USVI’s Jackson books Beijing ticket

PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad, CMC – John Jackson, of the US Virgin Islands (USVI), booked a ticket to the Beijing Olympic Games after he advanced to the final of the welterweight class at the International Boxing Association Olympic qualifiers on Monday.

Jackson, one of three boxers from the USVI in Olympic contention at the start of Monday’s semi-final bouts and the only English-speaking competitor left in the fray, outclassed his Brazilian opponent Pedro Lima to come away with a 19-10 win on points at the Jean Pierre Complex.

In the final on Tuesday, he will meet fellow Olympic qualifier Cuban Carlos Suarez, who won his bout against Mexico’s Oscar Molina, 19-4.

The son of former world (professional) champion Julian “The Hawk” Jackson, Jackson is no stranger to success at the international level. He was a bronze medal winner at the World Cadet (Uner-16) Boxing Championships in England in 2005.

The other USVI boxer to see action in Monday’s first session, Clayton Laurent, failed to join his countryman on the plane to Beijing as he went under to USA’s Michael Hunter II, 25-4 in the super heavyweight (+91kg) contest.

Clarence Joseph also fell short for the USVI as he lost his middleweight semi-final in the evening session to Cuban Emilio Correa Bayeux.

Overall it was a good start to the day for Cuba as four of their five boxers in action won their semi-final bouts to reach their divisional final, and more importantly earn an Olympic spot.

The other Cuban winners included Yankiel Alarcon, Hernandez Yordanis, and Robert Acea.

In the bantamweight (54kg) semi-finals, Alarcon clobbered Claudio Guzman of the Dominican Republic 12-1 on points and will meet Mexico’s Oscar Valdez in the final.

The Mexican edged out James Dean Pereira of Brazil 14-12 on points while Yordanis proved to be more than a handful for Brazilian Everton Lopes to come away with a 14-3 win in their lightweight (60kg) clash.

Yordanis’ win has now set up an interesting clash with the impressive Sadam Ali of the USA, who showed little mercy in beating Juan Nicolas Cuellar of Argentina.

Ali was ahead 22-2 on points when the referee stopped the contest at end of Round Three.

Acea, meanwhile, beat Jose Payares of Venezuela 9-3 in the other super heavyweight semi-final. 

In most divisions, the two boxers reaching the finals both secure tickets to China.

Three more vacancy spots will be confirmed on the finals day on Tuesday as the 64kg and 81kg divisions offer a third qualification spot and will necessitate a box off while the +91kg class offers only one qualification spot to the winner.

Boxers who failed to secure an Olympic spot at this tournament will have two other chances to do so, at other tournaments over the next four months, the first being in Guatemala.