Kazakhstan's Marina Volnova, left, fights United States' Claressa Shields during their middleweight 75-kg semifinal boxing match at the 2012 Summer Olympics, Wednesday, Aug. 8, 2012, in London.(AP Photo/Ivan Sekretarev) (AP2012)
U.S. middleweight Claressa Shields dominated Kazakhstan's Marina Volnova in the semifinals of the first Olympic women's boxing tournament Wednesday, earning a spot in the gold-medal bout against Russia's Nadezda Torlopova.
Irish world champion lightweight Katie Taylor also advanced with another strong performance, moving into the championship bout Thursday against Russia's Sofya Ochigava.
The 17-year-old Shields beat Volnova 29-15. She is the last American boxer left in London after flyweight Marlen Esparza lost 10-8 to Chinese world champion Ren Cancan an hour earlier.
Esparza will win a bronze medal, but Shields is the Americans' only shot at gold after all nine men were eliminated, leaving the men's team without an Olympic medal for the first time in its history.
Ren will fight Britain's Nicola Adams for the flyweight title.
Receive your weekly recap of all the happenings around the world of sports.