Cammarelle disgusted by loss to Joshua, Plans to turn pro...

Joshua awarded the victory over Cammarelle in a very close fight.

Former super-heavyweight Olympic champion Roberto Cammarelle claims that he was disgusted with amateur boxing after not being given the decision against Britain's Anthony Joshua in the final at the London Olympics on Sunday.

Cammarelle was looking to make history by defending the super-heavyweight title he won in Beijing back in 2008. The Italian won two out of the three rounds but Joshua put on a fantastic performance in the last round to bring the fight to a draw. Joshua, 22 was awarded the fight on countback and Cammarelle was left with a silver medal, which is still a great achievement but not what he was looking for.

The 32-year old's coach Francesco Damiani protested the result to the AIBA but was unsuccessful. Cammarelle also spoke out about the Olympic judging:

"It's not Joshua's fault, but the Olympics were held in London and here evidently somebody likes to win in this manner," said the Italian. "This type of boxing no longer represents me and I don't like it."

He also added that he will not be attempting to regain his Olympic title at the 2016 Olympics in Rio, he will now go into the pro ranks and start punching for pay.

Personally, I don't think the decision was actually that bad. The Italian was rightfully ahead by three points at the end of the second round, but Joshua did more than enough to level the score. Some of the decisions at London 2012 have been terrible, but this one wasn't.

I'm sure that a lot of people are really looking forward to see Cammarelle turn pro as he does have a good solid style that would be affective in the professional game and there's also a lot of good fights out there for him. The main one being a rematch with David Price. Cammarelle defeated Price in the semi-final of the 2008 Olympics meaning Price was left with bronze and the Italian went on to win gold. This fight would probably be way down the line in both of these men's career, probably after Cammarelle has eased into the pro ranks and Price has already fought some of the big guys (Either Klitschko, Haye, Fury, Povetkin). However, there are a lot of good match-ups in the near future; Rematch with Joshua, Dereck Chisora, Alexander Povetkin, Seth Mitchell, just to name a few.

Lomachenko signs pro contract with AIBA!

Lomachenko with gold medal in 2008.

Ukrainian Olympic representative Vasyl Lomachenko and four of his medal-winning team mates have signed with the AIBA on a new professional boxing venture created by the governing body of the amateur sport. 

AIBA president Wu Ching-Kuo announced the signing of the strongest team of this year's Olympics to the press on Friday.  

Lomachenko has been awaited in the pro game for a very long time and now he is finally making the jump into the paid ranks. The Ukrainian has dominated the sport since winning a gold medal at the Beijing Games in 2008. He is also regarded by most as the best pound-for-pound amateur in the world. All of this has attracted huge amounts of attention from professional promoters but Lomachenko has decided to go with the AIBA. 

The professional version of the AIBA will be known as the 'APB' and will begin staging shows in the fall of 2013.

Adams gets gold!... By @Danemicus

Inspired by Amir Khan's Olympic success and with childhood heroes such as Muhammad Ali, Nicola Adams proved to any remaining doubters that women can be just as technically sound a pugility as their male counterparts. Unphased by the occasion in the first ever Olympic final for women's boxing, Adams' performance will have issued a statement. Not only is women's boxing here to stay, but it may yet throw the ailing sport a lifeline with what is a new and unfamiliar dimension for many. It became evident in the opening round just why Adams considered her opponent, China's Ren Canan, to be her nemesis.

It was the Chinese southpaw who was victorious in their previous meeting and early indications were that this would be a competitive encounter when an impetuous Adams found her left root inside the right southpaw's lead, walking square on to a stern left cross. Canan had moderate success on the frontfoot, thanks in part to Adams not moving quickly enough to her own left in order to negate the angles for Canan's left hand. Alas, it wasn't long before Adams talent came into play when she started to land good, clean counter shots towards the end of the round, punishhing Canan for whenever she came came forward in straight lines. In truth, the score of 4-2 seemed flattering score for what seemed a very even round overall, but there would be no such room for debate in round 2 on wards. Canan plodded forward with intent, but her efforts to reduce the deficit were in vain with Adams' lateral movement opening up good angles for which to land her combinations. The left hook and straight right are the classic counters against the southpaw, and Nicola was able to land plenty of both. Indeed, it was a right cross followed by a left hook which floored Canana towards the end of the round, opening up a 9-4 lead.

