SYDNEY, Australia (AP) — U.S. middleweight Jeff Lacy powered into the Olympic boxing quarterfinals, but two other American boxers lost — one to a Frenchman and the other to the scales.
Lacy, of St. Petersburg, Fla., knocked down and outpointed Pawel Kakietek of Poland 21-7 at 165 pounds Friday afternoon (Thursday EDT).
But world 106-pound champion Brian Viloria of Waipahu, Hawaii, was outpointed 6-4 by Brahim Aslouf of France, and David Jackson of Seattle was eliminated when he weighed in 3 pounds over the lightweight limit of 132 pounds.
The 19-year-old Viloria's loss was tough for the U.S. team, which was left with three boxers in the quarterfinals and six others still in the competition, two who were yet to compete. Only one of 12 Cuban boxers has been eliminated. Five Cubans are in the quarterfinals.
"Hopefully I can get back on my feet," Viloria said. "I'll probably turn pro now."
The difference in the outcome was three scoring right uppercuts by Aslouf, who nearly defeated Viloria in the world championships quarterfinals last year. Viloria landed at least a dozen solid body shots.
"I don't think I got enough credit for the body shots," Viloria said. He didn't get any — not a single point.
"Body shots have been counting," said Tom Mustin, head coach of the U.S. team. "I thought he threw some great body shots, but for some reason they didn't count."
The two boxers demonstrated sound defense, blocking most of the numerous blows they threw at one another.
Before his fight, the 23-year-old Lacy got a visit from four-time heavyweight champion Evander Holyfield.
"I let him know the way to win is to outwork the guy," said Holyfield, a four-time heavyweight champion, who was a bronze medalist at the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles. "You should never take for granted being ahead."
Lacy went ahead to stay with a barrage of five scoring punches that broke a 2-2 tie late in the first round.
"It's going to be very hard to beat a Jeff Lacy," said Lacy, who will box Gaidarbek Gaidarbekov of Russia on Tuesday (Monday EDT).
Jackson was to have boxed Selim Palyani of Turkey.
"We were really hoping that he would be able to maintain his weight throughout the tournament and obviously we are really disappointed," Mustin said.
Jackson, the U.S. champion at 132 pounds in 1997, didn't box in 1998-99, and he weighed 174 pounds as late as last October. He was down to 139 when he got a silver medal at the U.S. championships in January.
The 139-pound U.S. boxer is Ricardo Williams Jr. of Cincinnati.
World 132-pound champion Mario Kindelan of Cuba outpointed Phongsit Wiangviset of Thailand 14-8 and advanced to the quarterfinals. His teammate Mairko Romero, the 1996 Olympic champion at 112 pounds, advanced to the 106-pound quarterfinals.
Also winning for Cuba was Jorge Gutierrez, who beat Antonnios Giannoulas of Greece at 165 pounds.
In one of the best action fights of the tournament, 30-year-old Rafael Lozano of Spain, boxing in his third Olympics, beat Danilo Lerio of the Philippines 17-15 in a second-round bout at 106 pounds in the afternoon.
Lozano won a controversial decision over world champion Eric Griffin of Houston at the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona. He won a bronze medal in 1996.