Jamar Talley Shines Brights and Makes A Statement in His Olympic Qualifier Debut
by Luke Santangelo
Jamar Talley (Camden, N.J.) with a statement win in his Second Olympic World Qualification Tournament debut. Talley went head to head with Ali Faithigovashini out of Iran. Talley however made this a quick fight and ended it in the first round due to a referee stoppage.
“ I am just thankful for another opportunity to qualify to Paris. All glory to God and I am thankful for my team and coaches and on to the next one,"a determined Jamar Talley stated after his debut at the 2024 World Qualification Tournament.
Robby Gonzales (Las Vegas, Nev.) and Naomi Grahahm (Fayetteville, N.C.) also fought today. Graham was the first Team USA boxer to go this morning as she fought hard but fell short 4-1 to Vivlane Pereira from Brazil.
As for Gonzales, he started off strong against Weerapon Jongjoho from Thailand and took the first round 4-1. However, Jongjoho with home crowd advantage, took the second round 5-0. Gonzales trying to fight back and took the final round 3-2 but just wasn’t enough and lost in a heartbreaker 3-2.
Team USA will see Shera Mae Patricio (Waianae, Hawaii) and Emilio Garcia (Laredo, Texas) box tomorrow. Patricio will make her debut and represent Team USA in the 54 kg weight division. She will go head-to-head with Ulzhan Sarsenbek from Kazakhstan. As for Garcia, this will be his second appearance and is three wins away from qualifying.
Team USA is represented by eight boxers in Italy who hope to punch their ticket to this summer’s 2024 Paris Olympic Games. The team is being guided by USA Boxing Head Coach Billy Walsh (Colorado Springs, Colo.), along with National Resident Coach Timothy Nolan (Rochester, N.Y.), as well as National Development Coach Chad Wigle (Colorado Springs, Colo.), along with assistant coaches Adonis Frazier (Minneapolis, Minn.) and Christine Lopez (Rowlett, Texas).
Day 2 Results
75 kg: . Vivlane Pereira, BRA dec. over Naomi Graham, Fayetteville, N.C./USA, 5-0
80 kg: Weerapon Jongjoho, THA dec. over Robby Gonzales, Las Vegas, Nev./USA, 3-2
92 kg: Jamar Talley, Camden, N.J./USA, dec over. Ali Faithigovashini, IRI, RSC-1
Day 3 Schedule
63.5 kg: Emilio Garcia, Laredo, Texas/ USA vs Robert Eusebiu Jitaru, ROU
54 kg: Shera Mae Patricio, Waianae, Hawaii/ USA, vs. Ulzhan Sarsenbek, KAZ