Zou,Nevin get big wins in Olympic boxing semis

Ukraine light welterweight Denys Berinchyk and Mongolia8217;s Munkh-Erdene Uranchimeg put on perhaps the best fight of the tournament,with the relentless Berinchyk rallying from a second-round deficit to score a jaw-dropping 17 points in the third round of a 29-21 victory. Berinchyk will face Cuba8217;s Roniel Iglesias in the final.

Berinchyk will be joined in the finals by heavyweight teammate Oleksandr Usyk,who trounced Bulgaria8217;s Tervel Pulev to earn a gold-medal bout. He8217;ll meet Italy8217;s Clemente Russo,who beat top-seeded Teymur Mammadov of Azerbaijan in yet another hold-filled bout for two fighters whose styles don8217;t please many fight crowds.

Ukraine8217;s powerful team placed a tournament-high five boxers in the semifinals,with lightweight champion Vasyl Lomachenko and the rest fighting Friday night. The Ukrainians are distinctive for more than their boxing acumen and those blue-and-yellow outfits: Both Berinchyk and Usyk cut their hair into a chub,a traditional Cossack haircut featuring a shaved head with one long,flowing lock on top.

Barnes hoped to bounce back from four years of embarrassment after Zou beat him 15-0 in the semifinals in Beijing,and the energetic Irish fighter nearly knocked off the champ. After three rounds of strong exchanges,the bout was scored level at 15-15,but Zou edged Barnes on the countback tiebreaker that tallies up a more complete total of punches landed.

I8217;m not going to cry about it,8221; said Barnes,a personable,popular fighter who spent much of time in the Olympic village trying to take photographs with famous athletes. He8217;s a world champion,and he got that for a reason.8221;

While this is Zou8217;s last Olympics,Barnes said he wouldn8217;t mind coming back in Rio,unless someone offers me a million pounds.8221;

Zou will meet Thailand8217;s Kaeo Pongprayoon in the final after his 13-12 win over Russia8217;s David Ayrapetyan.

Nevin had shockingly few problems getting rid of the top-seeded Alvarez,who beat talented U.S. bantamweight Joseph Diaz Jr. in one of the tournament8217;s better fights last week. Nevin even showboated a bit for the hundreds of fans who mobbed the square of his hometown to watch the fight on televisions,doing a little shuffle-step move dubbed the Mullingar Shuffle by his coaches.

I think he kind of gave up a little halfway into the last round when he couldn8217;t get to me,8221; Nevin said.

Campbell easily took care of Shimizu to set up a rubber match with Nevin. The pair split two recent fights,including a meeting at the world championships.

Campbell8217;s teammate,middleweight Anthony Ogogo,got knocked down and never got rolling in a 16-9 loss to Esquiva Falcao,who will fight Ryota Murata for Brazil8217;s first boxing gold medal. Falcao8217;s brother,Yamaguchi,also reached the light heavyweight semifinals.

Murata,who rallied in the third round to beat Uzbekistan8217;s Abbos Atoev 13-12,will attempt to win Japan8217;s second Olympic boxing gold medal 8211; the first since the 1964 Tokyo Games,when Takao Sakurai won at bantamweight.

Berinchyk and Uranchimeg combined for an all-out brawl,with Berinchyk relentlessly pushing forward while Uranchimeg picked him apart with hooks and counterpunches. Both fighters took numerous clean head shots,but Uranchimeg 8211; who upset Britain8217;s Tom Stalker two days ago 8211; got caught with a combination and a standing-eight count in the third round.

Berinchyk was relentless,recording another eight-count on the dazed Uranchimeg before finishing strong. The serious-faced Berinchyk then did a joyful dance in the ring after advancing to face Iglesias,whose win over Italy8217;s Vincenzo Mangiacapre wasn8217;t nearly as entertaining.

Usyk had the best showing of the four fighters left in the holding-dominated heavyweight division,where many fights have been booed by fans bored with constant clinches and wrestling. Mammadov and Russo both advanced to the semifinals after holding-plagued victories that drew protests from the losers,but Beijing silver medalist Russo was slightly better than the top-seeded Azeri.