Golden gloves

Shepherd, Williams win boxing gold for U.S.

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Posted: Monday August 03, 1998 01:49 PM

Williams (above) defeated Edo Elder of Georgia 16-4 in the all-American finals AP

NEW YORK (AP) - Teaunce Shepherd and Ricardo Williams, Jr. won gold medals for the United States on Saturday night, the final night of boxing in the Goodwill Games.

Shepherd, a featherweight from Marquette, Michigan, gave the United States its first gold medal of the night, defeating Russia's Andrei Kozlovsky 9-6 at the Theater at Madison Square Garden.

"I can't explain how it felt," Shepherd said. "It was great. It was all worth it. Even in your imagination you don't know what it's going to be like when they play that anthem and everyone is responding to you as the champion."

Williams, a 17-year-old from Cincinnati, routed Ebo Elder of Newman, Georgia, 16-4 in an all-American light welterweight bout.

"I thought I would just use my speed, because he's a real strong guy and I knew he would try to overpower me," Williams said.

Williams also beat Elder en route to the U.S. Championships and U.S. Challenge titles.

"His style is never to be predictable," Elder said. "He makes things different every time he fights, but I have gotten used to his style."

American fighters had dropped four consecutive Goodwill finals, including three Friday night.

Roberto Benitez, from New York, lost an exciting 18-14 decision to Kazakstan's Yersin Jailauov in the flyweight final.

The fighters were tied twice in the last two minutes, but Jailauov scored enough easy points to grab the victory.

"The early rounds hurt me," said Benitez, who trailed 8-2 going into the third. "I should have picked it up a little faster in the first round."

Three-time world champion Juan Hernandez of Cuba won the light middleweight title with an easy 16-5 victory over Gaidarbek Gaidarbekov of Russia in the card's first bout.

Cuba - which won four golds in five fights Friday night - earned its second gold of the night when Isael Alvarez beat Olanda Anderson of Fort Carson, Colo., 12-6 in the light heavyweight bout.

Another Cuban, Alexis Rubalcaba, dropped a 9-3 decision to Italian super heavyweight Paolo Vidoz in the final fight of the night.

The United States team earned 17 medals in the tournament, nine of which were bronze.

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