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

Lightweight (60kg / 132 lbs)
The big story in the lightweight draw is the failure of 2007 World Champion Frankie Gavin to make weight. Flashy young American fighter Sadam Ali has a great chance to quarters where he could be matched up against the one of the draw’s two remaining favorites, Cuba’s Yordenis Ugas and Italy’s Domenico Valentino, who would meet in the Round of 16 if they win their opening matches.
The boxer to emerge from the other side of the bracket could come from a 2007 …read more

And then there were eight. Last week, USA Boxing removed Luis Yáñez, its team captain and representative at 105 lbs., from the Olympic Boxing team for disciplinary reasons. The Dallas Morning News reports that the 19-year-old Yáñez repeatedly failed to report to USA Boxing’s Colorado Springs training headquarters and refused to answer his phone for the entire month of June. As a result he is not going to Beijing.
Yáñez has his own side of the story. He says that he was tending to his sister who was in drug rehab and couldn’t be bothered to report his whereabouts to his …read more

Image details: Olympic Test Event – 2007 International Boxing Invitational served by picapp.com
Sunday was a good day for the United States Olympic Boxing Team. Both Shawn Estrada and Michael Hunter II won their bouts in the Guatemala City second Americas Olympic Qualifiers tourney while the rest of the team marched to a decisive 9-2 dual meet victory against the Puerto Rican amateur team in Philadelphia.
Shawn Estrada won his second match of the tourney with a controlling 13-2 against Colombia’s Alexander Brand. Estrada rode to an early 8-2 lead through the second round and held his adversary scoreless the rest of …read more

The full United States Olympic Boxing team is action this weekend. The eight members who have already qualified for Beijing are competing tonight against their Puerto Rican amateur adversaries in Philadelphia while the remaining three are vying for their Olympic spots at the second Americas Qualifier being held this week in Guatemala City, Guatemala.
The Philadelphia event is being held at Temple University’s Liacouras Center. Tickets range from $17 to $67. There are both group and Temple student discounts. The card features a bout in all eleven weight classes and is headlined by future American stars including the flashy lightweight Sadam …read more