Shawn Estrada Opens Olympics With Win For United States Boxing

The U.S. Boxing team got off to a good start in the ring as American middleweight Shawn Estrada coasted to a 10-2 victory over Argentina’s Ezequiel Maderna. Estrada jumped out to a solid 3-0 first round lead which he extended to a commanding 7-1 edge after the second.

Estrada will face Great Britain’s James Degale in the round of 32. Should he defeat Degale the face gets increasingly difficult for the Los Angeles native. His prospective quarterfinal opponent would be the winner of the Matvey Korobov vs. Bakhtiyar Artayev bout. Russia’s Korobov is the defending world champion while Artayev won a bronze at the same competition.

Estrada’s win was a refreshing bit of good news for Team Turmoil which was rocked with even more drama when bantamweight Gary Russell, Jr. was found unconscious in his room due to dehydration from attempting to lose too much weight too quickly. Russell’s lack of fitness is yet another strike against coach Dan Campbell and evidence of the team’s mismanagement. Let’s hope the boxer’s can focus on their task ahead and replicate Estrada’s early success.