Duke Ragan Advanced To Tokyo Quarterfinals Wednesday

Another impressive performance for Team USA men’s boxing took place Wednesday afternoon in Tokyo, as Featherweight Duke Ragan became the latest American to advance to the quarterfinals. Ragan was in complete control in his three-round unanimous decision over Kazakhstan’s Serik Termizhanov,

All smiles from @Duke1ragan after today’s victory 🥊

We will see him back in in the ring during Sunday’s quarterfinal bout!

📸: @GettyImages #Tokyo2020 x #Boxing pic.twitter.com/nCNRdAIpvi

— USA Boxing (@USABoxing) July 28, 2021

The Cincinnati native got better as the fight went on, including fast combinations and lead right hands that his Kazakh opponent had little for in response.

This is the first time that a United States men’s boxer has advanced into the Featherweight quarterfinals since Ricardo Juarez won the Silver Medal in that division at the 2000 Sydney Summer Olympics. And Ragan’s win continued a short term roll for the Men’s and Women’s teams as his win was the eighth straight overall in competitions.

That includes Cleveland native “Tiger” Johnson, who won for the second time in the Olympic tournament on Tuesday, when defeated Ablaikhan Zhussupov of Kazakhstan in their three round bout by a 4-1 decision. That also advanced him to Welterweight quarterfinals later this week.

Heavily favored Lightweight Keyshawn Davis, who like Ragan has turned pro and won fights while being allowed to comeback and fight as an amateur in the Olympics, will be in action in the round of 16 coming later this week. In his first fight, Davis took apart Enrico La Cruz of the Netherlands Sunday with an effective jab and superior hand speed on his way to 5-0 unanimous decision to move on to his quarterfinals.

And finally, Middleweight Troy Isley of Alexandria, VA, also won his opening bout back on Monday. That’s when he dominated Belarussian Vitali Bandarenka winning all three rounds on all five judges cards for a shutout. However, Isley will face the Gold Medal favorite in Russian Gleb Bakshi, on Thursday night, in the round of 16 fight.

As for Ragan, he will next fight on Sunday and he has gotten a break in the tournament format. This, as Ireland’s Kurt Walker won a split decision upset over Featherweight Gold medal contender Mirazizbek Murzakhalilov of Uzbekistan Wednesday.