Louie Byrd Wins Gold at World Cup of Petroleum Countires

The United States’ Louie Byrd Wins Gold at the World Cup of Petroleum Countries

Julie Goldsticker December 21, 2009

Flyweight Louie Byrd (Denver, Colo.) won a gold medal for his United States team on Sunday with a 9-6 victory over France's Jeremy Veccu in championship round action at the 2009 World Cup of Petroleum Countries in Khanty-Mansisysk, Russia.

The win was Byrd's third victory of the tournament, which featured 13 teams and several of the world's top Olympic-style boxers. For the first time in the event, Byrd fell behind in the first round, with Veccu holding a 3-2 lead after three minutes. Yet Byrd could not be denied, enjoying a strong second round to claim a 6-4 advantage with one stanza remaining. The American boxer refused to relinquish his lead in the final round, scoring three points to Veccu's two to win the 9-6 final victory and the gold medal.

In addition to winning the tournament, Byrd was named the Boxer with the Best Ring Tactics in the tournament. He won the only medal for the United States team at the 2009 World Cup of Petroleum Countries. Byrd is the reigning flyweight champion in the United States, and was less than two weeks two young to qualify for the 2008 Olympic Team. He now has his focus set on the 2012 Olympic Games in London, England.

Women win 8 Medals at Continental Championships in Guayaquil, Ecuador

Queen Underwood and Tika Hemingway Win Gold at the 2009 Women’s Continental Championships in Ecuador

Julie Goldsticker - USA Boxing October 10, 2009

Photo: USA Boxing

Two United States boxers won gold medals on Thursday at the 2009 Women's Continental Championships at the Abel Jimenez Parra Coliseum in Guayaquil, Ecuador. Light welterweight Queen Underwood (Seattle, Wash.) recorded her second straight dominating victory of the tournament, winning an 18-2 decision over Canada's Stephany Walker while light heavyweight Tika Hemingway(Pittsburgh, Pa.) won a 5-2 victory over Canada's Melinda Watpoole.

In addition to the two gold medals, light flyweight Laura Ramirez (Bronx, N.Y.), lightweight Patricia Manuel (Gardena, Calif.), and welterweight Andrecia Wasson(Center Line, Mich.) won silver medals by advancing to final round action.

Once again, Underwood dominated from the opening bell of her bout, taking a strong 8-1 lead after two rounds of action. She continued to control the contest in the second half of the bout, holding Walker to only two scoring blows and landing seven of her own in the final round to win the 18-2 victory and a gold medal.

Hemingway faced off in a closer contest with her Canadian opponent as the two battled in a low-scoring affair. After a scoreless first round, Hemingway enjoyed a slim 2-1 advantage at the midway mark in the bout. She continued to build slowly on her lead, holding a three-point edge as the bout moved into the final round. Hemingway maintained her lead over the final two minutes to win a 5-2 final decision.

The United States' three silver medalists suffered difficult losses to women's boxing powerhouse, Brazil. Ramirez dropped a 15-2 decision to Brazil's Erika Mattos in the light flyweight championship contest, struggling to score against the Brazilian. After two strong wins earlier in the tournament, Manuel dropped a tough 28-7 decision to Brazil's Adrianna Arallio. Wasson lost a 5-4 heartbreaker to Brazil's Andrea Bandera in the welterweight final. The American boxer held a one-point lead after each of the first three rounds but couldn't hold Bandera off in the fourth, dropping the 5-4 decision.

In addition to the two gold and three silver medals, Team USA also claimed three bronzes at the event with flyweight Marlen Esparza (Houston, Texas), featherweightLiz Leddy (Portland, Maine), and middleweight Alyssa DeFazio (Peoria, Ariz.) all taking home hardware. The United States placed third in the team standings with their eight medals in Guayaquil.

Frankie Gomez wins Silver at the Mens' World Championship!!

