Olympic Boxing News & Updates
Friday, 24 June 2011 00:31 | 
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The 39th European Men's Elite Championships and USA Boxing National Championships |
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39th European Men's Elite Championships By AIBA Forty quarter-final bouts were held in two sessions at the 39th European Men's Elite Championships in Ankara on Tuesday 21st June, with the winners guaranteed a medal. The Italian boxers were excellent during the day, with the country's boxers securing four medals. In the light flyweight class Turkey's favourite Ferhat Pehlivan and Russia's 22-year-old Belik Galanov may well be the best boxers in the event but they had to fight each other in the quarter-final and it was the Russian who won the contest and advanced to the semi-final, where two teenagers, England's Charlie Edwards and Azerbaijan's AIBA Youth World Champion Salman Alizada will also be competing. Italy's first great victory was notched up by Olympic Games bronze medalist Vincenzo Picardi, who eliminated Ireland's new surprise Michael Conlon in their hectic quarter-final battle. In addition to Picardi, three-times European Champion Georgiy Balakshin of Russia, Alexandru Riscan of Moldova and two-time European Championships bronze medalist Andrew Selby of Wales advanced to the semi-finals. England's former European Champion Luke Campbell was the main favorite of the bantamweight division but surprisingly he was defeated by Turkey's Beijing Olympian Furkan Memis Ulas. In the same weight class Russia's strong National Champion Dmitriy Polyanskiy and Ireland's AIBA World Championships bronze medalist John Joe Nevin put on one of the best fights of the day but unfortunately only the winner could advance to the semi-final. Polyanskiy was the lucky one and won the contest by a close 13:12. In the lightweight division Armenia's former AIBA Cadet World Champion 22-year-old Vladimir Saruhanyan, who fought for Russia until 2009, beat England's Martin Ward by 22:15 and advanced to the semi-final, where he can expect strong opponents because defending AIBA World Champion Domenico Valentino from Italy, Turkey's Fatih Keles and Ukraine's Volodimir Matviychuk are all still in the competition. Hungary's Gyula Kate has won at least a bronze medal at every European Championships since 2004 but this year was unexpectedly eliminated by Italy's Vincenzo Mangiacapre in the light welterweight class. Ireland's former AIBA Youth World Champion Ray Moylette had a close but victorious contest against Russia's Maksim Ignatyev, while Azerbaijan's Haybatulla Hajialiyev and top favorite Thomas Stalker from England also joined Mangiacapre and Moylette. Welshman, Strandja Memorial Tournament winner and Commonwealth Champion Fred Evans eliminated Russia's favorite Islam Edisultanov by 16:14 and secured at least a bronze medal in Ankara. In addition to Evans, former European Champion Magomed Nurudinov of Belarus, French surprise Adriani Vastine and Georgia's Zaal Kvachatadze are still in the welterweight competition. Ukraine's 22-year-old Dmitro Mitrofanov shocked the Irish ringside when he defeated their team captain and European Championships silver medalist Darren O'Neill in the middleweight quarter-final. Turkey's AIBA World Championships bronze medalist Adem Kilicci was too strong for Azerbaijan's Rahib Baylarov in the same weight division, while Russia's Maksim Koptyakov and Georgia's Jaba Khositashvili also advanced to the semi-final. Croatia's WSB boxer Hrvoje Sep caused a big surprise when he eliminated France's AIBA World Championships bronze medalist Abdelkader Bouhenia by 21:15 in the light welterweight division. AIBA Youth World Champion Joe Ward of Ireland, Russian National Champion Nikita Ivanov and Hungary's EU Champion Imre Szello are also still in the competition in this division. In Artur Beterbiyev's, Clemente Russo's and Oleksandr Usyk's absence Bulgaria's Tervel Pulev is the main favorite at heavyweight. Veteran Pulev had a hectic contest against Ukraine's former European Champion Denis Poyatsika, which finished with one point difference in favor of the Bulgarian fighter. Turkey's Bahram Muzaffer defeated Slovakia's Sandro Dirnfeld while Germany's only medalist, newcomer Johann Witt, triumphed over Belarus' Sergey Korneyev and will be fighting against Azerbaijan's 18-year-old Teymur Mammadov for a place in the final. Italy's fourth guaranteed medal was secured by Olympic Games winner Roberto Cammarelle who defeated Hungary's former wrestler Istvan Bernath by a large margin of points in the super heavyweight class, where Georgia's Mihail Bakhtidze, Russia's Magomed Omarov and Romania's World Combat Games silver medalist Mihai Nistor also guaranteed themselves a medal. |
