The Favorite Fighters, Best Rivalries and Intriguing Things to Watch For at the London 2012 Olympic Boxing Tournament
The Light Welterweight and Welterweight divisions for men’s boxing at the 2012 Olympics will be fiercely competitive. You’ll find a deep talent pool in each class, as far ranging as traditional powers like Cuba, to solid competitors from the USA, hometown favorites from the UK, and medal contenders from Eastern Europe, South America and beyond.
Dive in and take a look at our breakdown for each of these two weight divisions, where you’ll learn the fighters to beat, the major questions that need to be answered, and much more.
Light Welterweight London Olympic Boxing Overview
Medal Favorites & Fighters to Watch
- Everton Lopes from Brazil is the reigning 2011 world champion in the division, and he took out Denys Berinchyk from Ukraine in order to bag that gold medal, an impressive outing. Experienced and talented, Lopes has a chance for gold.
- Ukraine’s Denys Berinchyk is another top threat in the division. He narrowly lost to Lopes at the worlds in the final, taking home silver, and he handily dispatched of England’s Thomas Stalker in the semi-finals, scoring an absurd 31 points.
- Rosniel Iglesias of Cuba took home a bronze at the 2008 Olympics, and maintains a top 10 ranking in the world. Most recently, he took out prodigy Francisco Vargas from Puerto Rico at the Americas qualifying event to win gold there. However, he lost to Berinchyk at the 2011 worlds.
- Thomas Stalker of England will be a hometown hero at the London Olympic boxing tournament. The world’s number 1 ranked fighter in the division, he has had some great runs in international competition, such as when he took out Italy’s Domenico Valentino to win a European championship in 2010. However, head to head, he has lost badly to Lopes at the 2009 worlds, and Berinchyk at the 2011 worlds.
Things to Watch For
- USA Boxing’s team captain is Jamel Herring, a US Marines sergeant, and the squad’s representative at Light Welterweight.
- Lopes, Berinchyk, Iglesias and Stalker all have squared off with at least one or two of the others. It makes for an intriguing formula, where match-ups and the tournament draw will factor heavily into who advances and has the best medal hopes.
- Iglesias is the only returning medalist from the 2008 Olympics, making for a pretty wide open and even field. Precocious Vargas from Puerto Rico could work his way onto the medal stand, for example, as could Manoj Kumar from India, who lost in competitive fashion to Stalker at the 2011 Worlds.
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Welterweight London Olympic Boxing Overview
Medal Favorites & Fighters to Watch
- Ukrainian boxer Taras Shelestyuk is the clear favorite for gold in the Welterweight division. He won the 2011 World Championships, taking out Serik Sapiyev pretty clearly in the final. If he doesn’t win gold, he’ll likely go home disappointed.
- Serik Sapiyev of Kazakhstan is deeply experienced in international competition. He took home a silver at the 2011 worlds, losing to Shelestyuk, and defeating Errol Spence from the US. He defeated Shelestyuk at the 2009 worlds, and competed in Beijing in 2008, although he lost in an early round.
- Errol Spence from Team USA isn’t a favorite for a medal, but he’s a contender if he gets the right draw. Namely, he needs to avoid early matches with Shelestyuk or Sapiyev if he wants to make it to the podium.
- Welshman Freddie Evans will have some friendly faces in the crowds, and hopes to build on his experiences thus far. At the 2011 Worlds, he won three matches before being sent home in the quarterfinals.
- India’s Vikas Krishan Yadav took home bronze at the 2011 Worlds, losing to Shelestyuk, and previously won gold at the 2010 youth worlds, which certainly places him in the running to make it up to the medal stand at London.
- Mike Ribeiro of Brazil won the Americas qualifying event, defeating Mexico’s Oscar Molina in the process, however, he had a terrible showing at the 2011 Worlds, losing in the first round of competition.
Things to Watch For
- Shelestyuk vs. Sapiyev – The two favorites in the division have met at the last two world championships, with Sapiyev taking the first meeting, and Shelstyuk taking the second. Will the two meet again, and if so, which fighter will win, and will the battle be for a gold medal?
- Which fighter gets the best draw to make a deep run? Guys like Ribeiro, Yadav, Spence and Evans all need to avoid the two big dogs at the top if they want to bring home a medal, but not all of them will be able to do that.
