Fourth and fifth Americans qualify for London Olympics

Light heavyweight Marcus Browne and light welterweight Jamel Herring on Tuesday became the fourth and fifth Americans to qualify for the London Olympics at the Americas Qualifier tournament in Rio De Janeiro.

Browne, from Staten Island, N.Y., became the first American to qualify in Rio when he outpointed Felix Valera of the Dominican Republic 12-6. Herring, a Marine Corps sergeant from Coram, N.Y., defeated Yoekvis Hernandez of Venezuela in a back-and-forth battle 12-10

Browne (pictured at right) and Herring join flyweight Rau’shee Warren (Cincinnati, Ohio), bantamweight Joseph Diaz, Jr. (S. El Monte, Calif.) and welterweight Errol Spence (Desoto, Texas) on the U.S. team. Warren, Diaz and Spence had qualified earlier.

“Well it’s been a long road, but I finally got to where I wanted to with sacrifice and hard work,” Browne said. “I just want to thank all of the people who stood behind me through thick and thin. I can’t wait to get home and get focused on winning the gold in London.”

Herring felt the same way.

“I can actually say that hard work pays off,” he said. “I turned a dream into a reality, especially since about a year ago not too many people gave me a chance.”

Heavyweight Michael Hunter of Las Vegas also moved a step closer to a berth in the Games with a 25-7 victory over Marcio Figueroa of Venezuela to advance to the semifinal round. He must finish in the top three to qualify.

Lightweight Jose Ramirez (Avenal, Calif.) and middleweight Terrell Gausha (Cleveland, Ohio) can qualify for the Games with victories on Wednesday. Ramirez faces Alejandro Rynn of Canada while Gausha fights Enrique Collazo of Puerto Rico.

Super heavyweight Dominic Breazale (Alhambra, Calif.) also fighst Wednesday, facing Gidelson Silva of Brazil. Breazale, like Hunter, must place in the top three to reach the Olympics.