USA Boxing National Championships Second Day (Colorado Springs, Colo.) – Fifty-seven boxers recorded second round victories on Tuesday night to advance on to the critical quarterfinal round. All of the winners in the 13 Olympic weight classes in Wednesday’s competition will earn berths into the U.S. Olympic Team Trials. The men’s flyweight division made its event debut in the opening bouts on Tuesday night with six second round contests. With two-time Olympian Rau’shee Warren (Cincinnati, Ohio) watching from the sidelines as he prepares for the upcoming Olympic Trials, several top flyweights battled it out. Warren’s runner-up at the 2010 National PAL Championships, Adam Lopez (San Antonio, Texas) won his first bout on retirement, defeating Eduardo Vasquez (Sheridan, Colo.) in their showdown. He will take on 2010 USA Boxing National Championships bronze medalist John Franklin (Fort Carson, Colo.) in the quarterfinals on Wednesday.
As a professional online poker All of the top female flyweights took to the ring with multiple close bouts being contested simultaneously. Five-time national champion Marlen Esparza (Houston, Texas) faced off with 2010 USA Boxing National Championships bronze medalist Alex Love (Monroe, Wash.) in her first contested bout of the tournament. Love kept the bout close through the first two rounds, but Esparza extended her lead to a comfortable margin late and won a 13-7 final decision. She will take on former bantamweight national champion Cynthia Moreno (Guadalupe, Ariz.) on Wednesday for a spot in the first-ever U.S. Olympic Team Trials for Women’s Boxing. Defending male lightweight champion Jose Ramirez (Avenal, Calif.) put an early end to his contest with former national champion Kevin Rivers (Landover, Md.). Ramirez won a third round stoppage over Rivers in the second round bout to move one step closer to defending his crown. Ramirez will face Adam Castillo (Lubbock, Texas) on Wednesday night. Two-time national champion Errol Spence (Desoto, Texas) enjoyed a successful event debut on Tuesday night. His 10-3 win over Darwin Price, Jr. (Grambling, La.) advances Spence on to the quarterfinal round where he will take on Boston Salmon (Waianae, Hawaii). The light heavyweight division showcased several intense showdowns. The United States Army split two razor close bouts in back-to-back bouts. Former National Golden Gloves champion Derae Crane (Fort Carson, Colo.) faced 2009 National Champion Robert Brant (Oakdale, Minn.) and the contest could not have been closer. The score was deadlocked at 12-12 at the end of three rounds and the total punch count was tied at 60 as well. Crane pulled out the victory on his 3-2 judges’ poll edge. His World Class Athlete Program teammate was on the opposite end of a close decision, losing a 14-13 bout to Sijuloa Shabazz (Las Cruces, N.M.). Crane and Shabazz will battle on Thursday for a berth in the U.S. Olympic Team Trials as well as the semifinal round in the USA Boxing National Championships. As usual, the super heavyweight division closed the long night of action on Tuesday. Two-time national champion Lenroy Thompson (Uniondale, N.Y.) and 2010 USA Boxing National Championships silver medalist Javier Torres (Pico Rivera, Calif.) battled in one of the final bouts of evening. Torres wasn’t able to pull the upset and Thompson won a decision to move on to a quarterfinal bout with Laronn Mitchell (San Francisco, Calif.). All of the quarterfinal bouts will be contested on Wednesday in two sessions at noon and 6 p.m., with the victors moving on to the semifinals and those in Olympic weight classes earning berths in the U.S. Olympic Team Trials.
As a professional online poker USA Boxing National Championships will run through Saturday with final round action taking place at the historic City Auditorium. Less than 200 tickets remain for championship night and the tickets, which are $20, are available at www.ticketswest.com. |
Last Updated (Friday, 24 June 2011 01:21)
