Oct 26, 2007 12:22 am US/Central
Officials: 3 Boxers Missing From Championships
CHICAGO (AP) ―
News that two Ugandan boxers and an Armenian fighter left their teams at the World Boxing Championships overshadowed a thrilling win for U.S. light heavyweight Christopher Downs on Thursday.
It appeared the missing athletes left voluntarily and have been in phone contact with family and friends, said Chicago police spokesman John Mirabelli. The names of the missing boxers weren't immediately available.
Inside the ring, Downs, the oldest member of the U.S. team and a veteran of the Iraq war, stayed even with Ismayl Sillakh of Ukraine, one of the top-ranked light heavyweights in the world, throughout the fight. The two were tied 23-23 with thirty seconds to go in the fourth round.
Downs broke the tie with ten seconds left as chants of "U-S-A" competed with cheers from a Ukrainian contingent. He moved ahead with another scoring hit shortly afterward, and after the referee handed out penalties to both boxers in the final seconds of the match, Downs won 27-25.
"I need a drink," U.S. coach Daniel Campbell said after the fight. "He's a warrior."
Downs said he had heard the crowd, but wasn't looking for a repeat of the match any time soon.
"If I could, I'd like to have it by walkover," he said, chuckling.
Downs' win was the fourth U.S. victory of the day.
Earlier, U.S. lightweight Sadam Ali rallied for a 25-17 decision over Puerto Rico's Jose Pedraza in a high-energy fight.
And welterweight Demetrius Andrade, who fought immediately after Ali, defeated Georgia's Kakahaber Jvania 22-11 in a slow-paced, physical bout.
U.S. flyweight Rau'shee Warren took another step Thursday toward returning to the Olympics when he easily defeated 2004 Olympian Tulashboy Doniyorov of Uzbekistan in a 20-8 decision.
Warren is attempting to become the first U.S. boxer in more than 20 years to compete in two Olympics. The last U.S. boxer to compete in two Olympics was Davey Lee Armstrong in 1972 and '76.
The top eight finishers in the light flyweight (106 pounds) to light heavyweight (178 pounds) divisions and the top four from the heavyweight and super heavyweight classes will qualify for the Beijing Olympics.
Chicago hopes to use the event as a boost in its bid for the 2016 Olympics.
The city got the championships in May after the event was pulled from Moscow.
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