Delante 'Tiger' Johnson Continues Cleveland Connection For Team USA Boxing

Cleveland's own Delante "Tiger" Johnson represented Team USA Boxing at the Tokyo Olympics Saturday, where the welterweight closed out the opening day for the U.S. with a 3-2 decision victory of his own.

Johnson took 3 judges’ cards during the first round of his bout against 2018 Youth Olympic Champion Brian Agustin Arregui of Argentina, before taking a standing eight count after Arregui caught Johnson with a solid punch that dropped Johnson to the canvas in the second round.

"I made some mistakes but that's the past now," Johnson said of his overall performance. "It's just move on to the next fight now."

Johnson, who took home gold at the 2016 Youth World Championships and bronze at the 2019 Pan American Games, trains at the DNA Level C boxing club in Lee-Harvard, ClevelandScene.com reports.

Johnson is the fourth straight Cleveland boxer to represent Team USA in an Olympic Games and came back strong to take a 4-1 advantage in the final round to advance to Tuesday’s round of 16 matchup with Kazakhstan’s Ablaikhan Zhussupov, Team USA said in a news release.

ClevelandScene.com reports that if Johnson takes home the gold, he would be the first Cleveland boxer to do so since 1952, when flyweight Nate Brooks won the top medal in Finland.

Boxing at the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 officially kicked off Saturday at the Kokugikan Arena, with Team USA finishing 2-1 for the day. The next rounds will be held on July 27, July 29 and Aug. 1, with the welterweight final on Aug. 3.

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