Olympic boxing's governing body hopes more women will box at the Games in four years time and will press the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to increase its quota of competitors to help achieve that goal, its top official said on Saturday.
Women's boxing, rejected in the past because of a limited global appeal that saw them only sanctioned to box in Britain 15 years ago, will make its Olympic debut in London with three gold medals at stake.
Its debut brings to an end the last all-male sport at the summer games.
The International Boxing Association (AIBA) had to squeeze the men into 10 weight categories from the 11 fought in Beijing to make the change and its president said on Saturday it could seek to increase its quota of competitors from 286 at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympic Games to allow more women to take part.
Read More: Olympics-Boxing-AIBA chief sees more women fighting in 2016 | Reuters
Americans Joseph Diaz Jr. and Terrell Gausha posted impressive victories on the first day of the boxing competition.
Diaz looked sharp in a 19-9 victory over Ukraine bantamweight Pavlo Ishchenko in the tournament’s opening bout, while Gausha knocked down Armenian middleweight Andranik Hakobyan twice in the final 7 seconds of his middleweight bout, winning by stoppage with no time on the clock.
The U.S. Olympic Boxing Team pushed its undefeated to streak to four on Sunday night with lightweight Jose Ramirez (Avenal, Calif.) and welterweight Errol Spence (Desoto, Texas) both claiming first round wins at the ExCel Centre. Ramirez pulled out a 21-20 decision over France’s Rachid Azzedine and Spence closed the night for Team USA with a 16-10 win over Brazil’s Myke Carvalho de Ribeiro.
Ramirez was the first American boxer to compete in Sunday’s evening action, facing veteran and World Series of Boxing champion Azzedine. The 19-year-old looked to get started early in the bout, and enjoyed success late in the round. He trapped Azzedine on the ropes and landed some strong shots at the conclusion of the opening round and held a one-point lead after the first. Both boxers continued to let their hands go in the second but Ramirez did not relinquish his lead, pushing his advantage to two with three minutes of boxing remaining. Azzedine attempted to dent Ramirez’s slim lead in the final round but he wasn’t able to do so and Ramirez won the 21-20 final decision. He moves on to a Thursday match-up with Fazliddin Gaibnazarov in his second round bout.
“There were some nerves coming in, being my first Olympics and being my first bout of the tournament,” Ramirez said. “Now, I feel like I shook those nerves out and hopefully I can just be me in the next bout and let my punches flow better, be smoother inside, and stay smart.”
Read More: Team USA Boxing News - 4-0 Results, Quotes, Notes from Jose Ramirez, Errol Spence & more...
Not many fighters get the honour of being appreciated by their role models. Luckily, George Groves, the current British and Commonwealth super-middleweight champion, received the honour, as he was admired by his all-time favourite boxing star Oscar de la Hoya.
Groves was able to defeat Francisco Sierra in San Jose on Saturday, stopping him in the sixth round. Although Groves suffered an awful cut, he went on proving his mettle.
Defeating Sierra was a big achievement for Groves, and the way he did it was widely appreciated. Oscar de la Hoya, former six-weight world champion and the owner of Golden Boy Promotions, came up saying, “Groves, a star is born…I do want to see more of George Groves.”
Groves was delighted to hear De la Hoya’s comments, he replied, “There is loads of room for improvement, but for me the main thing was to come out here, get some solid rounds under my belt, do a job properly - and hopefully win over some support.”
Read More: George Groves excited for being appreciated by Oscar de la Hoya ? Boxing News | bettor-com
David Haye, former WBA heavyweight champion, might get a shot at Vitali Klitschko, the current WBC heavyweight champion, next year at the earliest, since the Ukrainian champion will be on a political campaign after his fight against Manuel Charr in September.
Vitali Klitschko’s manager Bernd Boente has asserted that Vitali vs. Haye is possible. However, he insisted that Vitali would make the decision based on his fight against Charr and the result of his political campaign.
