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Light heavyweight Christopher Downs Drops Second Round Contest at the 2007 World Championships
By Julie Goldsticker // USA Boxing // October 29, 2007
(CHICAGO, ILL.) – Light heavyweight Christopher Downs (Fort Carson, Colo.) was the last boxer to step through the ropes at the UIC Pavilion on Sunday at the 2007 AIBA World Championships in Chicago. He took on Tony Jeffries of England in the second round contest, closing the evening session.
The first minute of the light heavyweight bout elapsed with neither boxer scoring a point, and the opening round ended with Jeffries holding a slim 2-1 advantage. Jeffries turned up the pressure in the second stanza, and moved out to an 8-4 advantage at the halfway point. He threw a flurry of punches early in the round, connecting with a few shots but couldn’t make a dent in his deficit. Once Downs was forced into the mode of the aggressor, Jeffries began to counter and build onto his lead. Jeffries held a 14-8 edge as the fourth round began and Downs stalked his opponent, looking to peck at the Jeffries lead, but he couldn’t overcome his deficit and dropped an 18-9 final decision.
“I’m still licking my wounds from the last bout. I’m not making any excuses for my performance tonight. I wanted to use my legs more and execute but he was just beating me to the punch today,” Down said. “In the second round, I was down by four and that made me open up more and more susceptible to make mistakes. I’ve been in that position before and pulled out a victory. I was just a little slower, he was just a little quicker today.”
Christopher Downs quotes
“He was basically a straight up, orthodox, right hand boxer. He wanted to counter a lot today and that was my game plan. One of us had to go forward, he got the early lead and forced me to go forward and try to be more aggressive and that cost me in the end.”
“The last couple days, I’ve been sore and battling a back injury but I felt at least 90% to get in the ring. I fell behind the first two rounds and I had to try to make up a lead every round and I just wasn’t able to do it.”
“I stepped into the ring to compete and he was just the better man tonight.”
“I was in great shape, my conditioning was there, he was just the better boxer tonight.”
“Of course you are always disappointed, the only thing you can do is go back, train harder and learn every time you step in the ring and do better next time.”
“Every bout you get internationally, win or lose is experience. No one likes to learn from a loss, you just have to do what you have to and keep moving forward.”
“I wish the team all the best. I’ll still get up in the morning and run, go to the gym and push the guys because I have to get ready for the next event whenever and wherever it may be. I’ll just pick up my pom poms and cheer as loud as I can for the rest of my teammates that are still in it.”
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