International Olympic Committee : News

Boxing: Calls in Philippines for Pacquiao to resign

12/11/2012 5:06:24 AM

Philippine media commentators have put pressure on boxing great Manny Pacquiao to retire after his heavy defeat in Las Vegas, with one comparing him to Parkinson's disease sufferer Muhammed Ali.

The southpaw who turns 34 next Monday has vowed to fight on. But many suspect that 17 years of pro ring combat are now taking their toll on the man once seen by many as the world's finest pound-for-pound fighter.

Pacquiao, a national hero, was knocked out by Mexican rival Juan Manuel Marquez in Las Vegas on Saturday in his second consecutive defeat.

"Pacquiao got hit hard but in the end, he was conquered by Father Time after it turned out he could no longer take a solid punch," wrote sports columnist Recah Trinidad in the Philippine Daily Inquirer newspaper.

Pacquiao, who fought his way out of poverty as a teenager and is now immensely wealthy, had earlier controversially lost his World Boxing Organisation welterweight crown to unbeaten US fighter Tim Bradley on July 9.

Boxing television analyst Ronnie Nathanielsz said that while Pacquiao wants a shot at redeeming himself, there was always the danger that too many punches could condemn him to the fate of his US coach, ex-fighter Freddie Roach.

"The sight of Roach himself riddled by Parkinson's disease and the great heavyweight champion Muhammad Ali, wracked by the disease, sends shivers among many who care deeply for Pacquiao," Nathanielsz wrote in the Manila Standard.

Philippine Olympic Committee vice-president Joey Romasanta said Pacquiao should have quit after his last winning title defence in 2011, when he retained his WBO welterweight crown against his old foe Marquez, now 39.

"It would have been nice if he had retired while he was ahead. In boxing, there will always be somebody better. After this loss, Manny should read the signs and consider these things," Romasanta told the Manila Bulletin newspaper.

Pacquiao, a former eight-division world champion, has parlayed his boxing fame into a film and television career. He was also elected to parliament in 2010 and even become a Bible-quoting preacher.

Critics say this has led him to lose his focus on boxing.

But despite their misgivings, many more Filipinos still want Pacquiao to go out on a high note by winning everyone's dream match before retiring.

To many, that would pit him against undefeated American fighter Floyd Mayweather Jnr, even though earlier efforts to set up the dream match have failed.

"He shouldn't retire. He has to recover and redeem himself. Then he can retire," Roel Velasco, a bronze medallist at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics, told the Bulletin.

Even London-based Boxing News blogger Daniel Welling questioned whether Pacquiao should find a better way to bid boxing goodbye.

"It would be a huge shame if one of the greatest fighters of the modern era ends his career face down on the mat," he wrote.

mm/cgm/sm

Boxing: Klitschko's ex-boxing stable files for bankruptcy

11/20/2012 1:39:33 PM

Universum Box-Promotion, the former stable of world heavyweight champions Wladimir and Vitali Klitschko, has filed for bankrupcty, its CEO Waldemar Kluch announced on Tuesday.

"Universum can no longer be rescued," said Kluch.

"Yesterday, we cancelled all loans and on Monday we filed a petition for bankruptcy at the district court."

Kluch said his Hamburg-based company had 20 outstanding bills to pay worth a total of approximately 1.5 million euros (US$1.9m).

Former WBC middleweight champion Sebastian Zbik had recently filed a complaint against Universum for an outstanding fight purse worth around 190,000 euros (US$243,500).

"He never made signs or showed an interest in paying his bills," said Zbik.

Wladimir Klitschko started his career with Universum, which was founded in 1984, after winning Olympic gold at Atlanta in 1996 and signed along with elder brother Vitali, before the siblings formed their own management company.

Former WBA middleweight champion Felix Sturm, ex-WBO light heavyweight champion Dariusz Michalczewski and former women's world flyweight champion Regina Halmich all fought for Universum during their careers.

ryj/ak

Boxing: WBA world featherweight title fight result

11/9/2012 4:07:45 PM

Result from a World Boxing Association world featherweight title fight on Friday:

Chris John (INA) bt Chonlatarn Piriyapinyo (THA) - points

afp

Boxing: Morales dope test result clouds bout

10/19/2012 11:34:57 PM

The main event in a jam-packed fight card bringing elite boxing back to Brooklyn on Saturday was in jeopardy after "irregularities" in a drug test of Mexican veteran Erik Morales.

