Oscar De La Hoya won ugly against a mauler while Chris Byrd boxed beautifully against a slugger today as the two U.S. boxers fought their way into Olympic finals.
De La Hoya overcame a mauling, holding South Korean and a late penalty to earn the right to fight for a gold medal at 132 pounds. Byrd put on a masterful display of boxing skills to win a lopsided decision at 165 pounds.Teammate Timothy Austin fights Friday in a 112-pound semifinal as the three remaining American fighters try to salvage some gold out of the worst U.S. boxing performance since the 1956 Olympics.
A frustrated De La Hoya escaped with a 11-10 victory over Hong Sung Sik, despite a penalty with nine seconds left in the fight that pulled the Korean close.
"I didn't fight a boxer, I fought a wrestler," De La Hoya said after a fight that drew boos from the crowd because of the Korean's ring antics.
De La Hoya will fight for the gold medal Saturday against Germany's Marco Rudolph.
Byrd, meanwhile, set up a Saturday final against Cuba's Juan Hernandez with a 17-3 decision over Chris Johnson of Canada that wasn't even as close as the score indicated.
Byrd, son of U.S. coach Joe Byrd, landed two-, three- and four-punch combinations almost at will against Johnson, who had stopped his previous two opponents.
Byrd alternated between fighting in the center of the ring and counterpunching off the ropes and did both with equal effectiveness.
"I was cruising," said Byrd, of Flint, Mich. "He couldn't hit me and I could tell he was getting frustrated."
De La Hoya won for the fourth time in the Olympics, but it wasn't easy.
Hong, a southpaw, set the pace of the fight right after the opening bell, grabbing De La Hoya and holding him every time he tried to throw a punch.
The East Los Angeles lightweight trailed 4-2 after one round but pulled ahead 8-4 after two when Hong was penalized three points after repeatedly shoving De La Hoya's head down.
The Korean continued to hold and maul in the third round, but De La Hoya was leading easily until with nine seconds left the Yugoslavian referee assessed the American a three-point penalty of his own for ducking his head.
Only three of the 12 U.S. Olympic boxers made it to the semifinals, making it the worst showing for the American team since it won two golds and a silver in the 1956 Olympics.