Female Semifinals for the 2024 U.S. Olympic Team Trials for Boxing are set

The first bout of the night continued last night’s theme of seeded boxers tournament runs coming to an end, as Esmeralda Gonzalez (Dallas, Texas) fell short to Noelle Haro (Manor, Texas). Haro delivered a hard blow to Gonzalez, causing the referee to give Gonzalez an 8-count in the second round, before closing out the bout in round three to take the unanimous decision victory.

“We started off strong and finished even stronger,” Haro said after her victory. “I feel good, and this was a perfect way to start the tournament. I went in there and felt strong.”

Haro will now face Sheelyn Patricio (Waianae, Hawaii), who won unanimously after taking all three rounds over Mariana Tovar Lopez (Colorado Springs, Colo.).

Zoe Hicks (Lansing, Mich.) was the third victor of the day in the 50 kg category. Hicks commanded the fight throughout all three rounds to earn all five judges’ cards and a spot in tomorrow’s semifinals against the top seed, Lexus Ramirez (Hanford, Calif.).

Yoseline Perez (Houston, Texas), the bracket one-seed and 2022 Youth World Champion, had to dig deep and adjust to win the final two rounds to defeat Chantel Navarro (Glendale, Calif.) after going down, 4-1, at the end of the first round. Perez would come back to win the second round, 4-1, before sealing the overall 4-1 split decision with a 5-0 third and final round.

Shera Mae Patricio (Waianae, Hawaii) left nothing on the table, dominating Sa’Rai Brown-El (Marietta, Ga.) in her opening bout of these Trials. The experience versus youth was shown throughout the fight; however, Brown-El put up a good fight and showed why she was a force in the youth division, but Patricio took all the judges’ cards to win the unanimous decision.

Perez and Patricio will now meet in the semifinals for a one versus four seed bout that is sure to be an exciting bout.

“I was becoming the underdog, and everybody didn’t expect me to win.” Shera Mae Patricio said after her impressive win over Brown-El.  “Being the underdog makes me hungrier and I have nothing to lose. “

Shera Mae is the older sister of Sheelyn, and the two boxed in back-to-back bouts and stated boxing after her sister’s victory motivated for her bout.

“Fighting after my sister made me excited.  It means the world that two Patricio’s from Hawaii are fighting for the Olympic Trials and that’s history,” she shared after the sisters advanced to the semifinals.

One of the most anticipated matchups of the day was Jasmine Hampton (Ann Arbor, Mich) -versus the two-seed Jewry Rodriguez (Humble, Texas). Hampton’s power and speed immediately echoed throughout the stadium as her punches landed on Rodriguezm, drawing a crowd to the match. Hampton proved too much for Rodriguez to advance to the next round, winning all three rounds on three of the five judges’ scorecards.

To round out this exciting weight class was third seed Kayla Gomez (El Paso, Texas). Gomez, with one of the most dominant fights of the Trials so far in her division, won each round 5-0, including three 10-8 scores in each of the second and third rounds. 

Hampton and Gomez will face off on the other side of the bracket for yet another exciting 119 semifinal matchup.

Deborah Grant (Spring Lake, N.C.) dominated in her debut as she delivered a knockdown in round two and was given four 10-8 scores in her favor over Bianca Ortega (San Antonio, Texas) to show why she is the top seed of the 57 kg bracket. Grant continued to control the fight in the final round to claim victory.

Grant now moves on to the semifinals and will face Alexandra Fernandez (Splendora, Texas) after Fernandez defeated Valencia Kelly (Atlanta, Ga.) unanimously.  

Sierra Martinez (Fountain, Colo.), the two-seed, defeated Elise Soto (Beacon, N.Y.) via a unanimous decision to advance to tomorrow’s semifinal bout against Atiana Edwards (Colorado Springs, Colo.), who moved to the semifinals by walkover.

“I got my ring rust off after the first bout. It wasn’t the best, but I did what I had to do,” Martinez stated after her Olympic Trials debut. “The semifinals are not the last destination, but just one step closer to it.”

Neida Ibarra (Tulsa, Okla.), Angielkia Miles (Rochester, N.Y.), and Casey Dial (Clarksville, Tenn.) all advanced to the semifinals by way of unanimous decision over their respective opponents. Ibarra stood out the most out of the three, receiving a 10-8 score from two  judges in the second round.

Also, boxing tonight was Lisa Greer (Colorado Springs, Colo.), who won on a 4-1 split decision over Karla Hall (Las Vegas, Nev.) to set up a semifinal matchup between Dial, while Ibarra and Miles will go toe-to-toe in the second semifinal bout.

Carson Crawford (Culver City, Calif.) started her Cinderella run as she defeated the three-seed in Brooke Mullen (Boyerstown, Pa.) in one of night’s biggest upsets.

Crawford jumped out to a 5-0 lead in the first round, before seeing Mullen bounce back to take the second round, 5-0.

Crawford, making adjustments throughout the bout, realized her jab was open and had to keep up her pace to beat Mullen in the end by a 3-2 decision and a spot in the semifinals against the two seed, Stacia Suttles (Philadelphia, Pa.).

Suttles advanced to the semifinals following a 5-0 decision over Ariana Carrasco (Colorado Springs, Colo.).

The final semifinal bout will feature the reigning National Champion, Stephanie Simon (Miami, Fla.) and Algeria Lee Johnson (Rochester, N.Y.). Johnson advanced to the matchup between Simon after winning unanimously over Whitney Gomez (Bend, Ore.), while Simon, the one seed, received a bye into the semifinals.

Davis shocks the 75 kg weight class

The upset of the evening came as Chelsi Davis (Vineyard, Utah) shocked the crowd and defeated Kendra Samargis (Twin Falls, Idaho). Samargis entered the tournament as the one seed and reigning National Champion and more experienced than her opponent; however, fell short to Davis, 3-2.

“I have been doubted more than anything in this sport, so to come and prove to anybody that I am worthy to be here would be the best feeling in the world, and I have worked so hard to get here.”

Davis will move on to the semifinals to face Christine Forkins (Nashville, Tenn.). Forkins took all five judges’ cards over Ondrea Robinson (Seattle, Wash.) to secure her place in tomorrow’s bouts.

On the other side of the bracket, Talia Halvorsen (Harwood Heights, Ill.), the youngest female boxer in the tournament, defeated Jillian Petroglia (Lindenhurst, N.Y.), the two seed. Halvorsen will look to continue her impressive run when she meets Trinity Burke (Shippenville, Pa.), the three seed, who put on a dominating performance, start to finish, over Seraphina Brown (Belmont, Mass.), in tomorrow’s bouts.

Female and male semifinals are set to take place today at noon on Dec. 8 at the CAJUNDOME.

For more information on the Olympic Trials please visit here.