Boxing is one of the oldest Olympic sports, being a key sport in the ancient Olympic Games. Boxing dates back to the beginnings of human civilisation, with records of boxing matches taking place 7000 years ago in the Middle East.
The style of boxing in the Olympic Games is geared towards a points based system. Contenders wear head guards to reduce risk of brain damage and this means that there are few knockouts in Olympic Boxing.
British boxers have had some many successes in recent Olympic Games.
Beijing 2008
- James Degale won Middleweight gold
- Tony Jeffries won Light Heavyweight bronze
- David Price won Super Heavyweight bronze
Athens 2004
- Amir Khan won Lightweight silver
Sydney 2000
- Audley Harrison won Super-Heavyweight gold
Will London 2012 be a repeat of London 1908?
In 1908 British boxers made history as Team GB had a clean sweep – a British boxer won every weight category in the competition. However, boxing was still in its infancy in 1908 with many of the boxers being true “amateurs”, that is they rarely trained outside of competition time. Also there were only 5 weight divisions and the entire competition was fought in one day. See Wikipedia for full boxing results from the 1908 Games.
There were also no head guards. Also, only 4 countries were represented in 1908. Now boxing is one of the most popular Olympic sports in terms of the number of countries that enter the competition. Now amateur boxers train as hard as professionals and often move on to a professional career after success in the Olympic Games.
British Boxing Team
In January 2010 the British amateur boxing association named its 21 man “podium” squad. The group of boxers will be the ones most likely to compete in the 2012 games. The group will change in the run up to the Games, with some boxers exiting and new ones joining, but these are the ones to watch. The squad consists of (in weight order):
- Khalid Yafai, Flyweight (51 Kg), Birmingham, England
- Daniel Chapman Flyweight (51 Kg), Blaengwyfi, Wales
- Andrew Selby, Bantamweight (54Kg) Barry, Wales
- Gamal Yafai* Bantamweight (54Kg), Birmingham, England
- Leigh Woods, Bantamweight (54Kg), Nottingham, England
- Luke Campbell, Featherweight (57Kg), Hull, England
- Martin Ward, Featherweight (57 Kg), Romford, England
- Iain Weaver, Featherweight (57Kg), Ferndown, England
- Daniel Philips, Lightweight (60Kg), Middlesbrough, England
- Thomas Stalker, Lightweight (60Kg), Liverpool, England
- Bradley Saunders, Light-welterweight (64Kg), Stockton-on Tees, England
- Scott Cardle, Light-welterweight (64Kg), Lytham, England
- Lewis Rees, Light-welterweight (64Kg), Rhondda, Wales
- Callum Smith*, Welterweight (69Kg), Liverpool, England
- Frank Buglioni*, Middleweight (75Kg), London, England
- Antony Ogogo*, Middleweight (75Kg), Lowestoft, England
- Obed Mbwakango, Light-heavyweight (81 Kg), London, England
- Warren Baister, Heavyweight (91Kg), Sunderland, England
- Stephen Simmons, Heavyweight (91Kg), Edinburgh, Scotland
- Simon Vallily, Heavyweight (91Kg), Middlesbrough, England
- Fraser Clarke, Super-heavyweight (91Kg+) Burton, England
Those marked with an asterix* are on trail and may drop out if better replacements come along.
Olympic Boxing Rules
Boxers must be between the ages of 17 and 34 to compete. Each bout lasts for four 2 minute rounds. Four judges awards points to each boxer for landing a good punch, which is a punch to the front of the head or on the upper body. The white part of the gloves that cover the knuckles must land on the opponent to be considered a good punch. For a point to count at least 3 of the judges need to agree on each punch. This is done with electronic equipment. At the end of the bout the person with the most points wins. A bout can finish early by way of knockout (a fighter is knocked down for more that 10 seconds) or if one fighter gets 15 points ahead in a match.
Olympic Boxing Weight Categories
There are 12 weight categories in men’s Olympic Boxing:
- - 48kg (light-flyweight)
- 48 – 51kg (flyweight)
- 51 – 54kg (bantamweight)
- 54 – 57kg (featherweight)
- 57 – 60kg (lightweight)
- 60 – 64kg (light-welterweight)
- 64 – 69kg (welterweight)
- 69 – 75kg (light-middleweight)
- 71 -75kg (middleweight)
- 75 – 81kg (light-heavyweight)
- 81 – 91kg (heavyweight)
- + 91kg (super heavyweight)
British boxing is managed by the Amateur Boxing Association of England
Website: www.abae.org.uk
Recent Comments