美国队的尼基塔·阿比比 (Nikita Ababiy) 在主赛前与爱尔兰队的杰拉德·弗伦奇 (Gerard French) 进行了一场艰苦的比赛，取得了一场艰苦的胜利. 第一回合阿比比刺拳出色. 美国人以非常非传统的拳击姿势进入战斗，一只手放低, but his posture seemed to be effective in luring his opponent into punching range. Ababiy landed some booming hooks and a nice left uppercut that backed up French. 与此同时, French concentrated on trying to land counters. He had a lower work rate but also didn’t take too much punishment.
French spent the second round trying to exchange in close quarters. He landed more shots later in the round, including some heated right hooks in the final moments. Ababiy connected with some thumping shots in the round and showcased some nice defense as well. He mixed up his shots to the body and head, throwing and covering up to wait for the next opening. Ababiy landed a nice left hook to the head followed up with a picture perfect right uppercut in the final minute. 他以出色的成绩结束了本轮比赛，赢得了他的第一场胜利.
“We learned from this tour that we’re right up there with the best teams in the world,” Team USA head coach Billy Walsh said. “Team Ireland is a very good, young team. We’re going to have a good team to send to Tokyo (2020 奥运会). I’m proud of my team. They all worked very hard. We didn’t have some of our best boxers because some were competing in an International tournament We do have a good crop of 18-19-20 year-olds who will make up our 2020 Olympic team.”
Team Ireland also brought their own production crew to film all the action for those who couldn’t be there:
“我们从这次巡演中了解到，我们与世界上最好的团队并驾齐驱,” 美国队主教练 比利·沃尔什 说. “爱尔兰队非常优秀, young team. We’re going to have a good team to send to Tokyo (2020 奥运会). I’m proud of my team. They all worked very hard. We didn’t have some of our best boxers because some were competing in an International tournament We do have a good crop of 18-19-20 year-olds who will make up our 2020 奥运队。”
