LONDON (AP) — The U.S. Olympic boxing team realized it faced a brutal slate of matchups Wednesday, taking on a Cuban world champion and two hulking Russian heavyweights.
None of the three Americans could beat the odds to advance in London.
Top-seeded bantamweight Lazaro Alvarez of Cuba beat Joseph Diaz Jr. 21-15, and U.S. heavyweight Michael Hunter tired badly in the third round of a narrow loss to Russia’s Artur Beterbiev.
Super heavyweight Dominic Breazeale then fell far behind early in a 19-8 loss to Russia’s Magomed Omarov. The defeats abruptly reduced the American men’s team to four remaining boxers after beginning the Olympics with four straight victories last weekend.
Russian bantamweight Sergey Vodopyanov also lost at ExCel arena.
