“Transformer” Troy Isley came out swinging in his Olympic boxing debut, scoring a unanimous decision in his middleweight preliminary bout against Vitali Bandarenka of Belarus on Monday.
Isley, 22, will now move onto the Round of 16, where he will clash with AIBA World Champion Gleb Bakshi, representing the Russian Olympic Committee, this Thursday afternoon at the Ryōgoku Kokugikan.
Isley makes history at the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games alongside Team USA’s Keyshawn Davis (lightweight) and Duke Ragan (featherweight) as the first pro boxers to represent the U.S. at the Olympics. All three men won their opening matches.
Also Monday: Nesthy Petecio of the Philippines upset top seed Liu Yu-Tin of Chinese Taipei.