Olympic Boxing: Tough Scoring Prevents U.S. Featherweight Williams from Advancing to Quarterfinals

By Jim Everett August 16th, 2008 All Boxing Results

The second round of elimination bouts did not fare as well for featherweight Raynell Williams as it did for team mate Demetrius Andrade, who will proceed to the quarterfinals on Sunday. On Friday, August 15, 2008, Williams lost his chance at an Olympic medal when he was defeated by Khedafi Djelkhir of France, an opponent he previously beat in the 2007 World Championships.

The southpaw Williams was looking to stick and move in the first round and Djelkhir was the first to score a point on the inside. Williams was the busier of the two fighters, using combinations, most of which landed on the gloves of the tightly defensive Djelkhir, but some punches did get through that did not register any points. Williams finally got on the board towards the end of the round, landing a clean counter right to even the score at 1-1.

Djelkhir was the aggressor in the second round, coming in on Williams and landing again, constantly stalking the dancing American. The U.S. featherweight was landing punches that were still not registering points. Djelkhir gets in a right hand, to which Williams responds with a body shot that goes scoreless. Round two ends in favor of the Frenchman, 4-1.

In the third round, Williams came out jabbing and two jabs land, snapping back the head of Djelkhir, but scoring only one point. Both fighters exchange and each score, before Djelkhir scores another point. A lot of action in the third round with both fighters registering less points than are actually landing. Although Williams is staying active, he seemed to spend too much time with leg movement rather than sticking and moving. Djelkhir leads at the end of the round, 7-4.

The U.S. coaches implore Williams to let his hands go in the last round. The fighters begin the fourth in a clinch and wrestle back and forth before exchanging punches that register points. A nice three punch combination by Djelkhir lands with his left hook registering a point. More...

Olympic Boxing: U.S. Boxing Team Goes One and One on Monday

By Jim Everett August 14th, 2008 All Boxing Results

This past Monday, August 11, 2008, the featherweight and lightweight divisions had their first elimination bouts at the Beijing Worker’s Gymnasium on day three of the 2008 Olympics in Beijing , China where the U.S. team had mixed results.

First up for the U.S., was nineteen year old Raynell Williams, who faced off against Alessio di Savino of Italy in the featherweight division.

The fast southpaw Williams used his speed from the opening bell, having a clear advantage over di Savino, boxing well and landing combinations to score a point. He seemed to be able to register one point with each three punch combination, getting out to an early 4-0 lead at the end of round one.

In the second round, di Savino lands a left to get on the scoreboard with Williams landing a counterpunch at the same time, also registering a point.

The Italian walked straight in on Williams for the rest of the round and Williams was able to land easily. Unlike some of the other U.S. boxers who have already fought, Williams seemed relaxed and confident in the ring.

Going into the third round the score 7-1 was in Williams' favor. The scoring slowed down during the round with Williams only registering one more point.

Williams continued to box well through the last round and scored another point which gave him a final score of 9-1. After the fight, Williams felt that it was a big thing for him to stay calm in the ring and that he needed to use his jab more to set up his punches. More...

U.S. Olympic Boxing Spotlight: Featherweight – Raynell Williams

By Jim Everett August 11th, 2008 All Boxing Interviews

**With Slideshow**

© Jim Everett / Saddo Boxing

Raynell Williams credits his being part of the U.S. Olympic boxing team to his mother. He qualified at the final possible event for the U.S. Championships, the lone qualifier for the Olympic Team Trials after considering quitting boxing. His mother insisted that he compete in the final event and raised the money for him to do so.

In the U.S. Championships, Williams went through some big amateur names, winning decisions against Luis Del Valle from Newburgh, New York and Hylon Williams of Houston, Texas. In the finals, he won a decision against Rico Ramos for first place.

After winning a decision against Shemuel Pagan during the U.S. Olympic Team Trials, Williams faced Hylon Williams three times, winning two of the three matches for first place. He then earned his spot internationally by reaching the quarterfinals of the AIBA World Championships.

Williams' career highlights include: two-time USA Boxing Athlete of the Month, National Champion and Olympic Test Event Champion. More...

Meet the 2008 U.S. Olympic Boxing Team

By Jim Everett August 7th, 2008 All Boxing Articles

© Jim Everett / Saddo Boxing

will feature the opening ceremonies of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, China. Nine boxers will proudly represent the United States in hopes of bringing home the gold medal.

Luis Yanez: Duncanville, Texas
Light Flyweight 106 lbs

Rau’shee Warren: Cincinnati, Ohio
Flyweight 112 lbs

Gary Russell, Jr: Capitol Heights, Maryland
Bantamweight 119 lbs

Raynell Williams: Cleveland, Ohio
Featherweight 125 lbs

Sadam Ali: Brooklyn, NY
Lightweight 132 lbs

Javier Molina: Commerce, California
Light Welterweight 141 lbs

Demetrius Andrade: Providence, Rhode Island
Welterweight 152 lbs

Shawn Estrada: East Los Angeles, California
Middleweight 165 lbs

Deontay Wilder: Tuscaloosa, Alabama
Heavyweight 201 lbs More...