Results from Empires Collide, USA vs China Duel
When the world’s super powers meet, there’s always that extra something interjected into the fray and patrons get even more boisterous with their cheering and heartfelt chants of ‘USA! USA!’ This time around, the national amateur boxing team of China won the crowd over as their team won by the slimmest of margins over the U. S. A. boxing team, Friday, October 1st at the magnificent Capitale in New York City’s Chinatown.
Of course hosting the event in Chinatown at the glamorous Capitale in the borough of Manhattan may have had something to do with it. Manhattan’s Chinatown is one of the largest and oldest ethnic Chinese communities outside of Asia.
Before the festivities got started, the U.S. team was given a pep talk from the former world heavyweight champ, Evander Holyfield, he himself a Bronze medalist in the 1984 Olympics. New York native Mark Breland, Holyfield’s Olympic teammate and 1984 Olympic Champion, was also there to inspire the U.S. squad.
The two U. S. middleweights enjoyed success as Alyssa DeFazio (Phoenix, Ariz.) pulled out a tiebreaker victory over 2010 World Championships silver medalist Jinzi Li in the American boxer’s international debut and Jesse Hart (Philadelphia, Pa.) won a 15-7 decision over Jianting Zhang.
As planned, the two Chinese Olympic medalists were positioned to close out the show and they did with unanimous decision victories. The 2008 Olympic Champion Zou Shiming won an easy 15-2 decision over Santos Vasquez (Sun Valley, Nev.) and their 2008 Olympic silver medalist Zhilei Zhang claimed a 16-8 victory over Danny Kelly (Washington DC).
Heading into that final bout, the teams were even and the pro-Chinese crowd erupted with chants of “China! China!” as the fighters awaited the opening bell. Zhang responded by completely controlling the first two rounds. He kept Kelly against the ropes for much of both stanzas, and landed the cleaner shots. Kelly defended well, but seemed reluctant to mix it up. It wasn’t until round three, that he came alive.
The full slate of results begins with the females:
112 lbs. Cancan Ren, China, won by decision over Tyrieshia Douglas, Balitmore, MD/USA., 21-10
132 lbs. Patricia Manuel, Commerce, Calif./USA, won by decision over Cheng Dong, China, 11-10
165 lbs. Alyssa DeFazio, Phoenix, Ariz./USA, won by decision over Jinzi Li, China, 7-6 (tiebreaker after 15-15)
The male competitors:
108 lbs: Zou Shiming, China, won by decision over Santos Vasquez, Reno, Nev./USA, 15-2
123 lbs. Jiawel Zhang, China, stopped Ricky Rodriguez, Greeley, Col./USA, referee stopped the contest in the 2nd round.
132 lbs. Eric Flores, Ingle, Calif./USA, won by decision over Qing Hu, China, 2-1 (tiebreaker after 9-9)
141 lbs. Michael Reed, Waldorf, Calif./USA, won by decision over Bilige Huricha, China, 18-15
152 lbs. Qiong Maimaitit, China, won by decision over Alex Martin, Crest Hill, Illinois/USA, 14-6
165 lbs. Jesse Hart, Philadelphia, Pa./USA, won by decision over Jianting Zhang, China, 15-7
178 lbs. Fanlong Meng, China, won by decision over Marquice Weston, Tacoma, Wash./USA, 18-2
201+ lbs. Zhilei Zhang, China, won by decision over Danny Kelly, Washington DC/USA, 16-8
USA Boxing, as the national governing body for Olympic-style boxing, is the United States’ member organization of the International Amateur Boxing Association (AIBA) and the U. S. Olympic Committee (USOC).
