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How did the experience in Beijing effect these boxers of tomorrow? For the boxing aficionado there is a strong curiosity who turned professional and who did not. Well, they are the future of the sport, are they not? For many that sat couch side, the experience in Beijing left a bitter taste in their mouth. The scoring was a travesty of justice, and many times the wrong person got the win. It was so bad that I personally refused to watch.

If you’ve ever been privy to a amateur boxing card, you would agree that the decision’s can sometimes be suspect. But this is the big show, not some small town tournament with small town politics. This system was to circumvent what happened to Roy Jones Junior in the 88′ Seoul fiasco. Have things changed for the better? 

So which boxers decided to take their chances turning professional? How are they doing and who’s promoting them? Good questions worthy of a good answer. Let’s start with my home team, the American squad.

Junior middleweight Demetrius Andrade from Providence, Rhode Island turned professional in October and is now 2-0-2.

Middleweight Shawn Estrada from Los Angeles, California turned pro in November and is 1-0-1.

Heavyweight Deontay Wilder from Alabama hit the pro circuit in November and is 1-0-1.

Sadam Ali and jr. flyweight Luis Yanez have decided to turn pro, but haven’t fought yet. Rau’shee Warren decided to stay in the Am’s for the time being. Below are the pro standings for the rest of the world.

• Eli Augustama          2-0-2      11/1/08    HAI
• James Degale          TBA        12/2/08    UK     Frank Warren
• Matt Korobov            1-0-1      11/1/08    RUS   Top Rank
• Bastie Samir             1-0-1       11/8/08   GHA
• Darren Sutherland   TBA        12/18/08  IRL

The following are due to turn pro next year:

• Sadam Ali                (USA)
• John Jackson          (ISV)
• Julius Jackson         (ISV)
• Tony Jeffries            (GBR)
• Bill Joe Saunders   (GBR)
• Luiz Yanez               (USA)
• Zou Shiming             (CHN)

Check out more in the Olympic category to your left!

Middle Weight (75kg) Results!
Gold James Degale, Great Britain
Silver Emilio Correa Bayeaux, Cuba
Bronze Vijender, India
Bronze Darren John Sutherland, Ireland
5 Bakhtiyar Artayev, Kazakhstan
5 Elshod Rasulov, Uzbekistan
5 Alfonso Blanco Parra, Venezuela
5 Carlos Gongora, Ecuador

Fly Weight (51kg) Results!
Gold Somjit Jongjohor, Thailand
Silver Andris Laffita Hernandez, Cuba
Bronze Vincenzo Picardi, Italy
Bronze Georgy Balakshin, Russia
5 Jitender Kumar, India
5 Mcwilliams Arroyo Acevedo, Puerto Rico
5 Anvar Yunusov, Tajikistan
5 Walid Cherif, Tunisia

Light Welter Weight (64kg) Results!
Gold Felix Diaz, Dominican Republic
Silver Manus Boonjumnong, Thailand
Bronze Alexis Vastine, France
Bronze Roniel Iglesias Sotolongo, Cuba
5 Morteza Sepahvandi, Iran
5 Serik Sapiyev, Kazakhstan
5 Munkh-Erdene Uranchimeg, Mongolia
5 Gennady Kovalev, Russia

Heavy Weight (91kg) Results!
Gold Rakhim Chakhkiev, Russia
Silver Clemente Russo, Italy
Bronze Deontay Wilder, United States of America
Bronze Osmai Acosta Duarte, Cuba
5 John Mbumba, France
5 Ilias Pavlidis, Greece
5 Oleksandr Usyk, Ukraine
5 Mohammed Arjaoui, Morocco

Feather Weight (57kg) Results!
Gold Vasyl Lomachenko, Ukraine
Silver Khedafi Djelkhir, France
Bronze Shahin Imranov, Azerbaijan
Bronze Yakup Kilic, Turkey
5 Yang Liu, China
5 Arturo Santos Reyes, Mexico
5 Abdelkader Chadi, Algeria
5 Idel Torriente, Cuba

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Irish team captain Kenny Egan, final workout in Ireland.

Ireland sent 54 competitor’s to the 2008 Olympic games in Beijing. So far, none have taken a medal of any sort…so far. The boxing team is a different story. Ireland sent 5 boxers to Beijing and 3 of them have clinched the bronze and are still strong in the race for gold. Light flyweight Patrick ‘Paddy’ Barnes, middleweight Darren Sutherland, and light heavyweight Kenny Egan are all advancing to the semi-finals.

Patrick ‘Paddy’ Barnes pulled a bye in the first round, he beat Ecuador’s Jose Luis Meza (14-8), Poland’s Lukasz Maszczyk (11-5), and will meet China’s Shiming Zou tomorrow night (Friday the 22nd) for the silver. If he beats Zou he’ll be in the finals this Sunday the 24th at 1:30 pm. Paddy lost to Shiming Zou (22-8) at the 2007 World Amateur Championships in Chicago.

Darren Sutherland also pulled a bye in the first round. He stopped Algeria’s Nabil Kassel via RSC (Referee Stops Conest), Venezuela’s Alfonso Blanco (11-1), and will meet Britain’s James DeGale tomorrow night (Friday the 22nd) at 3 pm. If he gets by DeGale, he will have clinched the silver and will be in the final match this Saturday the 23rd at 8:45 pm. Sutherland and Degal have met 5 times in the ring. DeGale said it’s 4 to 1 but not sure who won 4. Last time they met DeGale beat Sutherland 23-22. I’ve seen Sutherland fight and he cares not for points. He cares about knockouts.

Ireland’s team captain Kenny Egan has fought every bout and has pulled no bye’s in Beijing. His first win was over the Virgin Islands Julias Jackson (22-2) then it was Turkey’s Bahram Muzaffer (10-2), and Brazil’s Washington Silva (8-0). Egan will meet Britain’s Tony Jeffries this Friday night the 22nd at 9 pm. If Egan makes it past Jeffries he will have the silver and fight for the gold this Sunday the 24th at 3:50 pm.

Considering Ireland’s dilemma at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, alot is riding on their boxing team. Even if all three lose in the semi-finals, Ireland will be taking home three medals guaranteed. Lets hope they pull it off…good luck to Team Ireland! Ireland JIA YOU!

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Quarterfinals!
Bout: 1 Darren John Sutherland, Ireland P,11,1 def Alfonso Blanco Parra, Venezuela P,11,1
Bout: 2 James Degale, Great Britain P,8,3 def Bakhtiyar Artayev, Kazakhstan P,8,3
Bout: 3 Emilio Correa Bayeaux, Cuba P,9,7 def Elshod Rasulov, Uzbekistan P,9,7
Bout: 4 Vijender, India P,9,4 def Carlos Gongora, Ecuador P,9,4

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