USA Boxing team captain Virginia Fuchs of Houston defeated Svetlana Soluianova of Russia by 3-2 split decision in the first round of the women’s boxing flyweight division at the Tokyo Olympics.
“I’m just proud of myself and I’m glad the training I’ve done paid off,” Fuchs said.
Fuchs, a southpaw, nullified Soluianova’s significant height and reach advantage by applying frenetic pressure to out-hustle and out-muscle the former European champion throughout the bout. Jabbing to the face and body with equal consistency, Fuchs, 33, closed the distance before rattling off combinations often punctuated with a sneaky right hook to the head.
The taller, rangier Russian sporadically caught Fuchs with straight punches but Fuchs refused to let her gain the upperhand by returning fire and being the busier of the two. When up close and personal, the Louisiana State University graduate and six-time national champion bullied Soluianova with short punches upstairs and down.
“She’s tall and lanky so I didn’t want her to be able to use her reach,” Fuchs said. “I needed to close that gap and be aggressive and push her back. I needed to keep to my right because when I go to my right, her left, she gets kind of frustrated.”
The two boxers found themselves tangled up in each other’s arms after many exchanges as is often the case when a southpaw faces a right-hander. Soluianova found herself on the canvass on several occasions after grappling and wrestling with the stockier, more aggressive Fuchs in the clinches.
“I knew she didn’t have the kind of engine like I did so I needed to be on top of her every second,” Fuchs said. “As you can see in the third round she was getting dead tired and grabbing me and pulling me to the ground.”
Fuchs advances on to the round of 16 on July 29 to face Stoyka Krasteva of Bulgaria who defeated Thi Tam Nguyen of Vietnam, also by 3-2 split decision, in the round of 32. Fuchs lost to Krasteva in the semifinals of the Strandja Tournament in Bulgaria earlier this year but felt it was a hometown decision.
“I lost a split decision that I felt that I won and my coaches thought I won, but again we were in her home country,” Fuchs said. “I have fought her before so I know how to beat her, It’s kind of similar to the game plan against the Russian but it’s a little different because she’s not as lanky and tall.”
“This is the Olympics so everybody who’s the best in the world is here so I’m just looking at it one fight at a time,” Fuchs said. “I’m looking at all my opponents and seeing what I need to do to not play their game and have them play my game so I can defeat them.”