Source: Associated Press

MILAN -- Light welterweight Frankie Gomez settled for silver at the world boxing championships on Saturday, losing 8-2 to Roniel Iglesias Sotolongo in the final and wrapping up another disappointing international tournament for the United States.

Gomez was the only American to make the finals, and had trouble dealing with the experience and longer reach of the Cuban fighter.

"I'm disappointed," Gomez said. "This is only my second tournament and first open tournament. His extra height wasn't a difference, only the extra experience he has. I wanted to win the gold, but my coach and the team are happy that I got the silver."

The U.S. was coming off its worst showing in Olympic history, prompting coach Dan Campbell to retire. Campbell was in charge of the nine American fighters last summer in Beijing, winning just one medal. The U.S. team hadn't left the Olympics with fewer than two medals since 1948.

Russia dominated the world championships, winning gold at light heavyweight and heavyweight, along with four silver medals. Host nation Italy also won a pair of gold medals, including Olympic super heavyweight champion Roberto Cammarelle, who defended his world title by beating Ukraine's Roman Kapitonenko 10-5 at the Milan Forum.

Cammarelle started tentatively and finished the first round tied at 2, but slowly built an 8-4 lead, with Kapitonenko taking two standing counts following a pair of powerful lefts.

"I didn't expect it to go as well as it did," Cammarelle said. "I knew it would be a good match and I knew he would be a great opponent. Physically he is strong and I knew he would put in hard shots at the start, meaning I had to make sure I didn't drop my guard."

Domenico Valentino also won gold for Italy, defeating Puerto Rico's Jose Pedraze 9-4 to take the lightweight title.

The fight began slowly before Valentino rallied from a two-point deficit to take a 5-3 lead at the end of the second round. Valentino then held on to win his third medal in three world championships, after a silver in 2007 and bronze in '05.

"Someone should slap me," Valentino said, "I still don't believe it."

Russia was led by Artur Beterbiev, who came from behind in the final round to beat Elshod Rasulov from Uzbekistan 13-10 in the light heavyweight final. Egor Mekhontsev beat Cuba's Osmai Acosta Duarte 12-2 to take the heavyweight title.

Olympic featherweight champion Vasyl Lomachenko added the world title to his collection with a 12-1 rout of Sergey Vodopiyanov. The Ukrainian used quick feet to get close to Vodopiyanov, while the Russian couldn't use his longer reach to break through his opponent's solid defense.

Olympic silver medalist Serdamba Purevdorj of Mongolia defeated David Ayrapetyan of Russia 10-5 to take the light flyweight gold. The other Mongolian in a final, Tugstsogt Nyambayar, lost 18-2 to McWilliams Arroyo of Puerto Rico for the flyweight title.

At bantamweight, Bulgaria's Detelin Dalakliev nearly let the gold medal slip away after dominating Eduard Abzalimov of Russia. Abzalimov to drew level in the final minute before Dalakliev landed two shots to win 5-3.

In other bouts, Jack Culcay-Keth from Germany defeated Andrey Zamkovoy of Russia 7-4 to win the welterweight final, and Abbos Atoev of Uzbekhistan won the middleweight title by beating Armenia's Andranik Hakobyan 9-0.

Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press

Welcome New AAC members!

Welcome to our new Athlete Advisory Council members Aaron Alafa, Eric Rocha and Shawn Simpson!

Due to the fact that there were three slots open and only three candidates, an election was not necessary. The new members took office September 1, 2009 and will serve a two year term.

In the summer of 2010, more slots will open up. Check back on this website for information on how to run for an AAC position in the spring of 2010. If any athlete is interested in helping or has an idea on how to improve the journeys of athletes in the sport of Olympic Boxing, please don't hesitate to e-mail us at athleterep@usoc.org. Also if you have an athlete issue you need help in resolving, give us a call at 914-490-6938 or send us an e-mail. Thanks!

Angel Bovee

Women's Boxing in the Olympic Games!

Women's Boxing in the Olympic Games!

August 13

It was announced today that Women's Boxing will now be included in the Olympic Games.

