The Gold Medal Drought for the U.S. Olympic Boxing Team is Expected to Continue

The Gold Medal Drought for the U.S. Olympic Boxing Team is Expected to Continue

Boxers from 76 nations have converged on Tokyo. The Games open Friday and activity commences the next day with action in the women’s featherweight division kicking things off in the boxing segment. The first bout on Saturday is expected to start at 10 p.m. ET.

The U.S. is fielding a 10-person team: five men and five women. Based on the opening odds, it doesn’t figure that the U.S. will win a gold medal. That’s no surprise. Since 1996, the only U.S. boxer on the men’s side to win the gold is Andre Ward who turned the trick at the 2004 Olympiad in Greece.

If the oddsmakers are to be believed (and odds are often a better predictor than seedings), the U.S.’s best hopes are men’s lightweight Keyshawn Davis and women’s flyweight Ginny Fuchs. Both are the second-favorite in their respective weight class. Richard Torrez Jr. clocks in at #3 among the super heavyweights. No other U.S. boxer is accorded a strong chance of medaling.

Keyshawn Davis, who has three pro fights under his belt, may renew acquaintances with Cuban nemesis Andy Cruz. The gifted, 25-year-old Cruz is 124-8 in documented bouts which includes a 16-0 mark in the World Series of Boxing.

Cruz is 3-0 vs. Davis. Those bouts were staged in Managua, Nicaragua, in Lima, Peru, and in Ekaterinburg, Russia and two of those fights were very close.

The boxer with the shortest price is heavyweight Muslim Gahzhimagomedov who is minus-250. A taller version of countryman Artur Beterbiev, the Russian with the impossibly long name rides into Tokyo on 45-fight winning streak.

Super heavyweight Bakhodir Jalolov is also a solid favorite (-200). Carrying about 250 pounds on a six-foot-seven frame, the Uzbek southpaw is a beast as Richard Torrez Jr. can attest. Jalolov scored a frightful opening-round knockout over Torrez in a 2019 match at Ekaterinburg. Torrez was unconscious before he hit the mat and left the ring on a stretcher.

Jalolov has been a busy bee this year, winning 10 amateur fights and ducking in a professional engagement. As a pro, he’s 8-0 with 8 knockouts.

Listed below are the favorites in each weight class.

Men

Super Heavyweight

Bakhodir Jalolov – Uzbekistan

Heavyweight

Muslim Gadzhimagomedov – Russia

Light Heavyweight

Arlen Lopez – Cuba

Middleweight

Oleksandr Khyzhniak – Ukraine

Welterweight

Pat McCormack – Great Britain

Lightweight

Andy Cruz – Cuba

Featherweight

Mirazizbek Mirzakhaliov – Uzbekistan

Flyweight

Shakhobidin Zairov – Uzbekistan

Women

Middleweight

Lauren Price – Great Britain

Welterweight

Busenaz Surmeneli – Turkey

Lightweight

Beatrix Ferreira – Brazil

Featherweight

Lin Yu-Ting – Chinese Taipei

Flyweight

Buz Naz Cakiroglo – Turkey

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