U.S. boxer Richard Torrez Jr. must avenge brutal 2019 knockout that's gone viral on YouTube

TOKYO — To win a gold medal at Tokyo Games, U.S. boxer Richard Torrez Jr. will have to avenge a brutal knockout that has been viewed on YouTube nearly a million times.

At the 2019 AIBA World Championship in Russia, Bakhodir Jalolov of Uzbekistan knocked out Torrez with a punch that left Torrez unconscious and on his back for almost a minute and a half before he was removed from the ring.

Soon after, video of Jalolov rendering Torrez unconscious was racking pageviews on YouTube.

“The whole world saw it and he felt very embarrassed about it,’’ said Billy Walsh, head coach of USA Boxing.

On Sunday, Torrez, a native of Tulare, California, will face Jalolov again, this time in the super heavyweight final.

Torrez was unavailable for interviews. But his father, Richard Torrez Sr., said of the rematch, “You’ve got to slay your dragons.’’

Jalolov is 6 foot 8, six inches taller than Torrez, who is undersized for the super heavyweight division. The Uzbekistan boxer loomed over the American before delivering the knockout blow with a straight left hand.

“It’s been great motivation,’’ Walsh said. “When that happened in Russia two years ago, I said to (Torrez), ‘This moment will not define you. What will define you is how you come back from this.’ ”

Torrez, 22, entered the super heavyweight division here as the No. 3 seed. In his opening bout, he dominated Algeria's Chaouib Bouloudinats. He rallied past Cuba’s Dainier Pero in the quarterfinals before putting together his most impressive performance.

In the semifinals, he knocked Kazakhstan's Kamshybek Kunkabayev at the end of the second round and won by TKO after Torrez bloodied Kunkabayev and the referee stopped the fight.

But Jalolov, the No. 1 seed, has been just as impressive. In the semifinals, he beat Frazer Clarke of Great Britain by TKO after opening up a cut over Clarke’s right eye that prompted the referee to stop the fight in the third round.

“This guy is awesome,’’ Walsh said of Jalolov. “He’s massive.’’

But U.S. coach also said this: “We’re going to give this guy hell on earth on Sunday.’’

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Olympics: Richard Torrez Jr. faces opponent who knocked him out in 2019