Demetrius Andrade Wins First Fight, Moves On To Second Round

Providence, Rhode Island native Demetrius Andrade was able to win his first fight at the 2008 Olympics Games in Beijing, China. Andrade beat Kakhaber Jvania by the score of 11-9:

Another American boxer wins, and another bows out with a health scare. Although the U.S. team isn't the world's most consistent bunch, it's been consistently dramatic in the Olympics so far. Welterweight favorite Demetrius Andrade won a brawling Olympic debut Sunday night, but light welterweight Javier Molina lost a one-sided decision to Bulgaria's Boris Georgiev at Workers' Gymnasium. Andrade also had to be the bigger man in his 11-9 victory over Kakhaber Jvania of Georgia, who charged, pushed and shoved the Rhode Island native all night. Andrade got few chances to show off his peerless reflexes, but kept his composure with just enough counterpunching, including the clinching point on a whip-quick left hand in the final seconds. "I fought him in the world championships, and he did the exact same thing," said Andrade, who thought the judges missed several of his fast scoring punches. "It was a rough fight. Nobody in there wants to box me, so I guess I'm going to have to slug it out, bang out the body shots and then go back to boxing." Andrade said he was buoyed by loud cheers from the crowd. "It felt good," Andrade said. "That gave me a boost to keep on going, even though I knew the score wasn't fair." (Fox News)

After watching this bout, I have not changed my opinion that Olympic Boxing is a joke and I can't wait to see Andrade fight in the pros. The other fighter was trying to push, shove, and hold is way to a win but thankfully Andrade was able to land enough punches to win the fight. I still hope that Andrade is able to win the gold medal in the welterweight division but I would not be surprised if some funny business happens and Andrade misses out.