2004 Olympian Rau’shee Warren (Cincinnati, Ohio) led the charge over the Belarusian team, setting the tone early for his U.S. teammates. Warren showcased the skills that earned him a spot on the 2004 Olympic Team, stopping Bato-Munko Vankeev of Russia in the third round of their flyweight (112 lbs) bout. Warren dominated the contest, building up a 20-point lead in the third round to cause the mandatory referee stops contest and earn the first win of the event for his team.

Seventeen-year-old Gary Russell, Jr. (Capitol Heights, Md.) was making his senior international debut at the 2005 AIBA World Cup, but he looked to build on the momentum Warren started for his team. Russell was successful in his mission, overcoming a large deficit in the final two rounds of boxing to take a 21-20 win over  Chavazhi Khatsygov of Belarus. Russell put everything on the line in the final two rounds to take the win in his first-ever senior international bout.

The victories continued in the featherweight (125 lbs) division in Mark Davis’ bout with Mikhail Bernadskiy of Belarus. Davis came on strong through the final two rounds of boxing to win a 23-20 decision over Bernadskiy and continue his undefeated 2005 in both national and international competition.

Experience paid off for the United States in the light welterweight (141 lbs) division in Philly native Karl Dargan’s bout with Belarus’ Andrey Chiruk. Dargan boxed a near perfect bout, using smart boxing to win a convincing 28-15 decision over Chiruk and add another victory to Team USA’s tally.

The final Team USA victory of the day came in the middleweight (165 lbs) division as Shawn Estrada (Lynwood, Calif.) took on Sergey Rabchenko of Belarus. After a slow first round, Estrada picked up the pace and in the final three rounds to take command of the bout and win a 24-16 decision. The win gave the United States five wins on the first day of competition.

Light flyweight (106 lbs) Vincent Montoya (Cheyenne, Wyo.), lightweight (132 lbs) Ray Robinson (Philadelphia, Pa./NMU), welterweight (152 lbs) Demetrius Andrade (Providence, R.I.), light heavyweight (178 lbs) William Rosinsky (New York, N.Y.), and Marcus Henry (Baltimore, Md.) all suffered opening day losses but will look to rebound on Thursday. After several schedule changes, the team is slated to take on Russia at 7 p.m. Moscow time on Thursday.