The random test was administered by the US Anti-Doping Agency.

"USADA informed Golden Boy Promotions Tuesday that there were 'irregularities' found in one of Erik Morales' random drug tests," Richard Schaefer, CEO of Golden Boy Promotions, said Friday amid reports that Morales had tested positive for the banned steroid clenbuterol.

"We will now let the process play itself out without a rush to judgment. It is a matter of due process and that is how it will be handled. We will proceed forward with the event either way as we have a tremendous show planned for the evening."

Morales, a four-time world champion, was scheduled to challenge light welterweight champion Danny Garcia, who is coming off a fourth-round stoppage of ex-champ Amir Khan in July that took his record of 24-0 with 15 knockouts.

The bout, one of four world title fights on the card at the new, $1 billion Barclays Center, is a rematch of their fight in March, in which Garcia earned a unanimous decision.

Both Garcia and Morales weighed-in on schedule on Friday, when the fight was tentatively still expected to go on.

The Barclays Center is the new home of the NBA's Nets, who are moving this season from New Jersey to the New York borough.

It will stage the first major fights in Brooklyn since August 5, 1931, when Maxie Rosenbloom defeated Jimmy Slattery to retain the light heavyweight world title at Ebbets Field -- the home of baseball's then-Brooklyn Dodgers that no longer exists.

There was one other blow for the card on Friday as Pablo Cesar Cano failed to make weight for his World Boxing Association title clash with Brooklyn native Paulie Malignaggi, the reigning WBA champ.

That fight will still go on as a non-title bout.

bb/sst

Carrazana claims Fly Weight title - London 2012 - Boxing

8/12/2012 12:00:00 AM

Carrazana, 18, won this afternoon's first final by a score of 17-14 over his older Mongolian opponent in what was an excellent contest.

Nyambayar, 20, enjoyed the lion's share of support but Carrazana edged the opening round 6-5 and after a level second, was awarded the third 7-5.

Kazakhstan's Serik Sapiyev claimed the Welter Weight crown with a 17-9 win over Great Britain's Fred Evans.

European champion Evans overcame world champion and world number one Taras Shelestyuk in the semi-final to set up a final showdown with Sapiyev.

However, he was unable to make an impression against Sapiyev, who controlled the bout and won every round.

Lomachenko claims another title - London 2012 - Boxing

8/12/2012 12:00:00 AM

The champion from the now-defunct Feather Weight division secured a 19-9 victory over his opponent from the Republic of Korea.

The bout was all but over after world champion Lomachenko won the first round 7-2 and although Han did well to lose the second only 4-3, normal service resumed in the final round, which he lost 8-4.

Russia's Egor Mekhontcev claimed the Light Heavy Weight gold after the tightest contest possible against Kazakhstan's Adilbek Niyazymbetov.

The bout was scored 15-15 and the fighters could not even be separated by countback, with Mekhontcev winning courtesy of the judges' individual preference.

Niyazymbetov edged the first round 4-3, with Mekhontcev taking the next 5-4 to draw level.

And it was 7-7 in the final round, prompting what was a dramatic conclusion.

Golden day for Joshua - London 2012 - Boxing

8/12/2012 12:00:00 AM

Amid extraordinary scenes at ExCeL, Joshua blazed out for the final round against Italy's reigning champion Roberto Cammarelle, and after the pair had exchanged punches for three minutes, the decision for Joshua - after an 18-18 draw - brought the house down.

Joshua had started looking entirely undaunted by the reputation of the man in the opposite corner, and it was no surprise having beaten Cammarelle in their only previous meeting in the quarter-finals of last year's World Championships.

Still a relative novice in Super Heavy Weight terms, Joshua had improved enormously in every bout in the competition so far, and the left jab with which he dominated Ivan Dychko in the semi-final was once again in evidence here.