“Vitali meets Manuel Charr in September and then goes on the political campaign trail at the Ukraine elections, which are held in October,” said Boente while talking about the possibility of Vitali facing Haye.
Moreover, Boente even indicated towards a possible rematch between Haye and Wladimir saying, “"it could be Vitali, it could be Wladimir.”
David Haye was defeated by Wladimir Klitschko last year on points. The Briton then went into retirement, considering the loss as a career ending one. However, earlier this month, Haye made his comeback against Dereck Chisora, knocking out the latter in the fifth round.
Read More: David Haye vs. Vitali Klitschko can happen ? Boxing News | bettor-com
By SecondsOut-com on Doghouse Boxing. Anthony ‘Million Dollar’ Crolla has taken the final spot in the Betfair Prizefighter Lightweights line-up to take place at Liverpool Olympia on October 6.
The Manchester man will be gunning for revenge against local favourite Derry Mathews who ripped his British title away from him in Oldham in April in a shock sixth round stoppage. The hotly tipped 25 year old from Manchester also has a score to settle with another high profile former British champ in the line-up, with Dewsbury’s ex-British super featherweight strap holder Gary Sykes defeating him in an eliminator for the title in May 2009.
Joining Crolla, Mathews and Sykes in the best line-up of boxers in the 26 editions of Matchroom Sport’s eight man, one night tournaments are Mathews’ fellow Liverpudlians Stephen Jennings, Terry Needham and the unbeaten Nathan Brough as the Merseysiders in the eight, while Heywood’s unbeaten Central Area champ ‘Vicious’ Kieran Farrell and Sykes’ Yorkshire compatriot Liam Patrick Walsh as the four men hoping to take the title and £32,000 winner’s cheque.
Read More: Anthony Crolla Grabs Final Prizefighter Slot - Boxing News Update
Olympic boxing judges have come under fire with one fighter accusing them of "a fix", another appealing a loss and even boxing great Lennox Lewis questioning some of their calls.
Iran's Ali Mazaheri cried foul when the heavyweight was disqualified after being warned three times for persistent holding against Cuban Jose Larduet Gomez despite leading by two points going into the second round.
"It was a fix. I could have got a bronze easily if it hadn't been for that," an irate Mazaheri, who walked out of the ring before the decision was officially announced, said.
"In my previous fights I had done really well. It was a set up."
The International Amateur Boxing Association responded to Mazaheri's allegations in an email to Reuters, saying: "The Iranian boxer received three warnings during his bout.
"According to Rule 12.2.1 of the AIBA Technical & Competition Rules, 'only three warnings may be given to the same boxer in one contest. The third warning brings automatic disqualification'."
Read More: Olympic boxing judges accused of 'fixing' - Yahoo! Eurosport UK
The time has finally come to dump boxing as an Olympic sport.
It would be devastating for young people around the world, but the amateur version of the sport is so corrupt there is no saving it. The death penalty might be the only option.
When competition isn't on the up and up, when the referee is playing an active role in deciding who wins a fight, when the judges conveniently look the other way, it's no longer an amateur sporting competition. It's the WWE.
Given the vile nature of those who run amateur boxing, the only shock at these London Games is that a referee hasn't been caught passing a foreign object to a boxer to slip into his glove.
AIBA, the governing body of amateur boxing, dismissed referee Ishanguly Meretnyyazov ofTurkmenistan on Thursday after a bout on Wednesday between Satoshi Shimizu of Japan andMagomed Abdulhamidov of Azerbaijan. Shimizu knocked Abdulhamidov down six times in the third round, but Meretnyyazov didn't rule any of them a knockdown.
Read More: Time to end Olympic boxing - Yahoo! Eurosport UK
Boxer Floyd Mayweather was released from a Las Vegas jail early Friday after serving two months of a three-month sentence in a misdemeanor domestic battery case.
