Boxing (Olympic)

The sleeping Eastern Dragon has awakened, with one breakthrough in boxing after another, since China revived boxing more than two decades ago. 

In the 2004 Athens Olympics, there were five Chinese boxing athletes who qualified to compete in boxing. Zou Shiming was the only boxer to win a medal and end China's Olympic boxing medal drought by capturing one bronze. Apart from Zou, the second best was a fighter in the light heavyweight division who managed to qualify for the quarterfinal.

In the 2005 World Boxing Championships, Zou was crowned the 48kg champion and grabbed the first world amateur boxing gold medal for China, with three other compatriots making it to the last eight.

Two years later, at the 2007 World Boxing Championships, nearly 600 boxers from more than a hundred countries went to Chicago, yet China stood out from the crowd by reaping one gold, four bronze and seven "Olympic tickets", with nine out of eleven participants cruising to the eighth-finals and seven to the quarterfinals.

As host nation for the 2008 Olympic Games, China was permitted to have six wild card entries from the world championships. However, the Oriental Giant stood proudly in Chicago as it secured seven passes without a single free ride. This was the most among all the other Asian countries.

Next in line was the long-time Asian boxing powerhouse, Thailand, with five. Russia concluded with the most — nine qualifiers, while America ended up with six.

Despite the absence of Cuba, a dominating force in the world of amateur boxing, the competition in Chicago was by no means gentle. Both South Korea and Kyrgyzstan, two Asian nations with a rich boxing tradition, failed to qualify a single fighter. Only 23 out of 80 Asian fighters qualified to participate in the Beijing Olympic Games.

Zou, the reigning champion, cruised to the final with ease and defended his belt with the amazing scores of 15-3, 30-13, 23-6, 22-8, 21-1 and 17-3. It was hard to believe that this was the final score Zou tallied in every fight on his road to the championship in Chicago, yet it was for real.

In his six bouts, he outscored his opponents by 20 points in two fights and surpassed the other four with at least 12 points. Moreover, he hardly lost a round in the entire tournament. That's devastating; that's crushing; that's overwhelming. His opponents spent most of their time slugging air. They were fighting a ghost.

While Zou was a surefire hot favorite in the 2008 Beijing Olympics, China appeared to be ready to reach full blossom, as it reaped four bronze medals in four divisions in Chicago — that is, featherweight, middleweight, heavyweight and super heavyweight.

A total number of five put China right behind boxing titan Russia in the number of medals collected at the 14th World Boxing Championships.

However, for China, the 2007 World Boxing Championships was merely a rehearsal before the grand pageant. The best was yet to come.

* * *

Zhenyu Li, a boxing historian and contributing columnist for some of the world's leading boxing publications, authors the "Beyond Gold" column for People's Daily Online in China.

With the recent conclusion of the 2012 Olympic boxing tournament in London, it is natural for fans and pundits to speculate about the professional potential of the marquee boxers and medal winners that participated.

While some fighters failed to fulfill lofty expectations as others retained Olympic titles or burst onto the international scene, London 2012 offered no shortage of compelling boxing story-lines.

In terms of the link and transition between amateur and professional boxing, perhaps no story is as significant as AIBA (amateur boxing’s governing body) solidifying its professional promotional outfit. APB (AIBA Professional Boxing) is an organization worth examining, especially in light of the disconnect between professional and amateur boxing since the Seoul Olympics in 1988 and the steady slide of the United States into the doghouse of Olympic boxing.

According to ESPN.com (via the Associated Press), APB promotions has secured the signature of Ukrainian star Vasyl Lomachenko, a now two-time gold medalist and winner of the Val Barker Trophy as the most outstanding boxer at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing. After his gold medal performance in 2008, Lomachenko had no shortage of professional offers, and his decision to sign with APB after repeating as Olympic champion represents a major move towards validity for the AIBA’s professional outfit.

According to the above-cited article, AIBA President Wu Ching-Kuo has also signed Lomachenko’s four teammates, stating, “What we offer is different from the current professional promoter. The boxers have a full protection. They have a good living, and a minimum number of bouts a year, and also a close affiliation with their national federation.”

This all sounds promising, especially the stipulation of securing fighters a minimum number of bouts per year—three to four according to ESPN—but it is the bond with national federations that might be APB’s most ingenious innovation, particularly when wooing boxers from nations that don’t have the inherent professional promotional structure found in the likes of the U.S. or Germany.

The ESPN article accordingly touches on this security:

“APB's connections with the amateur sport's national federations apparently were the key to landing Lomachenko and his teammates. Although any professional promoter would sign Lomachenko immediately, he appears more comfortable staying with his national federation and the nascent APB, which will allow its fighters to maintain Olympic eligibility while making money from professional bouts.”