Three weight classes (112, 132, 165) with 36 athletes compared to 246 male athletes, for a total of 14% female participation.

Thank you to Dr. Christy Halbert for making this cause important and working full time and tirelessly behind the scenes this for the last 15 years!
For more information visit www.LetThemBox.org

AIBA press Release

AIBA, the International Boxing Association, is proud and honored to welcome women into the world of Olympic boxing following today's historic decision by the International Olympic Committee to include women's boxing from the 2012 Olympic Games in London.

The announcement in Berlin by IOC President Dr Jacques Rogge means that boxing is no longer the only Olympic sport practiced solely by men. For the thousands of women boxers who train so hard and compete in national, continental and international competition, their dream of one day competing on the biggest stage of all can now become a reality.

The inclusion of women in the Olympic Games has been a key goal for AIBA President Dr. Ching-Kuo Wu ever since he was elected in 2006. Supported by a dynamic AIBA Women's Commission, Dr Wu has worked tirelessly towards this momentous day.

"Women's Olympic boxing is a vote for the future," said Dr Wu. "AIBA accepted women's boxing into its program as long ago as 1994 and I am thrilled and delighted that, at long last, women can claim their rightful place alongside men on the Olympic boxing program."

Women will compete at three weights in London - flyweight (48 - 51kg), lightweight (56 - 60kg) and middleweight (69 - 75kg) - with 12 boxers taking part at each weight. In order for the total number of boxers to remain at 286 there will be one less weight category in the men's competition, meaning that there will be 10 weights for men.

"The addition of women's boxing means that we finally have a truly universal Olympic Games," Dr Wu continued. "Nevertheless, we will strive to ensure a very successful first Olympic Games for women in London in order that the number of women participating at future Olympic Games may increase."

Dr Rogge said: "I can only rejoice about the decision to include women's boxing in the Olympic Games. (Women's boxing) is a great addition since boxing was the only summer Olympic sport without a female discipline. Women's boxing has progressed a lot in the last five years and it is time to include them."

Dr Wu went on to reveal his plans for the future of women's boxing. "I already have plans to support all national federations who want to develop women's boxing," he said. "AIBA will offer long-term support to talented young boxers, particularly those from emerging nations, and it will create more competitions for women, at both international and continental levels."

But it is not only the boxers that AIBA will help: the development of women referees and judges, women coaches and women leaders in management roles both within AIBA and in the general administration of boxing are equally important medium and long-term goals.

Please click here for a copy of the AIBA Women's Olympic Boxing brochure

AIBA Media Contact: Adam Szreter: +41 79 817 1670

AAC e-mail working again! athleterep@usoc.org

OK Everyone,

The AAC e-mail address is functioning again. It is athleterep@usoc.org.

Feel free to contact us anytime!

Women's Pan American Games 2009 Postponed!

The USA Boxing National Office and the Newark, New Jersey Organizing Committee have agreed to postpone the 2009 Women's Continental Championships that were scheduled for August 12 -17, 2009.

With the opportunity to delay this important competition, the USA Boxing National Office will work closely with the Women's Task Force to ensure appropriate staffing is assigned to this event, and a date is set that will allow all interested Boxing Federations to participate.

LOCATION AND DATES TBD

Please feel free to contact Cathy Newell at the National Office with any questions.
719-866-2302, or email cnewell@usaboxing.org.

New Temporary e-mail address for AAC-old one NOT working

Hello everyone,

For some reason, yet to be discovered, our usoc e-mail address is not functioning

properly.  I don't know how long it has not been working, so I apologize if you tried

to e-mail us and it bounced back.  Until further notice, you can use my personal 

e-mail address which is angelbovee@hotmail.com.

I will let you know when our email address gets fixed.  Thank you and hope everyone is 

training hard for US Nationals!

