Trinidad and Tobago boxer Angel George tasted defeat in her preliminary round bout at the 2023 Pan American Games in Santiago, Chile on Friday, losing to Panama's Atheyna Bylon in the women’s 75kg weight class.

Boxing out of the red corner at the Centro de Entrenamiento Olímpico, George trailed Bylon by a 10-9 margin on each of the judges' scorecards after the first round. However, Bylon turned up the heat in the second round as she forced George back onto the ropes with a series of jabs and punches to the body and head. Midway through the second round, Irish referee Brendad McGarrigle stopped the fight for safety reasons, much to George's disappointment. Bylon, a two-time Olympian, was adjudged the winner by RSC (referee stops contest).

Bylon will meet Ecuador's Ingrith Maldanado in the quarter-final.

On Thursday, TT's Nigel Paul lost to Colombia's Cristian Codazzi in his men's +92kg preliminary round of 16 bout. The judges scored the five rounds 29-28, 30-27, 30-27, 29-28, 30-27 in Codazzi's favour.

TT will be back in the ring on Saturday, as Al-Jaleel Johku will face Colombia's Yuberjen Martinez in a round of 16 bout in the men's 51kg weight class. Jokhu's fight will be at 11.15 am.

The boxing events at the Pan Am Games serve as qualifiers for next year's Olympic Games in Paris.

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