As amateur and professional boxing attempt to breach the chasm that has disconnected and ultimately hurt the sport’s growth, allowing boxers to fight professionally while maintaining Olympic eligibility is an enticing and interesting proposition.

APB’s link between the pro ranks and the Olympics might not be as straightforward as they envision. While APB fights will abandon headgear, be longer than Olympic-style three round contests and operate on the 10-point professional scoring system, such a structure could alienate APB’s stable of fighters and result in a situation where boxers have a foot in two camps (amateur and professional) without a firm enough commitment to either.

While the ESPN article is a preliminary report scratching the surface of exactly how the APB will operate, it remains somewhat unclear as to who their roster of fighters will be contesting professional bouts against. Will APB fighters lace up the gloves against their stable-mates? If so, it could create tantalizing match-ups.

However, if APB fighters build their records slowly against the traditionally weak opposition expected of a fighter early in their professional career, while still competing in major international tournaments, it is reasonable to question exactly what these boxers are working towards. Is it professional championships?

Or is it just an innovative way to stay sharp for the Olympics and World Amateur Championships?

According to the ESPN article, “Wu intends to reserve 56 Olympic quota places for the top APB fighters, while regular professional boxers wouldn't be eligible for an Olympic shot.” While understandable, in a sense, this seems somewhat unfair on principle as fighters are benefiting from circumstance and the ability to parlay the APB’s development into additional Olympic opportunities, whereas fighters who turned pro conventionally, say, one year ago, will miss out on this chance.

Given that amateur boxing will abandon computerized scoring for the 2016 Olympics, anything that helps bridge the gap between amateur and professional pugilism has to be viewed as positive and given the benefit of the doubt (for now).

While the APB appears to have some questionable aspects, the choice to give its boxers regular salaries, health insurance and regular fight dates on networks that can offer exposure is exactly what boxing needs.

Structure-wise, there are things to like about the APB, but as it always does, success will boil down to the fighters and whether their in-ring performances captivate fans and capture titles.

Boxing kicks off its gold medal stage at the 2012 Olympics on Day 15, with five star-studded matchups featuring 10 fighters who are guaranteed to walk away with some hardware. The only question is: Will it be silver or gold?

We don't have the answers to that question right now, but we can tell you which matches you need to make sure to check out. 

Here are the three best matchups, at least on paper, that will determine gold medal winners at the Olympics. 

Middleweight Division: Esquiva Falcao Florentino vs. Ryota Murata

These two fighters took very different paths to get to this match, with Falcao Florentino dominating Anthony Ogogo in the semifinals 16-9. Murata was much more methodical in his matchup, defeating Abbos Atoev 13-12 thanks to an 8-4 advantage in the third round. 

Falcao Florentino is a rising star in the sport, winning the 2011 Pan American Games en route to making it all the way here. 

Murata is a 26-year-old who keeps getting better with each event he enters. He is guaranteed at least a silver medal after winning a silver at the 2011 World Amateur Boxing Championships. 

Bantamweight Division: John Joe Nevin vs. Luke Campbell

John Joe Nevin did not have a glamorous performance in the semifinals, but it was very calculated. He used round scores of 5-3, 7-6, 7-5 that gave him the advantage over Lazaro Alvarez. 

Luke Campbell was far more impressive in his victory over Satoshi Shimizu, scoring a 20-11 victory. He is going to be the star of the show since he is from Great Britain, which does put more pressure on his shoulders to perform. 

That said, Campbell has more power than Nevin. He is sharper on the attack, while doing enough on defense.

Heavyweight Division: Oleksander Usyk vs. Clemente Russo

For the record, I don't think this is going to be the best pure boxing match of the day. Heavyweight fights are often slower and more deliberate than you will normally see because they don't have the speed and stamina to go at a fast pace. 

Usyk might as well have had a bye in the semifinals, because he destroyed Tervel Pulev 21-5. It wasn't even that close, which is both good and bad. We know Usyk can dominate, but will his confidence turn into arrogance and cause him to slip if he is in a close contest with Russo?

Russo needed a final-round comeback against Teymur Mammadov to secure his spot in the finals. His confidence may not be as high as Usyk's, but he could be more focused so that he doesn't fall behind early again and need a comeback to win against, frankly, a better fighter. 

Follow @adamwells1985

The culmination of the 2012 London Olympics is upon us, and with it comes the handing out of 10 gold medals in just two days.

