Winners’ Bracket Keeps on Winning

The 10 fighters who occupied the red corner for Friday night’s Olympic box-off at the Cleveland State Convocation Center were united in a common cheer: one and done.

As unlikely as it seemed, that rallying cry became reality when all 10, the fighters who came out of last week’s Olympic trials in Tunica, Miss., in the winners’ bracket, beat their opponents in the blue corner to clinch spots on the 2004 U.S. team in their respective weight divisions.

In this double-elimination format, the fighters in the blue corner, the losers’ bracket from last week’s competition, would have had to win twice to leave here on the U.S. team.

A second day of competition had been scheduled for today, but that will not be necessary.

The biggest winner among the 10 was super-heavyweight Jason Estrada, who defeated Mike Wilson, 14-5, in their four-round match. Because he was a gold-medal winner at last summer’s Pan Am Games, a qualifying event, Estrada has now qualified for the Olympic Games in Athens in August.

“It’s all come true,” Estrada said. “It probably won’t hit me until I’m alone in my room.”

For the other nine winners Friday night, there are still battles to be won before they can say their Olympic dreams have come true. The nine must emerge victorious in one of the two remaining international qualifiers -- March in Tijuana or April in Brazil -- in order to secure a slot in Athens.

The nine who will head south with the hope of qualifying are:

* Rau’shee Warren at 106 pounds. He dominated his opponent, Diego Hurtado, so decisively that the 20-point mercy rule was invoked. When Warren went up, 22-2, the match was called with 30 seconds remaining in the third round.

* Ron Siler at 112. His match against Aaron Alafa was also stopped. Referee Brent Venegas halted the bout with 1:20 remaining in the second round because of the punishment Alafa was receiving.

* Roberto Benitez at 119. He defeated Eric Hunter, 29-15, a decision that left Hunter so bitter, he refused to shake Benitez’s hand.

Afterward, Hunter said his amateur days are over.

“Why should I stay around for four more years so that they can do the same thing to me again?” he said.

* Vicente Escobedo at 132. Down, 9-6, to Anthony Peterson entering the final round, Escobedo mounted a furious attack, outscoring Peterson, 18-4, to pull out the 24-13 victory.

* Rock Allen at 141. A 27-12 winner over Lamont Peterson, Anthony’s brother, Allen was so far ahead that he clowned and danced late in the fight, drawing boos from the announced crowd of 4,125.

* Andre Dirrell at 165. His fight against Clarence Joseph was a clear mismatch, Dirrell winning, 30-9.

* Andre Ward at 178. Ward sailed to victory over Marcus Johnson, but did so in a match with fewer punches landed on both sides, Ward winning, 16-11.

* Devin Vargas at heavyweight. Vargas defeated Chazz Witherspoon, 29-22, but it was a less-than-impressive performance, with Vargas losing stamina as the rounds progressed.

* Mickey Bey Jr. at 125. Bey was allowed to fight last because he is a local boxer. And he didn’t disappoint the crowd, putting on a solid performance to defeat Brandon Rios, 23-13.

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After the box-off, there was still the matter of the 152-pound division, in which most of the fighting has been done by administrators and lawyers.

After an arbiter ruled around midnight Thursday that the removals in Tunica of Juan McPherson (medical grounds) and Andre Berto (flagrant foul) were justified, the four remaining 152-pounders were finally allowed back into the ring Friday night to finish the trials.

Vanes Matirosyan of Glendale defeated Cory Jones, 18-4, to move into the winners’ bracket, and Austin Trout beat Edward Joseph, 27-8, in the losers’ bracket. Trout and Jones will meet today at the Convocation Center with the winner facing Matirosyan in a box-off Sunday.