Rio Olympics 2016 – The First Name for U.S Olympic Boxing Team Announced

On Monday, the first participant of the U.S Olympic boxing team for the upcoming Rio Olympics 2016 was announced. The lightweight contender Carlos Balderas is the lucky fighter who has been awarded his spot in the team.

The 19 year old pugilist said that he feels wonderful after getting his name in the team. He said, “We’ve been climbing up the ranks, and it’s a wonderful feeling because I remember when I told my dad [that I am going to the Olympics], and my dad got emotional. My dad teared up. As a kid you are set to so many standards and you’re told that you’re not good enough for this. You’re only capable of a certain amount of things and I’ve proved to a lot of people that with God, anything is possible.”

Balderas also said that he went to boxing gym for the first time when he was a kid and it was supposedly a punishment for him. But it turned out that Balderas was a natural boxer. He said, “I was getting into the fights and getting into trouble and so, they took me to the boxing gym so another kid could whoop on me and straighten me out. The other kid actually had some experience and it was my first time in a boxing gym but it actually went the other way around. They asked if I had boxed before and I told them that I hadn’t and we realized that I just a natural-born fighter.”

The U.S Olympic trials for Rio Olympics are going to start from December 7 and end on December 12. Those who qualify will get their spots on the U.S Olympic teams. Rio Olympics will be held next year in August. The women boxing trials were held lately in October and three boxing stars have been selected to represent the U.S women boxing team. Ginny Fuchs, Mikaela Mayer and Claressa Shields are the three American pugilists who will be going to the Rio Olympics to represent their country.

US Olympic Trials to be Held in Reno in December

The women Olympic boxing trials were held lately in October after which Mikaela Mayer, Virginia Fuchs and Claressa Shields were selected to represent US in the upcoming Rio Olympics 2016. The Olympic boxing trials for men are going to take place in Reno in the beginning of December. A total of 69 pugilists are competing in the trials, all trying their best to get a chance to represent their nation in the Rio Olympics taking place next year in August.

The trials will start from December 7 and end on December 12. Semi-finals and Finals are going to take place on December 11 and 12. One boxer has already been selected for the US Olympic team. The renowned fighter Carlos Balderas is the lucky one who received his spot in the team without going through the trails. After being awarded the name in the team, Balderas said, “My work has finally paid off. We work so hard for this. It’s going to be great. Anything can happen. One punch can change a fight.”

The president of US boxing, Mike Martino said, “These are the best of the best. It’s going to be a great competitive week of amateur boxing. If you’re a boxing fan, I don’t think there’s a more purer level of amateur boxing. These are great young men. They will be representing the United States.”

Amir Khan and Chris Gayle Pose Together In a Picture

The British Pugilist Amir Khan, who possesses a track record of 31-3 with 19 knockouts, lately went to India to attend the Indian cricketer Harbhajan Singh’s wedding ceremony. Khan is still in India and recently posed for a picture in Delhi with Chris Gayle, the West Indies cricketer.

Khan was planning to fight Manny Pacquiao, the eight division world champion who possesses a track record of 57-6-2 with 38 knockouts, in his farewell fight next year on April 9. The opponent of the fight has not been confirmed or officially announced yet so there still stands a chance for Khan to face Pacman in the ring.

Khan said that he wants to launch boxing academies throughout the world and that’s why he went to India. Talking about his trip Khan said, “The plan is basically to have academies around the world and India is one of the places where it can happen. Sometimes having a name behind an academy makes a lot of difference. Delhi and Mumbai to start with, champions come from grassroots, that's exactly what I'm doing in Pakistan.”

Khan also talked about the Indian boxer Vijender Singh and said that he is a current role model for India in boxing. Singh is the first ever Indian boxer to have won an Olympic boxing medal. The middleweight fighter won the medal in Beijing Olympics 2008. Singh fought his professional debut this year on October 10 in Manchester, England and defeated Sonny Whiting by knocking him out. He is going to have his next professional fight against Dean Gillen on November 7 in Ireland. Khan appreciated the boxer and will be hoping that he’ll perform well in his upcoming fight.

The New US Boxing Coach Billy Walsh Faces an Early Obstacle

Billy Walsh is the former Irish boxer and boxing coach who lately retired from Ireland and started coaching the US women boxing team for Olympics. He suffered an early setback as the current best US women flyweight boxing champion, Olympic bronze medalist for the year 2012 and the 2014 world champion Marlen Espraza failed to pass the trials for Rio Olympics 2016.