Five of those golds will be administered tomorrow as many enticing bouts are set to rock the boxing world and assume glory for those who win.

Boxing is one of the most endurance-challenging events of the Games as fighters are forced to face off day-in and day-out despite the most well-known professional boxers taking as much as a year off between fights. 

Let's take a look at the fighters who will steal the show on Saturday and win gold for their country.

Zou Shiming—China

One of the best light flyweight boxers in the world will have a chance to prove yet again that he is king.

Zou Shiming from China won gold in the 2008 Beijing Games, and will have the same opportunity Saturday as he faces off against Kaeo Pongprayoon of Thailand. 

Shiming has won three World Championship titles in 2005, 2007 and the most recent one in 2011, so expect him to continue where he left off and win another gold medal for China.

Oleksandr Usyk—Ukraine

While one boxer is looking to repeat as a gold-medal champion, this one will be looking for a different type of victory.

Oleksandr Usyk of Ukraine had a disappointing Games in 2008 as he was ousted by Italy's Clemente Russo in the quarterfinals of the heavyweight division. This year, he has a chance at redemption and there's no one he'd rather face.

He draws a familiar opponent in Russo in the gold medal match. Expect him to right his wrongs Saturday and claim Ukraine's fourth gold medal of these Olympics.

Falcao Florentino—Brazil

Boxing isn't exactly a sport that Brazil excels in at the Olympics. In fact, they've been notoriously bad at it as they've yet to advance to a gold medal final.

That is, until these Games.

Falcao Florentino got his country into the final for the first time in Brazilian history, and looks to build on his improbable success Saturday. He'll be fighting in the middleweight division against Japan's Ryota Murata, who he lost to in the semifinals of the 2011 World Boxing Championship. 

He, like Usyk, will be looking for redemption and should find it to gain glory for his country and continue to add to Brazil's medal count. 

After 13 days of competition used just to determine who would be competing in the medal rounds, men's boxing gets it time in the spotlight with 20 matches over the final three days of Olympic competition. 

While 10 of those matches on Friday will be used to determine bronze medal winners, the race for the gold starts in full force on Saturday. Every weight class from the light flyweight to the super heavyweight will crown a champion. 

So many matches in such a short amount of time can make it difficult for you to keep up with all of the action. For you, the fans, here is a look at the entire gold medal schedule for all of the boxing matches taking place in London this weekend. 

Schedule courtesy of NBC Olympics

Weight Classes To Watch

In addition to knowing when to watch matches, it is imperative that you know which weight classes you should watch. These are just my personal preference based on what we know about these weight classes.

Super Heavyweight

One of the great things that big men having going for them is their power. Sure, their fights can get boring because they are just lumbering around the ring, but when they swing, you know you are in for a treat. 

Light Flyweight

On the opposite side of the spectrum, you are not going to see a lot of power from the smallest fighters in boxing. What you will see, however, is just ridiculous amounts of speed that will leave your neck in pain from watching the back-and-forth the competitors have. 

Follow @adamwells1985

After the most disappointing showing by a U.S. men's boxing team in Olympic history (per Newsday.com)—not winning a single medal—the inaugural women's team came through for the U.S. by winning two medals in London.

Flyweight Marlen Esparza came through Wednesday, winning a bronze medal (per NYdailynews.com) and, in a huge moment for the U.S., middleweight Claressa Shields beat Russian Nadezda Torlopova 19-12 in a dominating gold-medal performance Thursday (per SFgate.com).

Although the 33-year-old Torlopova had the edge in experience, the 17-year-old Shields put on an impressive performance, using superior speed and well timed combos to take the gold.

In the first year of women's boxing in the Olympic games, the women have shined, showing that females can hold their own in a sport largely dominated by their male counterparts.

Look for Shields to build off her Olympic success in four years at the 2016 Rio games, as she should be around for at least one more Olympics before making the jump to the pro ranks, given her young age.

Although it wasn't the way many had thought the U.S. would win medals in boxing, Shields and Esparza came through and saved the United Sates boxing program from not winning a single medal for the first time in its Olympic history.

Claressa Shields of the United States took on Nadezda Torlopova of Russia for the gold medal in the women's 75-kilogram weight class.

The 17-year-old American dominated the bout, securing a 19-12 win.

Shields was more aggressive and the better overall boxer, which was the difference in the bout. This was a big win for Shields and was the first boxing gold medal for an American woman.

17 y/o @claressashields wins GOLD! Becomes first U.S. woman to win Olympic gold medal in #boxing! RT to cheer for her! #HISTORY #TEAMUSA

— NBCOlympics (@NBCOlympics) August 9, 2012

Round 1

Shields came out aggressive, as is expected in such a short match. She was effective with her jab and moved well but couldn't avoid all of the Russian's punches. Torlopova landed two solid right hands.

