Friday, october 27nd, 2023.- Brazil emerged as the dominant force in boxing at the Santiago 2023 Pan American Games. On Friday, the finals took place at the Centro de Entrenamiento Olímpico at Ñuñoa, and Portuguese was the prominent language.

In the first bout of the afternoon, Brazilian Caroline Barbosa defeated the American Jennifer Lozano in the 50-kilogram category with a unanimous 5-0 decision.

The second match of the afternoon in the 51-kilogram male's category did not take place because the Brazilian representative, Michael da Silva, was absent due to injury. As a result, the gold went to the Dominican Yunior Alcántara.

Following that, another representative from the South American giant entered the ring. Jucielen Cerqueira won the gold in the 57-kilogram women's category by unanimous decision from the judges, while the Colombian Valeria Arboleda had to settle for silver.

Next up were the men in the 63.5-kilogram category, where the Canadian Wyatt Sanford surprised the Mexican Miguel Ángel Martínez, winning on points by unanimous decision.

Brazil returned to the ring at the Centro de Entrenamiento Olímpico at Ñuñoa with Barbara Dos Santos, who defeated the American Morelle McCane by unanimous decision.

The last bout that took place in Ñuñoa was in the men's 80-kilogram category, where the Cuban Arlen López defeated the Brazilian Wanderley de Souza by a unanimous 5-0 decision.

The event was set to conclude with the male's +92-kilogram category, featuring the Brazilian Abner Teixeira against the American Joshua Edwards. However, the South American athlete sustained an injury, did not fight, and the first place went to North America.

Brazil dethroned Cuba as the powerhouse of Pan American boxing, placing nine boxers in the finals on this Friday and securing five gold medals.

Written by Carlos Silva Rojas - Camila Silva; translated by Rocio Rojas / Photosport
Photo by Andres Pina/Santiago 2023 / Photosport