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CHICAGO -- Rau'shee Warren overcame a sore shoulder and bloody nose to earn another trip to the Olympics.
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Warren beat Violito Payla of the Philippines 25-11 on Wednesday to make the quarterfinals of the World Boxing Championships, earning him a spot in Beijing next year in the flyweight division.
"Beijing here I come, that's all I can say," Warren said. When he competes in the 2008 games, he will become the first American boxer since Davey Lee Armstrong in 1976 to participate in two Olympics.
Warren was just 17 and the youngest member of the 2004 U.S. Olympic boxing team when he traveled to Athens in 2004 and lost in his first match.
Eschewing a professional career, Warren now has a chance to get what he says he's always wanted.
"For me to come back to the Olympics and get a gold medal. Like in 2004 that's what I wanted and now I'm back to get it," he said.
"You do all the talking to the promoters and managers and it's all good. But it's not good enough if you don't have the gold medal."
Two other Americans won a berth in the Olympics on Wednesday: light flyweight Luis Yanez, who overwhelmed Stephen Sutherland of Australia with the referee stopping the fight in the second round; and welterweight Demetrius Andrade, who pounded out a 26-6 decision over Magomed Nurudinov of Belarus.
Another winner in the round of 16 was U.S. super heavyweight Michael Hunter, who won a close 19-13 decision over Jasem Delavari of Iran. Hunter, whose father was a professional boxer, still needs one more win to quality for Beijing. And to get it he'll have to beat imposing Russian Islam Timurziev, who had an easy night Wednesday when Azar Mammadov's corner threw in the towel in the first round.
"I'm not even worried about it," Hunter said. "He's just another person. He bleeds just like us."
The top eight finishers in the light flyweight to light heavyweight divisions and the top four from the heavyweight and super heavyweight classes qualify for the Olympics
Wearing an American flag draped over his shoulders as he came into the ring, Warren came out quickly, scoring four points in the first 30 seconds and going up 9-1 after one round. But somewhere during those opening two minutes he hurt his right shoulder
"I didn't even tell the coaches, I didn't want them to panic," Warren said. "I just kept moving and staying on my toes and scoring points. ... My right shoulder was just hurting. I don't know. I guess the hook I was throwing was strong. ... I hope it's just a short pain for today and I can fight until the medal round."
