Byrd, who is boxing in his second straight Cadet World Championships, has recorded two stoppage victories on his way to the semifinal round. He opened the tournament with a second round referee’s stoppage outscored win over Yavheni Barkovski of Belarus. Byrd punched his ticket to the medal round with a second round stoppage outscored over Jamie Hardling of Australia. The16-year-old two-time Junior Olympic champion will face Vikas Yadav of India in the semifinal round on Friday.

Gomez has earned two victories in Azerbaijan as well, beginning his run with a second round stoppage of his own over Korea’s Kim Taek, and was the final U.S. boxer to win a spot in the semifinal round. He advanced with a 16-5 win over Uzbekistan’s Durgarao Vankala. Gomez will battle Fazliddin Gaibnazarov of Uzbekistan for a berth in the final round.

Aupiu took the ring for the first time on Tuesday and advanced to Friday’s action with a 20-13 win over Rashad Muslumov of Azerbaijan. Aupiu will take on Kureysh Sagov of Russia in Friday’s semifinal round action.

Pinweight Luis Cortes (Henderson, Nev.) recorded an opening bout win before being eliminated by England’s Martin Ward in quarterfinal action. Light middleweight Eduardo Alicea (Cleveland, Ohio) enjoyed a first round victory as well, but dropped his quarterfinal contest by a 23-16 margin to Yelan Seydaliyev of Kazakhstan. Flyweight Johnny Determan (Omaha, Neb.); light bantamweight Eduardo Villa (Modesto, Calif.); featherweight Keenan Smith (Philadelphia, Pa.); light welterweight Zeddie Adams (Cleveland, Ohio); welterweight Wesley Padilla (Rock Springs, Wyo.); and Joey Montoya (Colorado Springs, Colo.) all lost their preliminary bouts.

Alvin Simpson (Charlotte, N.C.) and assistant coach Sankara Frazier (Minneapolis, Minn.) are working as the coaches for the event. Elmo Adolph (Destrehan, La.) is serving as team manager with Mike Rosario (New York, N.Y.) working as the AIBA official and Dr. Robin Goodfellow (Albion, Mich.) joining the delegation as the Team Physician.

Over 230 boxers, ages 15 and 16, from 39 countries are competing in the annual event. The U.S. team held their training camp in Houston in conjunction with the U.S. Olympic Team Trials for Boxing. In addition to watching the competition they hope to participate in prior to the 2012 Olympic Games, they enjoyed the opportunity to speak to and train with 1984 Olympic bronze medalist and four-time heavyweight champion Evander Holyfield.