Olympic Boxing 2012: Boxers to Keep an Eye on This Summer

While boxing in the 2012 Summer Olympics won’t feature the likes of Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao in the ring, plenty of terrific athletes are heading to London.

The rules are incredibly different, with only three rounds of three-minute action determining the winner compared to 12 rounds in a professional fight.

A fighter scores one point for each punch he throws, and any boxer who jumps out to a 12-point lead automatically wins. Another big difference is the headgear every fighter must wear.

With that in mind, there are a ton of talented boxers who will be vying for your attention in the coming weeks.

Here’s a look at the top contender to win a gold medal in each weight class.   

Cuba always has incredibly skilled fighters representing them at the Olympics, and this year is no different with Alvarez.

He is the reigning world champion who has defeated almost every contender in his class. He destroyed five separate top-10 opponents at the 2011 Worlds before crushing England’s Luke Campbell in the finals.

He comes in hot and is the definitive favorite to take home gold in the bantamweight division.  

Warren is one of the only hopes for America to medal on the men’s side, and he enters the Olympics as one of the most successful boxers in U.S. history.

He has four national championships to his name but has fallen short in both of his chances at the Olympics.

Now making a U.S. boxing record third trip to the Olympic Games, few contestants hold the experience and overall resume of Warren. 

This guy is dangerous.

Extremely quick with serious punching power, Lomachenko will be moving up in weight class after winning a gold medal in the flyweight division back at the 2008 Olympics.

He declined to turn pro for one more shot at Olympic glory and will likely be a star instantly after winning another gold medal and beginning his pro career.

The heavyweight division has always has been a fan-favorite, and this year it looks like Russo will be the man to beat.

While he may only stand at 5’10’’, it shouldn’t be a problem for the punishing Russo, who demolished the 6’7’’ Deontay Wilder at Beijing en route to a silver medal. He won the World Series of Boxing heavyweight championship back in 2011.

At age 29, he is one of the most experienced fighters in the entire tournament.

Toss in the wrinkle that he's a policeman by day, and the NBC crew will have fun with this guy's interesting story. 

This guy is scary.

He won silver at the 2011 World Championship and crushed Olympic champion Roberto Cammarelle to really raise his profile in the past year.

At the ripe age of 22, Joshua has a long and lucrative career ahead of him if he has a big performance in London and decides to turn professional.

With the crowd likely to be heavily in his favor for every bout, there will be plenty of buzz surrounding this rising star. 

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