The first round was a 3-3 tie.

Round 2

Shields came out with a different approach early in Round 2. She was staying a bit further back, accounting for the longer reach of her opponent. She was effective moving in to strike and then backing away.

The middle of the round saw her go back to a toe-to-toe approach, which allowed the Russian to land several punches.

In the final 40 seconds of the round, Shields became the aggressor. She was successful with two separate flurries and landed several combinations.

Shields dominated the round, 7-4.

Round 3

Shields again came at Torlopova toe-to-toe to start the third round. She unleashed a few sets of combinations that connected well. She also ducked into a few solid right hands.

Shields had a 5-3 edge in the third round.

Round 4

The final round for Shields was about finishing strong and not getting hurt. Torlopova finally found the desire to try a few combinations of her own, but her mechanical swings were more reminiscent of a "Rock 'em, Sock 'em Robot" than an Olympic fighter. 

She swiveled at the hips and landed a few punches, but Shields was able to avoid most of her shots.

Shields won the round 4-2.

This is a great win for the young fighter. She has some obvious room for improvement, and she isn't as disciplined as she'll need to be as her career advances, but she was clearly the better fighter in this match.

This was an important win for Shields, but held even more meaning for a U.S. boxing team that has struggled in London.

#GOLD #GOLD #GOLD #GOLD #GOLD #GOLD for @claressashields #olympics #boxing

— USA Boxing (@USABoxing) August 9, 2012

Follow @darinpike

"Western boxing in China is now revived!"

More than two decades ago when Li Menghua, the Director of National Sports Committee declared in a resonant voice filling up the sky, it turned a whole new chapter in the story of Chinese western boxing.

By the turn of the year 2006, China has depicted a tale of two decades since the rebirth of the sweet science, two decades of renaissance and reforms, two decades of smiles and tears, two decades of challenges and achievements.

International Debut

The year 1986 and 1987 are two significant years for Chinese western boxing.

In March 1986, boxing officially returned to validity. The next year in April, the China Boxing Association was officially founded. In May, the first national boxing championships were held and in June, the China Boxing Association was officially admitted into the International Amateur Boxing Association as the 159th member.

From then on, China began to appear on the international boxing stage.

The Chinese national boxing team had taken part in a number of international boxing events during this period of time including the Pyongyang International Invitational Boxing Tournament in August in which China reaped two bronze medals.

The Calm before the Storm

The first ray, golden 24k, shined in the darkness of Chinese western boxing after a three-year slump.

Light heavyweight Chongguang Bai bagged the first gold medal for China at the 1990 Beijing Asian Games. It greatly elevated the morale of boxing professionals in China.

However, this perfect storm was followed by a grilling tranquility. China suffered a 16-year gold drought in Asian Games ring. In the meantime, boxing had undergone a stage of stillness in China for the first decade.

At the 1992 Olympic Games, competitors were delighted to face off against Chinese opponents. The best that the Chinese coaches hoped for was that each fighter might stay on his feet a bit longer than the one before him.

The reasons for this are both simple and complex.

First and foremost, in the 90s, China was still on the road to glory lacking the fundamental support for the sport of boxing.

Equally important is that China had never won a worthy medal in any prestigious international boxing tournament.

Besides, pugilism was mainly carried out in the military and rural areas practiced by a very limited number of people, mostly the poor. It lacked adequate participation and attention of a large fan base.

Last but not least, there had been little support for the Noble Art from government, media people and promoters for the first 10 years since the revival of this combat sport in China.

But as it turned out, the stillness was temporary. Maybe it was the silence before the storm.

Historic Breakthroughs

Amateur light flyweight Zou Shiming, the most popular boxing athlete in China, achieved a series of historic breakthroughs for Chinese western boxing, as he seized three medals in a row by 2006.

Zou captured the silver medal for the 2003 World Amateur Boxing Championships, the bronze medal of 2004 Athens Olympic Games and a gold medal from the 2005 World Amateur Boxing Championships.

Admittedly, at that time, the talent pool of Chinese boxers was lacking, with Zou playing the solo and the others lagging far behind. The second best the Chinese achieved in the 2005 World Boxing Championships was two boxers entering the quarterfinal.

The talent-sparse predicament ended in Doha one year after when China bagged five boxing medals in the 2006 Asian Games.

In Doha, Zou broke a 16-year gold drought in Asia boxing by completely outshining Thailand's powerhouse Suban Pannon with an impressive 10-1 lead in the first round before the referee stopped the contest in the second.

