Second Day of 2023 Youth Brandenburg Cup Success for Team USA
by Brian Taylor, USA Boxing
Team USA picked up four more wins during the second day of boxing at the 2023 Youth Brandenburg Cup in Lindow, Germany to go 4-1 overall for the day, as well as added another gold medal to their medal total.
Juan Rivera (Philadelphia, Pa.) picked up his second win of the tournament to start the day for Team USA. for Team USA. Rivera took an early 4-1 lead in the opening round, before seeing the but was called to a stop by the referee due to an injury to his opponent’s eye after Rivera landed multiple blows. Rivera will return for his third bout of the tournament, where he will meet Arthur Kuzmenko of Ukraine.
2022 Youth World Championships bronze medalist Sa’Rai Brown-El (Marietta, Ga.) won her first bout in her 52 kilogram bracket by RSC after proving to be too much for her opponent, Germany’s Milana Nurislamov. Brown-El, who picked up a 3-2 decision over the Youth World Championships silver medalists yesterday in a matched bout, will now go for gold tomorrow against Diana Petrenko of Ukraine.
Jennah Creason (Visalia, Calif.) followed in her teammates footsteps and grabbed her own second win of the tournament, this time over Ukraine’s Maryna Shevchenko by unanimous decision, and will return to the ring tomorrow for Ohla Pylypchuk of Ukraine.
Heavyweight Rishon Simms (Harrisburg, Pa.) closed out the day for Team USA by winning his championship bout, 5-0. Simms landed clean and powerful shots to his opponent, Erik Wunsch of Germany, to take the early 5-0 lead at the end of the first round and never looked back. Simms, who was boxing in his international debut, continued to outland and outpower his opponent in rounds two and three to take all five judges’ cards in the end and the gold medal.
Shamiracle Hardaway (Lagrange, Ga.) put up a tough fight against Ukraine’s Ohla Pylypchuk, however, fell short of advancing to the finals and will leave Germany with a bronze medal in her first international event.
Brown-El, Creason and Rivera will be joined tomorrow by Perla Bazaldua (Los Angeles, Calif.), Emmanuel Chance (East Orange, N.J.), Benjamin Johnson (Springdale, Md.) and Ethan Smith (Las Vegas, Nev.). The female bouts will be championship bouts, while the males will be looking for wins to secure their place in Saturday finals.
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Day 2 Results
52 kg: Sa’Rai Brown-El, Marietta, Ga./USA, won by RSC over Milana Nurislamov/GER, RSC-1
63.5 kg: Juan Rivera, Philadelphia, Pa./USA, won by RSC-I over Nick Smirnov/GER, RSC-I
66 kg: Jennah Creason, Visalia, Calif./USA, dec. over Maryna Shevchenko/UKR, 5-0
66 kg: Ohla Pylypchuk/UKR dec. over Shamiracle Hardaway, Lagrange, Ga./USA, 5-0
92 kg: Rishon Simms, Harrisburg, Pa./USA, dec. over Erik Wunsch/GER, 5-0
Day 3 Schedule
Session 1 (5:00 a.m. ET start)
51 kg: Emmanuel Chance, East Orange, N.J./USA, vs. Joseph Turner/ENG (Bout 1)
63.5 kg: Juan Rivera, Philadelphia, Pa./USA, vs. Arthur Kuzmenko/UKR (Bout 7)
Session 2 (9:00 a.m. ET start)
71 kg: Benjamin Johnson, Springdale, Md./USA, vs. Janderson Schulz/GER (Bout 8)
80 kg: Ethan Smith, Las Vegas, Nev./USA, vs. Artur Kasainov/UKR (Bout 10)
Session 3 (1:00 p.m. ET start)
52 kg: Sa’Rai Brown-El, Marietta, Ga./USA, vs. Diana Petrenko/UKR (Bout 1)
54 kg: Perla Bazaldua, Los Angeles, Calif./USA, vs. Lauren Mackie/ENG (Bout 2)
66 kg: Jennah Creason, Visalia, Calif./USA, vs. Ohla Pylypchuk/UKR (Bout 3)