the ring for the first time in Tuesday's evening action. He faced off with Mexico's Lindolfo Delgado in lightweight quarterfinal competition. Both boxers started the bout slightly tentative but Balderas looked to increase his activity over the bout. He picked up his punch count in the second round, landing several hard shots on Delgado and looked to continue that over the final stanza. Yet Balderas dropped a 3-0 decision in the quarterfinal match.

"It was a little bit more difficult than I expected. I couldn't loosen up. I'm just going to go home and practice my mistakes," Balderas said. "The plan was to box and I got in there and started banging with the guy and he was a lot bigger and a lot heavier so that was to his advantage."

Bantamweight Francisco Martinez (Dallas, Texas) is the only U.S. boxer competing in Wednesday's semifinal competition. He will take on the Dominican Republic's Hector Garcia Mora tomorrow night at the Oshawa Sports Centre for a spot in the bantamweight championship bout.

Coaches Ed Weichers (Colorado Springs, Colo.), Israel Acosta (Milwaukee, Wis.) and Joe Guzman (Fountain, Colo.) are leading the United States boxing team at the 2015 Pan American Games.

U.S. Results

112 lbs/female: Marlen Esparza, Houston, Texas/USA dec. dec. Monica Gonzalez Rivera, PUR

114 lbs/male: Antonio Vargas, Kissimmee, Fla/USA dec. Jeyvier Cintron Ocasio, PUR, 2-1

132 lbs/male: Lindolfo Delgado, MEX, dec. Carlos Balderas, Santa Maria, Calif./USA, 3-0

141 lbs/male: Yasnier Toledo, CUB, dec. Luis Feliciano, Milwaukee, Wis./USA, 3-0

165 lbs/female: Claressa Shields, Flint, Mich./USA dec. Lucia Perez, ARG, 3-0

For more information, please contact:

Julie Goldsticker

julie@goldstickerpr.com

(719-440-1050)

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