Boxing standouts Keevin Allicock and Alesha Jackman experienced mixed fortunes inside the ring on the opening day of the Pan American Games yesterday in Santiago, Chile.
The orthodox Allicock, fighting in the 57kg division, kicked off his Games campaign with a statement win, stopping his Panamanian opponent, Javier Ibarguen, inside the distance.
Allicock was clinical and superior in all facets, offence, defence, and overall ring general ship, and outboxed the overmatched Ibarguen in their round of 16 matchup. The referee was forced to stop the contest at the 1:32 mark of the second round, which earned the Tokyo 2020 Olympian a berth in the quarterfinals.
In contrast, the Games campaign of Jackman, 19, ended after she suffered a third-round stoppage loss against her 66-kg opponent, Lucia Perez, 31, of Argentina. The referee halted the contest at the 1:52 mark of the final round.
In his next bout on Monday, Allicock will face Jahmal Harvey.
Up next in the ring will be Desmond Amsterdam, who will face Gabriel Buonarrigo at the start of the Round-of-32 bouts in the men’s 80 kg category tomorrow, while Joel Williamson faces Miguel De La Cruz of the Dominican Republic in the Round-of-16 in the 63.5kg category on Sunday at noon.
Emmanuel Pompey will battle Tabukuo Aska of Antigua and Barbuda on October 23 at 12:15 a.m. The top two boxers in each division will qualify for the Olympic Games next year in Paris, France.
