2008 Olympic Games Beijing 8.8.08-8.24.08 (with spoilers)

[emile]

Great fight by Lomachenko. He's going to be a handful for anyone, and he's got the charisma to be a star at the next level too. I wouldn't be surprised to see he and Raynell fight for the gold. Djelkhir looked good, but you can see why Raynell beat him in Chicago. He's a slugger, and I don't think he has the handspeed to keep up with Raynell, so as long as Williams doesn't get baited into a rough fight he should be okay.

I thought Georgiev was very classy. And wow - John Jackson beat Nurutdinov. I certainly had some bad predictions at that weight class.

In the evening session, which will be shown tonight in the US (THEREFORE SPOILERS BELOW)




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Sadam Ali got worked over by Popescu 20-5. One of my sleeper picks Onur Sipal, got beaten easily by teenage Puerto Rican Jose Pedraza, and Kim Song Guk of North Korea got dispatched by Daouda Sow of France.

[therealPunchDrunk]

Seriously Mel, those are just sour grapes.

No - not sour grapes. I just don't like Georgiev's style of boxing. I am not dissing his ability or skills.

Georgiev put on a boxing clinic, and he gave Molina all the offensive he could handle. At times he stood toe to toe with Molina, and schooled him even more than when he was moving. In the end, Molina would have suffered if it had been more of a phone booth fight.

I totally agree with your assessment and I don't think I've said, at any time, that I thought Molina won or came close to winning. He was totally outclassed and didn't know how to handle Georgiev at all.

I'll be looking forward to you saying that Andrade's style sucks, if/when he gets a comfortable points lead, and decides to defend it, then.

P.S. Isn't it a problem when an official has a bias against a certain style?

[therealPunchDrunk]

One of my sleeper picks Onur Sipal, got beaten easily by teenage Puerto Rican Jose Pedraza,

What made you believe in Sipal? I saw him "win" against Ugas in Turkey last year. Probably the least impressive "win" I've ever seen. He was outclassed as much as Molina was by Georgiev, but got the win.

[lap]

Jesus, can't a guy just not enjoy watching a particular boxer?

[emile]

One of my sleeper picks Onur Sipal, got beaten easily by teenage Puerto Rican Jose Pedraza,

What made you believe in Sipal? I saw him "win" against Ugas in Turkey last year. Probably the least impressive "win" I've ever seen. He was outclassed as much as Molina was by Georgiev, but got the win.

Because he's a teenager and an aggressive power hitter. He knocked down and stopped the Uzbek fighter Khidirov in Chicago very impressively, before Gavin worked him over. Not a great amateur fighter because of his lack of pure technique, but he was fun to watch - at least at that tournament.

[therealPunchDrunk]

Jesus, can't a guy just not enjoy watching a particular boxer?

This is a forum for debate, so when someone says something that makes no sense to me, I'll respond to it. I think that's the whole idea.

P.S. Mel's a woman...

[boxmel]

I'll be looking forward to you saying that Andrade's style sucks, if/when he gets a comfortable points lead, and decides to defend it, then.

Cute. I wasn't overly impressed with Andrade in his first bout and I didn't know headlocks were allowed in amateur boxing.

P.S. Isn't it a problem when an official has a bias against a certain style?

This is the Olympics and I am watching boxers whom I will never, ever judge. I DO NOT post my opinions on any US boxers who are still active in amateur boxing whom I might have the opportunity to judge. I may not like a particular style when I'm judging, however I focus on watching to see what legal, effective punches land and style doesn't enter into my final equation. There is a difference between judging and spectating.

P.S. Mel's a woman...

Thanks, TRPD, for acknowledging that fact and clearing up any misconceptions.

[emile]

Hey Mel, do you think AIBA gave the judges a clinic and asked them to be more certain before hitting the clickers? Or did they just purge the judges from Chicago who were a little finger happy (like Jack Plowman of New Zealand who gave Raynell Williams 70 hits in his fight with Djelkhir)? I've wondered about the consistency between events - the Pan Ams and American Qualifiers had similar scores to what we are seeing in Beijing, while the European and Asian Qualifiers and World Champs have been scored more liberally.

[boxmel]

Emile - I'm not all that familiar with the details of the AIBA system - maybe JMac can clarify when he gets back from Beijing. I do know that the judges must pass a rigerous selection process that included the Pan Ams and Worlds and finished up with the qualifiers. I believe they then were finally selected after a meeting or clinic or something somewhere. In the past, AIBA officials were chastized for scoring too high, and then for scoring too low, so I'm not sure what the criteria is now. I'm sure they were given a clinic before the boxing started in Beijing and advised as to what was expected. And I don't have any inside information as to what that could be. I know some officials were suspended in Chicago and haven't checked to see if they have turned up in the Olympics - I don't think Plowman is in China, however.

Frankly, one of the things that irritates me IS the lack of consistency - I have seen slaps counted this year - ref will give a caution for slapping and a punch will go up on the score. Maybe as long as humans are pushing the buttons, inconsistency will continue to happen. Seems to me if all judges followed the mandated criteria there would be much less controversy. JMHO. Hope this helps and that I wasn't rambling for nothing.

