Local KS 20yr old Light FLYweight Will Take A Bronze Medal, 'I Came To Get Gold' ...

Nico Hernandez locks up at least bronze medal, 'I came to get gold'

Dan RafaelESPN Senior Writer 7:40 PM CT

Nico Hernandez locks up at least bronze medal, 'came to get gold'
American light flyweight Nico Hernandez, a 20-year-old from Wichita, Kansas, clinched at least a bronze medal Wednesday with his unanimous three-round decision victory against Ecuador's Carlos Eduardo Quipo Palaxti in the quarterfinals at the Rio de Janeiro Olympics.
Hernandez is the first American male boxer to claim an Olympic medal since heavyweight Deontay Wilder received a bronze at the 2008 Games in Beijing.
The 2012 men's boxing team did not win a single medal for the first time in history, a shock, considering Team USA had won a total of 110 medals, the most of any nation, including 49 golds.
"It feels good knowing we didn't medal at the last Olympics," Hernandez said. "That gave me and my team a lot of motivation. We've all been together since we were younger on the junior team and the U.S. team, so at practice we push each other. It means a lot to me coming here and getting the job done. "I know [a U.S. medal] is real important for my coaches and USA Boxing and also for me and my family back at home. I'm just real glad because I worked a long time for this."



With his unanimous decision victory against Ecuador's Carlos Eduardo Quipo Palaxti on Wednesday, Nico Hernandez became the first American male boxer to claim an Olympic medal since heavyweight Deontay Wilder received a bronze at the 2008 Games in Beijing. Hernandez will face Hasanboy Dusmatov of Uzbekistan in the semifinals Friday with a chance to claim at least a silver medal. There are two bronze medals awarded in boxing, so he and Dusmatov are both guaranteed a medal.
Hernandez is the first American light flyweight to win a medal since Michael Carbajal, who went on to have a Hall of Fame professional career, claimed silver in the 1988 Olympics in Seoul.

Hernandez, who is 3-0 so far in Rio, advanced to the quarterfinals Monday with an upset over Russia's Vasilii Egorov, the No. 2 seed in the weight class.
On Wednesday, Hernandez, with father Lewis and mother Chello in attendance, edged the first round and then looked very strong in the second round. The third round was another close one, but he won it on all three scorecards to get the 29-28 decision from the judges.

"[The fight] was a little difficult, but I know as I go along the fights will get harder," Hernandez said. "As long as I listen to my coaches and do what they say, I know they won't lead me in the wrong direction. [Going into the third round] they told me it was close. They told me the first round was close. I knew I took the second round. So they told me I needed that third round to win, so I went out there and executed the plan and got the win.

"They told me not to rush him, use the feints and let him come in, pick my uppercuts and stay on the outside. That's what I did and it worked."
While Hernandez was happy to win a medal, he said he wants more than a bronze.
"I'm definitely excited about getting to this level and where I'm at, but I'm not satisfied with a bronze medal," he said. "I came here to get gold so that's what I am going to continue to work towards. I don't want to lose in front of my parents. I'll be satisfied once I get the gold."
http://www.espn.com/boxing/story/_/id/17268257/2016-rio-olympics-american-light-flyweight-nico-hernandez-clinches-medal-unanimous-decision