But if Joshua controlled the majority of the opener, he entered dangerous territory in the last 30 seconds when he was caught in the Italian's corner and clattered by four consecutive right hands by Cammarelle.

Chastened by the experience, Joshua started the second in more cautious fashion, allowing the bulkier Cammarelle to dictate the pace of the contest and once again land the cleaner shots in the final moments of the round to extend his lead to three points.

It was no surprise that both men went at it in the last, Joshua suddenly finding more success with big rights, one of which clearly rocked his opponent, and the crowd roared him through the final few seconds before the drama unfolded.

Youth Olympic Games boxer takes bronze at London 2012 and makes history

8/11/2012 12:35:00 PM

"Having won a bronze medal is an indescribable feeling,” the 20-year old, who was defeated by Korea’s Soon-Chul Han in his semi-final, said. “I can't find a word for it. Lithuania was without a (boxing) medal for 44 years so I think I made my country and myself proud.”

Also in the ring was Cuba’s Robeisy Ramirez Carrazana, who proved too much for Ireland’s Michael Conlan as he won his flyweight (52kg) semi-final. After winning every round the 18-year-old Youth Olympic champion made it comfortably into the finals and is guaranteed at least a silver medal. "I was really focused on the fight and the tactics we had decided upon and we stuck to the game plan. It was much tougher than I expected but overall it was a good match for me," he said. The final will be one of the last events of the Games on Sunday.

Over at the BMX track, the competition ended in true style with plenty of speed. Youth Olympian Twan van Gendt from the Netherlands finished in fifth place after a bad start and a near crash. Though for Twan, who’s been plagued with injury after injury, finishing fifth was a huge accomplishment.

"I'm with the last eight for the third time in my life, after all my injuries, it just went super. And I came fifth at the Olympic Games, for me that is not really a disappointment.” Next stop, Rio 2016.
There were even more Youth Olympic Games athletes in action at the Aquatics Centre as the men’s 10m platform diving qualifications got underway, featuring China’s Qiu Bo and Great Britain’s Tom Daley. Nineteen-year-old Qiu qualified in first place after performing to perfection, while Tom edged through in fifteenth place. They both perform in the semi-finals on Saturday morning.

While over at the Wembley Arena, Russia’s Ksenia Dudkina and Alina Makarenko and Canada’s Katrina Cameron all helped their teams into the rhythmic gymnastics group finals taking place on Sunday. Could another Youth Olympic medal be on the cards? We think so!

Murata is Middle man

8/11/2012 12:00:00 AM

Murata was seeded second in the draw, with Florentino fourth, and the bout was as close as may have been expected from two of the medal favourites.

The pair have met before, with Murata victorious in the semi-finals of the World Championships last year - a competition where he went on to claim silver while Florentino won bronze.

Murata was at his most active in the opening minutes, using his reach to penetrate and move into a 5-3 lead.

Florentino, so impressive in his win over Great Britain's Anthony Ogogo yesterday, responded impressively, dictating the tone in the second round with a consistent flurry of right jabs.

Murata was put on the back foot but his defence held firm and he remained 9-8 in front going into the final round.

Again, Florentino went on the attack and briefly forced his opponent into a dangerous position on the ropes before losing his footing.

Florentino made all the running but Murata was deflecting enough shots to draw the round and take the Olympic title.

Iglesias springs Light Welter surprise - London 2012 - Boxing

8/11/2012 12:00:00 AM

The judges awarded the bout to Iglesias by a score of 22-15, but it did not flatter the 23-year-old - who had lost to the same opponent in last year's World Championships.

Berinchyk went on to take silver in Baku and ended with the same medal here, as Iglesias - the bronze medallist at Beijing 2008 - made 11 scoring shots in a one-sided final round that saw the Ukrainian's defence penetrated.

Iglesias had done enough to edge the first two rounds by a point apiece but in the closing stages the reigning Pan-American champion kept connecting, mostly with a thunderous left-hand counter, to win in style.

For his part, Berinchyk did not seem too disappointed by defeat and celebrated silver with a mid-ring dance for his fans.