Olympic Boxing: Brit Trio Moves Into Quarter-Final Stage

Despite the disappointment of Team Great Britain’s Khalid Yafai’s defeat yesterday at the hands of Cuba’s flyweight Andris Lafitta by a score of 9-3, James DeGale put in a great effort as he faced US ‘favourite’ Shawn Estrada in the second round of the Middleweight division.

Neither man scored in the first frame, but DeGale went up 3-1 against the American in round two. A bit of a messy contest with the two men looking clumsy.

DeGale improves to 3 up over Estrada as the third finishes at 6-3, then relaxes in the second half of the fourth and final round, affording himself a bit of ‘showboating’. DeGale wins 11-5 and secures his place in the quarter-finals.

Afterward, DeGale said “I didn’t box my best again…it was nerve-racking in there” but added that he “can’t wait for Wednesday”.

DeGale now faces tough Kazakhstani opponent -Bakhtiyar Artayev, who was third at the World Championships in Chicago last year. DeGale has fought Artayev twice before – winning against him in Sheffield recently.

DeGale is the third Brit to make it to the quarter-finals after team-mates David Price at super heavyweight and Tony Jeffries at light heavyweight were also successful.