With an ever-increasing deficit in the scores, Canan had no choice but to take risks and it soon became clear that just like many southpaws, Canan is much more comfortable on the backfoot and at holding the center of the ring than she is at coming forward. Adams was able to keep her opponent off-balance with her superior handspeed and accuracy, controlling range seemingly at will, as well as working much more effectively on the inside. With a score of 14-6, Adams commanded what would proved to be an insurmountable lead going into the fourth, but rather than remain on the backfoot, Adams, was even content to trade in the second half of what proved to be another dominant round.

An excellent overall performance for Nicola Adams, the first ever Olympic gold medalist in women's boxing, and such a worthy winner on the night!

Does Olympic Gold = World Champion?

By Gary Alder (@garyalder321).

With Team GB well within the medal hunt in the boxing not only for the men but now the women as well, I take a look at some of the greats throughout history and does this mean our possible gold medallists have a bright future?

One thing is for sure, it will certainly attract the attention of some keen promoters. If we look as recent as the Beijing games for Great Britain, we see the rise of stars such as David Price, a heavyweight fighter already being lined up for a potential title fight with Wladmir Klitschko. Another name of note is James Degale, a gold medallist in Beijing remaining undefeated until that fateful night with George Groves, a rivalry which I’m sure will re-new itself at world title level. Then we have the unfortunate likes of Bronze medallist Tony Jeffries, plagued by injuries, cuts and poor performances against low opposition. He has always been that draw in Sunderland but like other fighters struggle to find the TV and arena audiences outside home town fights. Even the likes of David Price are resided to the fact that his Liverpool fan base is what is going to keep money going into his pocket, whilst creating an exciting atmosphere for himself and the viewing public.


History shows us every weight division has a special name to list:
Sugar Ray Leonard – Light Welterweight
Cassius Clay – Light Heavyweight
Michael Spinks – Middleweight
Joe Frazier – Heavyweight
Oscar De La Hoya - Bantamweight
George Foreman – Heavyweight
Lennox Lewis – Super Heavyweight
Wladmir Klitschko – Super Heavyweight

All these great names went on to transcend the sport.

So does the Olympics prepare you for life after amateur boxing? I think it definitely provides the goal and determination to achieve that gold medal, which takes a similar kind of drive to achieve that world title. It’s no coincidence that so many medallists go on to achieve a world title, the likes of Floyd Mayweather and Amir Khan who did not get that all illusive gold medal still go on to become unified world champions.


However it cannot prepare you for the lows of professional boxing. It is so rare to see an amateur fight dominated in the way a professional bout is, eventually ending with the career ruining knock out.

The gold medal is a step to stardom, the likes of which Andre Ward has recently felt, a tournament like the super six is built for an athlete such as Ward to compete against the best. Of course Andre has superior skills but that experience of going all the way to that gold medal match can only give you confidence.


Britain has much more of a tendency to celebrate our gold medallists and throw them into the fire and if they don’t come up smelling of roses, we lose patience. One name being Audley Harrison. Audley was one of our biggest successes post Olympics. He went on a few years undefeated but as soon as the real challenges came his way he folded. All culminating in that poor show against David Haye, and now the calls are for him to retire.

A gold medal can get you noticed, it can give a boxer that platform. That connection to the wider audience who watched the games in some foreign land. This time it is different. The games are in London. If a boxer can shine on this stage, they are setting their careers up for a nice pay day when they turn professional. Does this mean they will be world champion within 6 years? No it certainly doesn’t, but if they win the gold, keep that same drive and ambition that won them the gold, there is certainly no reason why they can’t become world champions (and millionaires in the process).

One thing is for sure though, With our recent history of turning medals into titles, Britain expects……