Cuban Revolution

By Adam_Canavan

It was in 1962 where the Cuban leader Fidel Castro decided to outlaw professional sports for political reasons that are probably beyond my knowledge to comment on, I'll stick to the boxing, and this leads to the Cuban domination in the amateurs that we all know and love. and if a Cuban fighter did want to turn pro then they would have to defect from their country. Fighters such as Teófilo Stevenson and Felix Savon chose to stay put in the amateurs and stay with their country and the great Pro's Cuba have produced such as Kid Chocolate and Kid Gavilán predated the ban on professional sports with the exception of the likes of Joel Casamayor, who is probably the most well known and successful Cuban defector in the pro ranks so far.

Thomas Stalker talks about turning pro!

@iFILMLONDON

2012 British Olympian Thomas Stalker has decided to join promoter Eddie Hearn at Matchroom Boxing and is looking to make his professional debut in the coming months. Find out the full details in the vid. 

Ogogo!

That's right, I don't even need a title. I just need that one word; 'Ogogo!'







If you haven't heard already; Team GB's Olympic hopeful Anthony Ogogo put on the performance of his life in the middleweight round of 16 and upset the reigning world champion Ievgen Khytrov. 

Going into the fight, Ogogo was expected to put up a good fight but just not have enough skill or strength to compete with the Ukrainian knockout machine Ievgen Khytrov who was stood in front of him. However, right from the off Ogogo came out fast and through a lot of accurate combinations. We all knew that this would be his key to victory if there was an upset on the cards but we didn't expect it to be as effective as it was. 

Ogogo won the first round pretty comfortably and the judges gave a score of 5-3. But in the second round Khytrov came on very strong and gave Ogogo two eight counts. However, one of them was for no apparent reason. The first one was definitely legitimate but when you watch the second one in slow motion the referee jumps in when the punches clearly land on Ogogo's gloves. Despite all of this, the Brit just did enough to make it a close round. He lost the round 7-6 which meant he was still one point up (11-10).  

Ogogo now had two options. No.1: Run away for the whole round and try to defend his small lead or No.2: Come out all guns blazing in attempt to increase his lead and secure the victory. He chose the second one. The 23-year old rushed out of his corner and landed a few quick shots on Khytrov but unfortunately from that point the momentum switched and Khytrov controlled most of the action in the third and final round. Ogogo still managed to get a few scoring shots through but Khytrov was landing plenty too.  

When the fight ended, nobody was quite sure who had won. I thought Ogogo had just done enough but like everyone else, I wasn't sure.  

After a long and tense wait the scores finally came in. The two men had drawn 18-18 and then 52-52 on countback which meant the judges had to pick the boxer that they felt did better. And they all chose Mr. Anthony Ogogo, and I don't blame them. He showed so much heart, courage and passion to not only get through the fight but also do enough to win it. He was a huge underdog to get into the tournament but he got through, he was a huge underdog going into the fight but he upset the odds once again. 

After eliminating the tournament favourite, a huge door has opened up for Ogogo. As long as he stays focused and doesn't lose his head he can definitely become British boxing's next gold medallist.

Lomachenko looking to turn pro after London 2012!

Vasyl Lomachenko, who is regarded by many as one of the greatest amateur boxers of all time, is considering moving in to the paid ranks and fighting in America right after the London 2012 Olympics. The Ukrainian has achieved all that there is to achieve as an amateur and is eager to achieve even more as a pro.

"I'm thinking about turning pro after these Olympics are finished. I'm thinking of a U.S. debut," told Lomachenko to the 2X2 Ukrainian TV channel. "The real prizefighting is in the States. It's level, the best fighters - all of this can be found only in America. Frankly speaking, I see no professional boxing in both my native Ukraine and in Europe."

Lomachenko is still only 24-years of age but he has already achieved so much. He jumped to stardom after his fantastic performance at the 2008 Beijing Olympics where he won his first Olympic gold medal. He has also won two gold medals at the world championships in 2009 and 2011 and he also became European champion in 2008. He will no doubt add to this collection of trophies and medals at this years Olympics. If your passionate about amateur and Olympic boxing... Vasyl Lomachenko is the man to watch out for!