Team USA’s Troy Isley (Alexandria, Va.) picked up an impressive victory over a veteran opponent to move the American team to 5-1 at the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020.
Isley, the third professional boxer to represent
USA Boxing in these Olympics, grabbed all five judges’ cards, 30-27, in route to defeat the 19th ranked boxer, Vitali Bandarenka of Belarus. The middleweight started out strong from the beginning, setting the pace for the bout. Isely worked his opponents’ body in the second round, before slowing the pace down in the final round, which led to Bandarenka trying to make up lost ground, however, Isley used his defensive skills to cause Bandarenka to miss numerous punches.The victory sets up a difficult round of 16 bout with ROC’s Gleb Bakshi, the 2019 World Champion and second seed of these Games on Thursday evening.
Tomorrow will see Delante Johnson (Cleveland, Ohio) take to the ring for his second bout in Tokyo, while Oshae Jones (Toledo, Ohio) will make her Olympic debut, both in the evening session beginning at 4:00 a.m. EST. Click here to follow the action.
Day 3 Results
75 kg: Troy Isley, Alexandria, Va./USA, dec. over Vitali Bandarenka/BLR, 5-0
Troy Isley Quotes
On his performance:
"I feel good. I feel like I got lazy at some point. But for the most part, I’m getting back, getting used to the pace. I definitely feel good about it, the first fight."
On his opponent:
"I thought he was a tough guy. He didn’t let me just come and knock him off."
"He’s 35 years old, he’s been through a lot. He came to fight, I respect it."
On his transition from professional boxing back to amateur style:
"It’s good I’ve done it (pro boxing) before, it helped out. It was not like I’ve never fought on the stage before. So, that helped a little bit. But at the same time, I was used to fighting at a slower pace as a pro. It’s a bit different."
"At first I was nervous about, am I going to get used to the pace? Am I going to come out slower? If I’m going to be the same Troy that I was two years ago. That was in my head. But now that I’ve gotten through the first fight, I feel good about it."
"My coaches help me with it every day. I have to get back to how I used to be. So thanks for these guys every day telling me what keeps me on track of it."
On representing Alexandria, Va. and Team USA:
"No one from my city had ever done it before. For me to be the first to do it, that just makes it even better."
"The city is behind me, they let me know every day. They support me, and I’m happy to represent them. I'm happy to represent the United States."
"It means a lot to fight for America. This is the goal I have wanted since I was eight years old. So for it to come true, and then two years ago I did not think I was going to make it, so that makes it even
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