Gary Russell W Ali Hallab... Bantamweight Gary Russell, Jr. (Capitol Heights, Md.) officially earned a spot in the 2008 Olympics (to be held in Beijing). Russell racked up a 22-14 decision over fellow 2004 Olympian Ali Hallab of France. Russell led only 3-2 after the first round, but he steadily increased his lead over the last three periods. “After the second, he wanted to throw a lot of punches so he could get his points up and it made it a lot easier to get my shots off,” Russell said. He will face a Russian opponent next, but the pressure is now off Russell. “Everything else is fun (now that I’ve qualified). Before it was business, but now everything is fun.”  Hallab won a bronze at the 2005 worlds, losing out to legendary Guillermo Rigondeaux of Cuba.

Raynell Williams RSC3 Anat Hovhannisyan... Featherweight Raynell Williams (Cleveland) punched his ticket to Beijing by stopping Armenia’s Anat Hovhannisyan in the third round. Williams used his speed to get off quick straight punches and move out of range before his foe could answer. He extended his lead to a 16-2 margin after four minutes of boxing. Williams moved out to a 23-3 lead at the 1:25 mark of the third to earn a mandatory stoppage.