The undefeated boxer walked out of the Clark County Detention Center beneath the glow of street lamps and glare of TV cameras to resume a boxing career that his lawyers and personal physician warned in court documents might be at risk. They said jail food and water didn’t meet Mayweather’s dietary needs, and lack of exercise space in a cramped cell of fewer than 98 square feet threatened his health and fitness.
Mayweather looked fit as he donned a leather Miami Heat cap, pulled a gray hooded sweatshirt over his head and shared hugs with about 20 family members and friends, including his 12-year-old daughter, Iyanna Mayweather, and his manager, Leonard Ellerbe.
He said nothing to the media as he got behind the wheel of a blue Bentley sedan with several friends inside, including rapper 50 Cent, and drove away.
Read More: Boxer Floyd Mayweather Jr. released from Vegas jail after 2 months in domestic battery case - The Washington Post
A Turkmen boxing referee and an Azerbaijani technical official have been expelled from the London Olympics after a night of controversy plunged the sport back into the mire.
The focus should be turning to women boxers competing at an Olympic Games for the first time on Sunday but instead the International Amateur Boxing Association has had to deal with the type of scandals that dogged it almost a decade ago.
Turkmen referee Ishanguly Meretnyyazov and Azerbaijani International Technical Official Aghajan Abiyev were sent home with immediate effect, while a second referee, Frank Scharmach of Germany, was suspended.
"I deeply regret that we had to take these decisions," AIBA president Wu Ching-Kuo said.
"However, our main concern has been and will always be the protection of the integrity and fair-play of our competitions. I will take all possible steps to reinforce this."
He later told Reuters: "There is only one truth and we always get to the truth."
Read More: [url=uk-eurosport-yahoo-com/news/azerbaijani-boxing-official-expelled-olympics-223526869-html][category]: Olympic boxing officials punished after night of shame - Yahoo! Eurosport UK[/url]
Queen Underwood will become the first American woman to climb into an Olympic boxing ring on Sunday. But the historic role won’t distract her from the task at hand, beating British lightweight Natasha Jonas.
‘‘We’re going to introduce this sport to the world, and there’s going to be a lot of eyes on us,’’ said Underwood, the Seattle fighter who overcame childhood abuse to become an Olympian. ‘‘There’s going to be a lot of wows. People are going to see our skill, our ability, everything that women can do in a boxing ring. We’re just going to shock the world.’’
The Olympic fighters believe they can change the minds of anybody who still thinks women can’t — or shouldn’t — pack a punch. Cuba refuses to field a women’s team, and most fighters in the London field can tell stories of sexism, prejudice, and plain ignorance blocking their paths to this brutal yet elegant sport.
‘‘You’re always going to have somebody saying you shouldn’t do something, but that’s not just in boxing, but life,’’ Underwood said. ‘‘You can’t listen to people who don’t want you to pursue your dream.’’
AIBA will lobby for more women to compete in the 2016 Summer Games in Rio, but this year, it'll be easier to win an Olympic gold medal than a world championship. Just one victory will be necessary for the top two fighters in each weight class to claim at least a bronze. American flyweight Marlen Esparza and middleweight Claressa Shields received opening byes and will be fighting for medals on Monday.
Read More: Women’s boxing makes its formal Olympic debut - The Boston Globe
Nicola Adams and the first Olympic women's boxers have little time to enjoy the history they made in their debut Sunday. They've all got to fight for medals on Monday.
World champions Katie Taylor, Ren Cancan and Savannah Marshall lead the 24 remaining women into the quarterfinals, with the winners all guaranteeing they'll end the landmark tournament on the podium.
"There's no time to enjoy anything," said Natasha Jonas, the British lightweight. "Making history, breaking records, that's all great, but I'm here to fight."
Women's boxing finally punched through the door to the only all-male sport in the summer program with its Olympic inclusion. The debut in the Olympic ring not only proved the sport's legitimacy, but showed it might be a must-see event before too long.
