Brazil's performance in the pre-Olympic boxing tournament that ends tomorrow in Trinidad and Tobago was poor. Of the six athletes who made up the team, only 30-year-old veteran Washington Luis Silva managed to qualify for the Olympic Games in Beijing in August. On Tuesday afternoon, Washington took third place in the 81kg category after defeating American Christopher Downs.
In the other categories, the Brazilians failed to advance past the semifinals, which would have guaranteed their place in the Olympics. The biggest disappointment was Pan-American champion Pedro Lima, who was defeated in the semifinals of the 69kg category by John Jackson, from the Virgin Islands. Brazil will have another chance to classify its athletes in the 3rd Pre-Olympic of the Americas, in April, which will be held in Guatemala.
The path should be smoother, since the Americans and Cubans are already classified. The Brazilian Boxing Confederation hopes to classify six athletes for the Olympics, one more than those classified for 2004, in Athens. Below, you can see the results of the Brazilians in the semifinals.
54 kg – James Dean Pereira 12:14 Oscar Valdez (MEX)
57 kg – Robson Conceição 6:12 Idel Torriente (CUB)
60 kg – Everton Lopes 3:14 Hernandez Yordanis (CUB)
69 kg – Pedro Lima 10:19 John Jackson (ISV)
81 kg – Washington Luis Silva 4:12 Carlos Negron (PUR)
91 kg – Rafael Lima 5:6 Deontay Wilder (USA)
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