This afternoon in Beijing was 12:30 a.m. today in Hanford, too late to get results in this morning's Bee but certainly not too late to keep track of hometown hero Shawn Estrada.
Alas, the Hanford West High product, who moved to Los Angeles during high school to work on his Olympic dream, lost an 11-5 decision to veteran James Degale of Great Britain in the middleweight class.
After a scoreless first round, Degale slowly began pulling away from Estrada.
Afterward, Estrada talked to the Los Angeles Times:
"I was not even supposed to be here. I'm happy that I'm Mexican American representing my country at this weight. There's never been a Mexican American this big to represent the U.S. I'm making history.
"And everybody's seen that I'm a great fighter, I'm a good boxer. And I made a mark today, showed the world what I can do. The Olympics are over. It's been a long 11 months away from home. We sacrificed. It's been a lot. And I'm happy with my performance.
"I can leave here today and say I'm an Olympian."
Estrada's Olympics started last weekend with a first-round victory that he dedicated to his father.
The U.S. men beat Croatia 7-5. Rick Merlo (Buchanan High) played 9 1/2 minutes but did not take a shot.
Spoiler alert!
The men's 100-meter final is coming up at 7:30 a.m. our time.
American Tyson Gay didn't qualify.
Seriously, though, if you haven't seen Jamaican Usain Bolt run, you've got to do yourself a favor and tune in. NBC will show highlights tonight, when the world will be watching to see if Michael Phelps gets his eighth gold medal. Read Mitch Albom's column on Phelps' amazing seventh victory here.