Read More: Women's boxing finally steps into Olympic ring - The Times of India
The perspiration was still beading on the brow of U.S. boxer Claressa Shields, a 17-year-old high school senior from Flint, Mich., minutes after she had come from behind to win her first Olympic bout of the 2012 Games. Those eight minutes in the ring, separated into four, two-minute rounds, in front of a roaring, capacity crowd, had been hard work. There could be no doubt about that.
But, in a quirk that can best be described as the growing pains in the early development of an international women's sport, Shields' successful eight minutes in the ring were immediately rewarded by the guarantee of an Olympic medal.
By winning that one solitary match, Shields would now be an Olympic medalist. After having a bye in the first round of the first Olympic women's boxing tournament, all she had to do was win one match to reach the semifinals in the middleweight classification. And by making the semis, she was certain to win at least a bronze medal because boxing gives two bronze medals to the losers of the semifinals, in men's and women's competition.
Read More: Brennan: Win once, get a medal wrong for women's boxing ? USATODAY-com
It’s not often that a fighter gets a second chance in a single-elimination tournament such as the Olympics.
So when Errol Spence’s loss in the second round of these Games was overturned on appeal, earning him a spot in the welterweight quarterfinals, he promised he wouldn’t squander the gift.
“I am going to make the most of this second chance that I’ve been given,” he said.
But he couldn’t make good on that pledge Tuesday, losing a 16-11 decision to Russian Andrey Zamkovoy.
Spence was the last U.S. male in the competition.
His elimination means the Americans will come home from the Games without a boxing medal for the first time.
Former WBA and IBF light welterweight titlist Amir Khan is of the view that Katie Taylor will win the Olympic gold. Moreover, Khan believes that Taylor is tough enough to challenge even a male fighter at her weight.
“(She) would beat any of the men in the 60 kg division,” said Khan in London.
Not just Khan, even former heavyweight champion Lennox Lewis appreciated the Bray fighter saying, “The way she throws punches and the aggression she throws them with, you can tell she's got the killer instinct. I think the guys should be watching their backs, she could beat a lot of them out there.”
On the other hand, he compared Taylor’s capabilities with Chorieva. For Chorieva, the Bolton proud claimed, “She's very explosive.”
For Taylor, he added, “She's going to be a different fighter from the World Championships you know. She'll adjust her tactics and we're going to have to adjust ours as well. You saw what she can do against Dong, who is maybe six foot to Chorieva's five feet four. She's very good.”
Read More: Amir Khan believes Katie Taylor is unbeatable ? Boxing News | bettor-com
Joel Diaz, trainer for the current WBO welterweight titlist Timothy Bradley, believes his fighter is ready for a rematch against Pacquiao any day.
“(Timothy) He'll be good,” said Joel, if Pacquiao goes for a rematch on November 10, 2012. Bradley suffered two foot injuries during his fight against Pacquiao on June 9. When asked if the unbeaten American will be fit enough for the showdown, Diaz commented, “I asked him that same question. He said ‘Nah, I'm good. I'm already walking and doing things. I'll start exercising it, strength and conditioning it, so we'll be good.”
“If you say Tim fights in November, he will start tomorrow. It comes to the gym, we usually start eight weeks out. More than eight weeks, he'll be burnt out and over-trained,” he added.
Manny Pacquiao lost his WBO title to Timothy Bradley via controversial split decision on June 9 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. Pacquiao’s loss was soon condemned by fellow fighters and analysts around the world, who believed the Filipino proud had won the showdown. To Pacquiao’s dismay, he lost his first fight in seven years to an underdog.
Read More: Joel Diaz: Timothy Bradley will be good against Manny Pacquiao in a rematch ? Boxing News | bettor-com
India's M.C. Mary Kom scripted history by becoming the country's first woman boxer to win a medal at the Olympics when she finished with a bronze in the 51kg event at the London Games Wednesday.
Mary Kom, who had been assured of the bronze Monday itself when she reached the semi-finals, could not proceed further, going down fighting in her pre-summit bout against local favourite Nicola Adams.