Angel Bovee

Women's Olympic Inclusion Update

The International Federation for Boxing (AIBA) has officially submitted its proposal for women's Olympic inclusion to the International Olympic Committee (IOC). The AIBA proposal for 2012 specifies five women's weight classes and 10 men's weight classes: the five women's weights range from 47kg to 75kg. The proposal also specifies the participation of 40 women boxers as opposed to 246 men.

The IOC's Programme Commission (PC) is in the process of reviewing the AIBA proposal. Once the review is completed, the Programme Commission can either accept it, or ask AIBA to amend its proposal. Once the PC and AIBA have finalized it, the final proposal will be submitted to the IOC Executive Commission (IOC EC) for their vote.

The IOC EC vote is expected to take place at one of two upcoming IOC meetings scheduled for mid-August and early October. By mid-October, the 2012 Olympic Game Program will be determined.

The upcoming vote has the potential of becoming a milestone in the Olympic sports movement. All other Olympic sports include female athletes. In 2004 and 2008, boxing was the only sport without women's participation. It is possible that the 2012 Olympic Games will mark the first-ever Olympics with all 26 sports including female athletes.

• The upcoming vote, then, is an opportunity for the IOC to send a message to all International Federations (IF), National Olympic Committees (NOCs), and National Governing Bodies (NGBs), that female athletes are valued and a valuable part of the Olympic movement. It will serve as a reminder to the world that the IOC supports the participation of all qualified athletes regardless of gender.

• Further, support by the IOC means that more financial support will come from IFs, NOCs, and NGBs. (In the United States, these organizations are AIBA, the US Olympic Committee (USOC), and USA Boxing, Inc.) Olympic inclusion represents a beginning to the end of institutionalized bias.

• The IOC can lead the way in showing its strong support for women athletes. The upcoming vote will no doubt bring attention to the international women's sports movement. Boxing represents the most traditionally "masculine" of all sports, and women boxers have worked for more than 100 years to break the barrier of participation. Boxing carries significance for all female athletes.

• Finally, the upcoming vote can be a boon to Olympic-style boxing. The addition of female boxers will bring new possibilities, new heroes, renewed viewership interest, and new marketing opportunities for the sport.

If the IOC votes in favor of five women's events for 2012, the IOC takes a strong step toward offering all boxers the dream of participating in the Olympics, sends a strong message that they value women's inclusion, and makes great strides toward a truly inclusive Olympic Games.

Please take 10 minutes to complete this athlete survey!

Athletes,

USA Boxing is hosting a survey and have gotten a lot of non-athlete responses but they are looking for more feedback from athletes.  Please let your voice be heard and click on the link below and complete the 10 minute survey.  Lets show the that we care about giving input into the organization!  Thanks in advance for your help!

Click on link below or copy and paste the link below into  your browser to take the survey!

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=cM9cE9Ms_2f2LtCqw8QBurxg_3d_3d

The purpose of the survey is to gain important information about USAB members in order that we might be able to better meet your needs in the future.  All responses are anonymous and your information will be kept confidential.

Angel Bovee

Chair AAC

Welcome to the USA Boxing Athlete Advisory Council blog!

Hello all USA Boxing Athletes!  Welcome to the Athlete Advisory Council Blog!  Here we will keep you updated on news important to athletes, answer questions, and help keep your athlete experience with USA Boxing as positive and rewarding as possible.  

The Athlete Advisory Council is made up of nine National athlete representatives including two USAB Board of Director members and one USAB Foundation member.  The other six members are National representative members including one Junior (age 15-17) representative.  Our elections are now held online and by fax/mail in the summer/fall of each year.  Stay tuned to this blog and to our website at www.usaboxingathlete.org to find out more information.  Feel free to e-mail us at anytime at athleterep@usoc.org!

We have some big projects we are working on in 2009/2010 including our new "Athlete's Corner" newsletter, finishing our new website, assembling a list of all LBC athlete reps to get a better reach to all athletes, instituting an athlete mentoring program and more!  Drop us a line!

Angel Bovee

Chair AAC