Dublin middleweight Darren Sutherland is now just one win away from an Olympic boxing medal after a thrilling fourth-round stoppage win over game Algerian Nabil Kassel on Saturday.
Sutherland started slowly and was forced to recover from an early 4-1 deficit but began to dominate in the third when a big right hand forced his opponent to take a standing count.
Starting the fourth round one point ahead, Sutherland briefly saw his lead wiped out but responded by pouring forward, re-establishing his advantage and decking Kassel with another big right.
The groggy Algerian gamely got to his feet but the fight was as good as over and when another right hand forced Kassel to take a third standing count with seconds remaining, the referee intervened.
Afterwards Sutherland, who had a bye in the first round, revealed his long wait in the Olympic Village had helped him get over the star-struck early days and get down to business.
Sutherland said: "It dragged and the aura of the Olympic Village died out. You had Tyson Gay or Rafael Nadal walking past you but you just thought, so what, I'm here to do a job.
"It was a tough and entertaining fight. I'm never in a dull fight. There was never a period where I was trying to protect my lead. I'm always going to fight right to the end."
source - - - ?????????????????????????????????????


LinkBack URL
About LinkBacks







Reply With Quote
