The London 2012 Olympics sees many new faces in the middleweight (75 kg) and light heavyweight (81 kg) divisions. Of the eight boxers who won medals in these two divisions in Beijing, only one has returned for another run at Olympic glory. Some veterans turned pro, some were dethroned, some met with personal tragedy, and others merely retired.
The result is a wide-open field, but not one totally devoid of talent or experience. Neither the 75 kg or 81 kg divisions are especially deep this year, but each has a few very strong boxers. If those boxers should meet, expect sparks to fly.
Middleweight Olympic Boxing Overview
- Vjinder Singh of India: Singh was India’s first boxing medal-winner in 2008, and this year he is the veteran Olympic medalist in the middleweight division. The 6-foot, 26 year old boxer is making his third trip to the Olympics, and won a bronze in Beijing. His edge in experience plus his confidence as an Indian sports start are enough to make him a serious contender for another medal.
- Darren O’Neill of Ireland: O’Neill spent many years as second-best to Darren Sutherland and Ken Egan, both medalists in Beijing. After 2008, Sutherland turned pro (and later died), while Ken Egan was bedeviled by personal turmoil and went into decline. O’Neill moved into this vacuum to become Ireland’s premier amateur middleweight. Given that O’Neill was more or less the equal of Sutherland and Egan, who bagged a bronze and a silver respectively, this seasoned Irishman is an obvious and strong contender for a medal this year.
- Ryota Murata of Japan: The No. 2-ranked fighter in his division and a stand-out on an otherwise weak boxing squad, the 5’11”, 26 year old Murata has come along way. In his 2007 debut at the World Amateur Championships, the Japanese middleweight was thumped by Shawn Estrada of the USA, who went on to do very little at the 2008 Olympics. Murata has improved quite a bit since then, as well as having profited from the departure of some of the division’s best and most experienced talent. At the 2011 Baku Worlds, Murata kayoed Abbos Atoev of Uzbekistan and defeated Darren O’Neill by a two-to-one margin, only to narrowly lose to Ievgen Khytrov in the finals.That makes him a 2011 Worlds silver medalist, and one of the more experienced guys on the block.
- Ievgen Khytrov of Ukraine: The reigning world amateur champion, Khytrov met and defeated Ryota Murata in the finals at Baku, 24-22. The 24 year old Ievgen (“Eugene”) looks to be the strongest of the new faces in the middleweight ranks this year.
Light Heavyweight Olympic Boxing Overview
- Julio Cesar la Cruz of Cuba: The 5’5″, 22 year old Cuban is the reigning world amateur champion, a crown he earned by thumping the formidable Egor Mekhontsev. He also earned the laurel of best amateur boxer in the Americas for 2011. He is the top-ranked fighter in his division, but not by much.
- Egor Mekhontsev of Russia: A six-foot southpaw and 27 years old, Mekhontsev was a veteran middleweight before moving up to 81 kg-plus for his run on the 2012 Olympics. In 2009, the Russian fought as a heavyweight at the Milan Worlds and defeated two strong contenders from that division, Clemente Russo and Oleksandr Usyk to win gold. You read that correctly: Russia’s light heavyweight Olympian, a former middleweight, was the 2009 World Amateur Heavyweight Champion. Back at light heavyweight, Mekhontsev went to the Baku 2011 Worlds and defeated current Olympic rival Oleksandr Gvozdyk, before losing in the semi-finals to Julio Cesar la Cruz, adding a bronze to his collection of laurels. Mekhontsev is a veteran amateur of three different weight classes and a very tough customer.
- Damien Hooper of Australia: One might wonder why Damien Hooper is ranked No. 3 in the world by AIBA. The 5’11”, 20 year old comes from a distinguished youth league background, but had the bad luck of meeting La Cruz, the Cuban dynamo, at the 2011 Baku Worlds. The thing is that he held him to 13-14 loss, and that’s better than the fearsome Mekhontsev did.
- Marcus Browne of the USA: With the light heavyweight division so thin, Marcus Browne has an outside chance at a medal. Although he was skunked by Mekhontsev at the 2011 Worlds, Browne sailed through to win the finals at the AIBA Americas Qualifier, including a rout of Brazil’s Yamaguchi Florentino. Browne might just manage to find himself in the running for a bronze.
Things to Watch For
- The middleweight division’s vacuum has been filled by a mixture of fresh faces and talented veterans who have moved into fill the gap. While Ievgen Khytrov is a clear favorite to make it to the finals, I would not call him a clear gold medal favorite.
- The light heavyweight division is thin this year, and the odds are good that the final will be a rematch between Julio Cesar la Cruz and Egor Mekhontsev. That is a must-see fight, should it take place. The only other question in the division is who will take home the two bronze medals.
- Julio Cesar la Cruz is the team captain for Cuba this year. He served the same role in 2011.
- With Ireland a fight-friendly country and neighboring the UK, expect Darren O’Neill to enjoy the benefit of a sizable contingent of Irish fans when he fights.
- While Britain’s Anthony Ogogo is not a medal contender, if the draw should put him in the ring with Ireland’s Darren O’Neill, the cross-islands aspect makes that a fight to watch. Whenever Ireland meets the UK in a sporting event, it brings out the best from both sides.