[Dennis]

Yanez has a tough draw. He could make it to the semis, but it won't be easy. From there it will be really tough.

Warren has a so-so draw. His first bout is a tough one, but the next couple aren't so tough. If he wins his first bout, he should be in the finals. Then he has to work hard to win the gold.

Williams has a very good draw. He should make it to the semis before his first real tough bout. Then he has to work hard to go from bronze to silver or gold.

Andrade has a so-so draw. Russian boxer in the 2nd round, but many tough opponents are on the other half of the bracket.

Estrada has a tough draw. Degale is a tough 2nd round opponent with the Russian boxer in the next round. Blanco from Venezuela would most likely be the semi-final opponent.

Wilder has a very good draw. He has two bouts that he can win to get to the semi-finals. In the semis, he will have to work hard to beat the opponent as all 4 in that part of the bracket are very tough. I expect it to be Russo or Zuyev, but who knows. The finals of course would be tough with the Russian, Cuban and a few other tough boxers in the top half of the bracket.

[emile]

Andrade has a so-so draw. Russian boxer in the 2nd round, but many tough opponents are on the other half of the bracket.

Teddy is funny, acting like he knows anything about the boxers at all. He kept saying Andrade had an easy first fight and then a really tough second fight, but I think it's clear that Jvania is a better opponent that Balanov, who barely even qualified.

[therealPunchDrunk]

I'll be looking forward to you saying that Andrade's style sucks, if/when he gets a comfortable points lead, and decides to defend it, then.

Cute. I wasn't overly impressed with Andrade in his first bout and I didn't know headlocks were allowed in amateur boxing.

P.S. Isn't it a problem when an official has a bias against a certain style?

This is the Olympics and I am watching boxers whom I will never, ever judge. I DO NOT post my opinions on any US boxers who are still active in amateur boxing whom I might have the opportunity to judge. I may not like a particular style when I'm judging, however I focus on watching to see what legal, effective punches land and style doesn't enter into my final equation. There is a difference between judging and spectating.

P.S. Mel's a woman...

Thanks, TRPD, for acknowledging that fact and clearing up any misconceptions.

Hehe, let's just agree to disagree on Georgiev, who I was very impressed with. :)

I'm still thinking Andrade's gonna win. More so than I did before the games started, dunno why.

[therealPunchDrunk]

Andrade has a so-so draw. Russian boxer in the 2nd round, but many tough opponents are on the other half of the bracket.

Teddy is funny, acting like he knows anything about the boxers at all. He kept saying Andrade had an easy first fight and then a really tough second fight, but I think it's clear that Jvania is a better opponent that Balanov, who barely even qualified.

Balanov is so shot, it's not even funny...

[boxmel]

Hehe, let's just agree to disagree on Georgiev, who I was very impressed with.

No problem! I will try and watch him as the tournament goes on and I might change my mind - you never know. Besides, I think I hurt Ogii's feelings and I would never, ever want to do that.

[boxmel]

Teddy is funny, acting like he knows anything about the boxers at all.

Sigh. Thank you, Emile. I can't stand him.

[Dennis]

Jvania seems to have done better against Andrade this time versus at the 2007 World Chp. Balanov may not be the best Russian, but he still is a part of that team. I don't underestimate anyone who makes that team. Besides he gave Boonjumnong from Thailand as good of a bout as anyone did at the 2007 Worlds who ended up with a silver medal. Assuming Andrade defeats Balanov, I think he will coast past the Jackson/Kim winner. His opponent in the semi-finals will be tough, but nothing like his finals opponent. I think his finals opponent will be Boonjumnong, Banteaux Suarez, Saunders, or Hanati.

[Gray-Fox]

Why are there only 20 entries at 54kg?

[emile]

There are 27. 11 fights tomorrow, and five fighters with byes.

[Zhuge]

Anyone watch the Sadam Ali fight? He looked terrible.

[generic screen name]

shit I missed the Raynell Williams fight who won?

[boxmel]

Raynell won, 9-1. His next opponent is Kjelkhir from France, who beat Australia's Paul Fleming 13-9.

[generic screen name]

Whew! thanks! Raynell was one of my faves. I dunno if he has an amateur style, but he has good legs and seems the most comfortable in the ring out of anyone in the US. I think he would make a good pro.

Just saw an interview w/him, he sounds like he's 12!!

[boxmel]

Whew! thanks! Raynell was one of my faves. I dunno if he has an amateur style,

He does. He has very fast hands and can box.

[Kolya]

Man, Raynell has awesome footwork too. Really like his style. Seems like a good kid too. Poor Sadam got boxed silly.

[emile]

Raynell has a great amateur style, and he seems to be pretty on point with his expectations of the Djelkhir fight. Also, he seems to be liked by everyone and seems like a totally sweet, unaffected kid. Sadam really panicked and paid the price for it.

Credit to NBC for showing so many of the fights. I didn't expect to see so many, so that's been nice.