Espraza lost to the southpaw fighter Virginia Fuchs whom she previously defeated five times. Both the fighters showed aggression in the ring but Fuchs hit more powerful punches and managed to beat Espraza. After the fight, Fuchs said, “I kept my space. I didn't let her get inside from the first round.” Espraza was shocked at her loss and said, “It's OK. She was connecting and looked more aggressive. I had my mind stuck on right-handers. No big deal, whatever.”

The gold medalist of London Olympics 2012 Claressa Shields won the middleweight category and is now looking forward to win the Olympic gold medal for US once again. Moreover, 18 year old Jajaira Gonzalez defeated Mikaela Mayer by unanimous decision after which Mayer made a comeback and defeated Gonzalez back. After the fight, Mayer said, “Hat's off to Jajaira, she's definitely one of the toughest opponents I've had in a long time. It was the third round where I started to pick up my movement and I said, ‘Let me remember to just have fun with this, use my boxing skills and frustrate her’ because that was the only way that I knew that I could pull this off. Making her miss was the key."

Mayer, Fuchs and Shields will now qualify for the Rio Olympics 2016. The three pugilists will have their initial chance to qualify for the Olympic Games field in March at continental qualifier in Argentina. The world championships in Kazakhstan is the final qualifier which will take place in May.

The new US Team coach Billy Walsh said, “I’m not going to take away anything that they already have. What they have is fantastic. I’m only going to add to it and try and make them a more all-around boxer who can fight at any distance against any opponent in any place.”

Top 5 US Boxing Champions

A lot of extraordinary boxers belong to America. Here are the names of the top five professional American boxers of all time.

5 – Mike Tyson:

Mike ‘Iron’ Tyson, a great heavyweight orthodox fighter, holds a track record of 50-6 with 44 knockouts. He is a former boxer who started fighting in 1985 and gained fame very fast due to his extraordinary fighting skills. During his professional boxing career, Tyson defeated many great fighters like Larry Holmes, Michael Spinks and Brian Nielsen. He fought his last fight in 2005.

4 – Sugar Ray Robinson:

Sugar Ray Robinson was one of the best fighters in the world who was well-known for his fierce punches. He used to fight in orthodox stance in the middleweight division and fought as many as 200 bouts throughout his boxing career and won 173 fights with 108 knockouts. He lost 19 fights and 6 of his fights ended as a draw. His career lasted from 1940 to 1965.

3 – Floyd Mayweather Jr:

Floyd Mayweather Jr. also known as ‘Money’ and ‘Pretty Boy’ is one of the most legendary fighters of all time. The undefeated welterweight fighter possesses a track record of 49-0. Mayweather knocked out his opponents in the ring 26 times. His career started on October 11, 1996 and since then, he defeated many renowned and skilled fighters like Manny Pacquiao, Juan Manuel Marquez, Oscar De La Hoya, Ricky Hatton, Miguel Cotto and Canelo Alvarez. He fought his last fight against Andre Berto on September 12, 2015. He announced his retirement soon after that fight.

2 – Joe Louis:

Joe Louis, also known as ‘The Brown Bomber’, was one of the most skilful and expert boxers in the entire history of boxing. The orthodox fighter used to fight in heavyweight division and possessed a track record of 66-3 with 52 KO’s. He won the first 24 fights of his career and then lost to Max Schmeling in his 25^th fight. After that, he won 34 fights in a row but then lost in a fight against Ezzard Charles. Then after winning another 8 continuous fights, Louis fought the last fight of his career against Rocky Marciano at Madison Square Gardens, NY and got knocked out in the eighth round of the bout. His career lasted from 1934 to 1951.

1 – Muhammad Ali:

Muhammad Ali is the best American boxer of all time and is also known as ‘The Greatest’. Ali took part in 61 bouts throughout his boxing career, won 56 of them, knocked his opponents out 37 times and lost only 5 fights. Joe Frazier was the first person to defeat Ali in the ring. He put an end to Ali’s remarkable winning streak of 31-0. Later, Ali had a rematch with Frazier in his career’s 46^th fight in which he defeated Frazier. Then Frazier fought once again with Ali and got defeated by him. Ali defeated many other renowned, skilful and expert boxing champions like Earnie Shavers, George Foreman, Bob Foster and Floyd Patterson. His career lasted from 1960 to 1981.

These are the top 5 boxing champions who belong to America. The fighters have been ranked by professional and expert boxing specialists.