Team USA Goes 1-1 on Third Day of World Championships
by Brian Taylor, USA Boxing
Team USA had two boxers make their World Championships debut, Obed Bartee-El (Harvest, Ala.) and Jonathan Mansour (San Diego, Calif.), during the third day of boxing at the Stark Arena in Belgrade, Serbia.
Bartee-El started the day against Carl Leviticus Hield of the Bahamas. Starting off a little slower in the first round, Hield was able to use it to his advantage to take three of the five judges’ cards to take an early lead. However, the American light middleweight picked up his pace in the second round, connecting more quality blows and combinations and giving his opponent a standing eight count in the final seconds of the round to grab all five judges’ cards.
With the fight in Bartee-El’s favor on two cards and tied on three heading into the final round, he continued to keep up the pace and control the fight to grab the round and the overall victory by unanimous decision. He will have one day of rest before returning to the ring on Friday against Italy’s Francesco Faraoni.
Mansour made his debut against 2018 Youth World Championships silver medalist Vseyolod Shumkov of Russia. The lightweight saw the first round go in favor of the Russian, 4-1, however, came back with a strong second round to grab his own 4-1 decision.
The final round was another close fight, but the American fell short of taking the judges’ cards, as four judges awarded it to Shumkov, resulting in a 4-1 final decision in favor of the Russian.
Team USA will have two boxers compete tomorrow. Jahmal Harvey (Oxon Hill, Md.) will take to the ring during the first session of the day against Mirazizbek Mirzakhalilov of Uzbekistan, while Omari Jones (Orlando, Fla.) faces Tyler Jolly of Scotland in the evening session.
Click here to watch both sessions, as well as to stay updated on Team USA’s performances in Serbia.
Day 3 Results
60 kg: Vsevolod Shumkov/RBF dec. over Jonathan Mansour, San Diego, Calif./USA, 4-1
71 kg: Obed Bartee-El, Harvest, Ala./USA, dec. over Carl Leviticus Hield/BAH, 5-0
Day 4 Schedule
57 kg: Jahmal Harvey, Oxon Hill, Md./USA, vs. Mirazizbek Mirzakhalilov/UZB
67 kg: Omari Jones, Orlando, Fla./USA, vs. Tyler Jolly/SCO