Here are my Olympic Boxing Semi-Final predictions for the light flyweights, bantamweights, and lightweights. These bouts will take place on Friday the 22nd at 7:00 a.m. EST (light fly), 7:30 a.m. (bantam) and 8:00 a.m. (light). We’ll analyze how I did on Saturday.

Light Flyweight Semifinals
Paddy Barnes (IRL) vs. Zou Shiming (CHN)
Paddy Barnes has yet to face especially formidable competition. That changes against two-time world champion and home crowd favorite Zou Shiming. Zou’s awkward punch-and-grab style might be harsh on the eyes and he may have rightly lost his second round bout against Nordine Oubaali but there is zero chance he …read more

Quick thoughts on the Bantamweight Olympic boxing draw.
Official Link to the Bantamweight Draw

Bantamweight (54kg / 119 lbs)
At the 2007 World Championships Puerto Rican McJoe Arroyo (his twin brother McWilliams is a flyweight Olympian) lost 20-9 in the semifinals to Russian Sergey Vodopyanov after storming through the competition. Unfortunately, at the Olympics McJoe is paired against Vodopyanov in the first round.
Arroyo and Vodopyanov aren’t the only 2007 medalist in the lower half of the bracket. They are joined there by silver medalist Enkhbat Badar-Uugan from Mongolia and the other bronze winner Great Britain’s Joseph Murray. The boxer to emerge from this …read more

This Saturday undefeated WBA bantamweight title holder and Ring Magazine’s #3 ranked 118-pounder Wladimir Sidorenko (21-0-2) puts his title on the line against Ring’s #9 Panamanian Anselmo Moreno (21-1) in Düsseldorf, Germany. The fight will not be covered on American television but that doesn’t mean it isn’t of great interest to www.jabandgrapple.com.
You see, Mister Sidorenko is most likely a distant relative of yours truly. The Sydor, Sedor, Sidor name and all its Cyrillic-derived variations is not very common. My grandfather also did indeed immigrate from the Ukraine, Sidorenko’s home country. But what does he fight like? Graham Houston, the fight …read more