Lightweight Hu Qing added another gold medal to China's drought-breaking haul when he used some powerful combinations to beat Mongolia's Munkh Erdene Uranchimeg 38-22.

China finished with two gold and three bronze medals in the Doha 2006 Asian Games, which exceeded the mighty Manny Pacquiao's home country of the Philippines with one more bronze medal advantage. Yang Bo, Hanati and Zhang Jianting were the other three Chinese counterparts who captured the three bronzes, respectively in the 51kg, 69kg and 75kg division.

With boxing powerhouses such as Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan in line, China still secured five medals from five separate weight classes, indicating that the ancient nation had integrally reached a whole new level in amateur boxing.

The breakthroughs in the two decades were not only achieved in amateur boxing, but in professional stage as well.

The first intercontinental professional boxing champion in Chinese history was born on May 17, 2005 when Xu Congliang with only three professional fights won the WBA Intercontinental Lightweight title by knocking out Thailand's veteran Pongsit Wiangwiset, who had made 13 title defenses in his illustrious professional career.

In April 2006, female fighter Zhang Xiyan became China's first ever world professional boxing champion by defeating Alicia Ashley for the WBC women's lightweight crown.

The hard-hitting brawler Wu Zhiyu captured the second intercontinental title for China by stopping the defending champion New Zealand's Bruce Glozier in only 26 seconds in the WBC Intercontinental Cruiserweight title bout.

It showed, as early as 2006, that the Chinese could also compete with such Asian boxing powerhouses as Thailand, the Philippines and Korea on the international battle field.

When the chapter was closed, two decades after the rehabilitation of the fight game, China had produced two world champions and two intercontinental champions in the square ring.

And the best is yet to come...

* * *

Zhenyu Li, a boxing historian and contributing columnist for some of the world's leading boxing publications, authors the "Beyond Gold" column for People's Daily Online in China.

Not a ton of people care about boxing in the Olympics, at least compared to most other sports, but you would be crazy to tell the boxers that. 

For one, they would beat you up. 

Also, you can't forget that these amateurs are fighting not only to keep their brain cells intact, but also for a gold medal. They are competing for the same prize as Michael Phelps. The same prize as LeBron James. The same prize as Usain Bolt.

You get the idea.

No matter how little attention boxing gets, you can rest assured that these athletes are going to do whatever they can to bring home the gold medal, which will likely serve as the crowning achievement for their careers. 

With that being said, let's take a look at the upcoming gold-medal bouts. 

August 9, 11:30 a.m. EDT: Women's Fly: Ren Cancan (China) vs. Nicola Adams (Great Britain)

Betting against 24-year-old Ren Cancan simply isn't a good idea. The Chinese star has taken home gold in the women's fly at the last two World Championships, as well as victories in a slew of other big tourneys. 

She is, without a doubt, one of the biggest names in women's boxing. So, this is obvious, right?

Well, not so fast.

During those two World Championships, Nicola Adams has established herself as Cancan's biggest rival, losing in the final and settling for silver both times.

Adams hasn't been able to get over the hurdle that is Cancan, but this time around, the 29-year-old veteran, who has a slight size advantage, is on her home soil. I'm going with the slight upset, although this one should be close. 

August 9, 11:45 a.m. EDT: Women's Light: Katie Taylor (Ireland) vs. Sofya Ochigava (Russia)

So, if you thought Cancan's two straight World Championship golds were impressive, prepare to be amazed.

Ireland's Katie Taylor has taken home four straight at the 60kg level. That's insanely impressive, and a good reason why she's a heavy favorite in this fight. 

She has a tough task in 25-year-old Sofya Ochigava from Russia, but I fully expect Taylor to add an Olympic gold to her collection. 

August 9, 12:15 p.m. EDT: Women's Middle: Claressa Shields (USA) vs. Nadezda Torlopova (Russia)

This matchup is a little different, as it doesn't feature any world champions. Torlopova did win bronze earlier this year in Qinhuangdao, but that's it for the 33-year-old veteran.

On the other side of the ring is Claressa Shields. She hasn't taken home any World Championship medals, but that's because she's only 17 years old. In her only appearance, she was ousted by eventual gold medalist Savannah Marshall in the second round. 

But the young Shields has grown up a lot since then, absolutely dominating Marina Volnova and Anna Laurell, the defending bronze medalist, en route to the finals in London. 

Most might go with the experience of Torlopova, but I wouldn't truly be an American if I didn't back Claressa Shields to take home gold. 

Follow @t_keen