LA NUCIA, Spain (November 18, 2022) – Team USA went 2-1 during today’s boxing at the 2022 Youth World Championships in La Nucia, Spain, advancing two more boxers to their respective weight classes round of 16.
Light middleweight Amir Anderson (Syracuse, N.Y.) drew the reigning European Champion, Bobbi Flood of Ireland, for his World Championships debut, setting up an exciting match that lived up to the expectation between the two.
Anderson took the first round, 4-1, before seeing Flood come back to take the second round with his on 4-1 decision. With the bout on the line, Anderson came out strong in the third and final round, landing clean shots and combinations, to take the bout by a 4-1 decision in the end to advance to a bout with Turkey’s Sultan Osmanli on Sunday.
“I fought like a B-,” stated Anderson following his bout. “I fought a European Champion, number one in Europe, and I think I did well enough to show everyone in this tournament I am going to be number one. I think I beat the best person here, and now it is only matter of time to be a World Champion.”
Featherweight Cornellio Phipps (Oxford, Pa.) picked up his second win of these championships in a hard-fought bout against England’s Frankie Wood.
Wood took a 4-1 lead following the first round, however, Phipps came back to take the second round, 3-2, to make it anyone’s bout heading into the final round. Phipps left it all in the ring during the last round, which included giving Wood a standing eight count.
All five judges scored the final round 5-0 to secure Phipps the 3-2 final decision and a spot in a round-of-16 match-up against Akzhol Asylbek Uulu of Kyrgyzstan, the 2022 Asian Youth Championships silver medalist.
“God was with me in that fight,” said Phipps at the conclusion of his bout. “We won’t see no more close fights, split decisions, no more. I give my opponent credit. We are going to keep grinding.”
Lightweight Randi Griffith (Gouverneur, N.Y.) put up a tough fight against Rukiye Kaya of Turkey, however, after receiving back-to-back standing eight counts in the third round, the fight ended by abandonment.
Flyweight Ryan Williams (Toledo, Ohio) and light welterweight Dedrick Crocklem (Tacoma, Wash.) will return to the ring tomorrow for their second and third fights, respectively, and looking to advance to the quarterfinal rounds. Williams will go head-to-head against Mexico’s Ari Bonilla, while Crocklem will face Oleksandr Yarovyi of Ukraine.
73 countries and 593 boxers are taking part in these Youth World Championships, which is the first Youth World Championships for USA Boxing since 2018.
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Day 4 Results
57 kg: Cornellio Phipps, Oxford, Pa./USA, dec. over Frankie Wood/ENG, 3-2
60 kg: Rukiye Kaya/TUR won by abandonment over Randi Griffith, Gouverneur, N.Y./USA, ABD
71 kg: Amir Anderson, Syracuse, N.Y./USA, dec. over Bobbi Duggan Flood/IRL, 4-1
Day 5 Schedule
51 kg: Ryan Williams, Toledo, Ohio/USA, vs. Ari Bonilla/MEX (Ring A, Bout 8, 2:45 p.m. ET*)
63.5 kg: Dedrick Crocklem, Tacoma, Wash./USA, vs. Oleksandr Yarovyi/UKR (Ring A, Bout 10, 11:45 a.m. ET*)