Olympics 2016: Fight schedule and draw for U.S. boxing teams

RIO DE JANEIRO – Claressa Shields will have to wait for nearly two weeks before she begins her bid to win a second consecutive Olympic gold medal.

Shields, who won the middleweight title in London in the first time women were permitted to box in the Games, was seeded first in her class and given a first-round bye.

She’ll debut on Aug. 17 against the winner of the bout between Nien-Chin Chen of Tapei and Iaroslava Iakushina of Russia.

U.S. coach Billy Walsh said he was satisfied with the way Thursday’s draw came out.

“We’re very happy at this stage,” Walsh said. “We’ve been sitting on edge for the last week or so waiting for the draw. We’re happy to know where we’re at. We’re ready to roll. The team’s been ready for a while. They’re all excited to get into the Olympic arena and produce some of the best performances.

“We’re going to take it one fight at a time, one round at a time, one minute at a time and we’ll work our way from there.”

Bantamweight Shakur Stevenson, who was seeded fourth, also received a first-round bye. Stevenson’s first bout will be Aug. 14 against the winner of a bout between Robenilson de Jesus of Brazil and Fahem Hammachi of Algeria.

Lightweight Carlos Balderas will be the first American to compete, when he faces Berik Abdrakhmanov in Saturday’s morning session. In the evening session, light flyweight Nico Hernandez will take on Manuel Cappai of Italy.

Middleweight Charles Conwell will open his medal quest in Monday’s evening session when he takes on India’s Vikas Krishan.

On Wednesday, Gary Antuanne Russell will meet Richardson Hitchins of Haiti.

Women’s lightweight medal hopeful Mikaela Mayer makes her Olympic debut on Aug. 12 when she squares off with Jennifer Chieng of Micronesia.

And Antonio Vargas, the 2015 PanAm Games champ, will have to face a hostile hometown crowd when he squares off with Juliao Neto of Brazil on Aug. 13.

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