Losing 6-11, Mary Kom became only the second Indian boxer after Vijender Singh to win an Olympic medal. Vijender got a bronze in Beijing fours years ago.
Buoyed by the presence of British Prime Minister David Cameron and star professional boxer Amir Khan, second-seed Nicola put up a flawless performance.
From the start, Mary Kom struggled to cope up with the Briton's speed. She came under pressure in the first round, having to fend off Nicola's powerful punches.
A couple of times the 29-year-old Indian, a mother of twins, was pinned in the corner and took some major blows, losing the first round 1-3.The second round was closer as both boxers tried to assert their dominance. However, the five-time World Champion found it difficult to get her way around her quick opponent, who narrowly edged the round 2-1.
The Manipuri stuck it out in the third round before losing it by a whisker.
The final round went pretty much in similar fashion as Mary Kom found it hard to cope with Nicola's superior size. With time running out, the Indian went hell for leather but fell short and lost the round 2-3.
The Indian shared the bronze with US's Marlen Esparza. Women's boxing is making its Olympic debut in London. Both semi-finals losers are awarded bronze medals.
A happy Mary Kom said she was satisfied with her effort.
Read More: INDOlink - India Sports News: Olympic Boxing: Mary Kom Wins a Historic Bronze
There is apparently a threat by someone on Twitter to execute a shooting rampage at the Broadway theater that's playing "Mike Tyson: Undisputed Truth." This has added something sadly lacking in Tyson's one-man show: any sense of drama.
The former champion boxer and convicted rapist promises at the beginning of his odd and pathetic show, which mercifully ends its run Sunday at the Longacre Theatre, that he'll offer the unvarnished truth of his tortured life. What actually comes out sounds more like a press release written by someone else.
"I know many of you are probably wondering, 'What the hell is Mike Tyson going to do up here onstage tonight?'" he asks. "Well, frankly, I'm wondering the same thing, too."
The two-hour show, directed in a paint-by-numbers style by Spike Lee, doesn't really come to an answer about that. Nothing new or very interesting is revealed, and the stage hasn't been turned into a place for deep thinking. Maybe that's because it was written not by Tyson, but by his wife, Kiki, who got him sober and apparently convinced him that this embarrassment of a show would work.
Read More: Review - Tyson's one-man show packs no punch | packs, punch, boxing - Boxing News - Brownsville Herald
Super featherweight Adrien Broner, who is supposedly WBC welterweight champion Floyd Mayweather’s clone, wants to take on Filipino fighter Manny Pacquiao. According to Broner, the former WBO welterweight titlist can fight him if not Floyd Mayweather.
Broner gained recognition as Mayweather’s clone due to his trash-talking and his shoulder roll stance fighting stance which is identical to Mayweather’s. Broner calls Mayweather his ‘Big Brother’. He has managed to remain unbeaten to date, like his ‘Big Brother’.
“I ain't got nothing against [Manny] Pacquiao, he just can't beat my big brother [Floyd Mayweather],” said Broner in Fight Hype.
He added, “If he signs that dotted line, I'll [expletive] him up too. … He can sign it, we can fight.”
Unfortunately, Broner sounded like an amateur when he failed to show his understanding regarding who Manny Pacquiao actually is.
Read More: Adrien Broner wants to take on Manny Pacquiao ? Boxing News | bettor-com
Women's boxing, rejected in the past because of a limited global appeal that saw them only sanctioned to box in Britain 15 years ago, will make its Olympic debut in London with three gold medals at stake.
Its debut brings to an end the last all-male sport at the summer games.
The International Boxing Association (AIBA) had to squeeze the men into 10 weight categories from the 11 fought in Beijing to make the change and its president said on Saturday it could seek to increase its quota of competitors from 286 at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympic Games to allow more women to take part.
Read More: Olympics-Boxing-AIBA chief sees more women fighting in 2016 | Reuters