new faces in mens/open class!

[coach K]

a lot of 15/16 boxers are turning 17!
who are the top senior 15/16 boxers turning open?
how do you think they will do?and progress?

[The_Real_Deal]

Your only as good as your training~! I think they will be fine if brought along right

[mar yg]

Donald Smith is open now,he's only 16 years old but a very talented indivisual.He just beat the #1 guy in his division and made it look easy.

[Dennis]

Be careful on overhyping a 16 year old. Donald Smith won, but he was running and hanging on in that last round. He got rocked and received a standing 8 count. Let him develop without the added pressure.

With his height, I see him moving up in weight over the next 2 years. He probably will be boxing 123 by 2012. There are a lot of good boxers in that weight class.

[Dennis]

Some of the JO's move into the open class and do fine right away. Others struggle for a couple of years. A lot of it has to do with their physical maturity.

A few of the JO's have already proven that they will do fine by doing well in the 2009 Nat'l PAL. It will be interesting to see how they do in the major tournaments in 2010.

[COACH J]

Be careful on overhyping a 16 year old. Donald Smith won, but he was running and hanging on in that last round. He got rocked and received a standing 8 count. Let him develop without the added pressure.

With his height, I see him moving up in weight over the next 2 years. He probably will be boxing 123 by 2012. There are a lot of good boxers in that weight class.

That's true dennis, I don't know why they keep saying he's only 16.. Miguel is only 17.. I know donald and I will say it was a good win for him but when they fight again Cartagena will stop him if not he will get rocked and won't be able to hold for life like he did, I really can't see him beating miguel again... IMO.

[PHILLYSTEVE]

Be careful on overhyping a 16 year old. Donald Smith won, but he was running and hanging on in that last round. He got rocked and received a standing 8 count. Let him develop without the added pressure.

With his height, I see him moving up in weight over the next 2 years. He probably will be boxing 123 by 2012. There are a lot of good boxers in that weight class.

That's true dennis, I don't know why they keep saying he's only 16.. Miguel is only 17.. I know donald and I will say it was a good win for him but when they fight again Cartagena will stop him if not he will get rocked and won't be able to hold for life like he did, I really can't see him beating miguel again... IMO.

MY OPINION: 1ST THING, IT WAS DONALD'S 1ST OPEN CLASS FIGHT AND HE FOUGHT THE #1 GUY.(NERVOUS).
2ND DONALD IS MORE CONFIDENT. SO HE WILL IMPROVE. IF IT WAS A PRO FIGHT, I MIGHT LEAN TOWARD MIGUEL BUT IT'S NOT. DONALD WILL BE EVEN MORE EFFECTIVE BOXING AND RACK UP THE POINTS. BIG WIN EASY!!!!! JUST AN OPINION. I'M A FAN OF BOTH FIGHTERS.

[Dennis]

Miguel didn't fight with any urgency and that would probably change in a rematch. I would enjoy watching the rematch and I will probably get my chance at the USA National Championships in July.

[atlanta coach]

- 2 Philly fighters, fighting in a local gym trying to advance to the nationals, i would imagine there would be a touch of urgency in that fight. I saw it on youtube - Donald Smith hands down outboxed him - it would probably be easier for him next time. They are both pretty young I wonder how long they can stay at 108.

[Dennis]

- 2 Philly fighters, fighting in a local gym trying to advance to the nationals, i would imagine there would be a touch of urgency in that fight. I saw it on youtube - Donald Smith hands down outboxed him - it would probably be easier for him next time. They are both pretty young I wonder how long they can stay at 108.

I think Miguel let being #1 get to his head. I think he won't have a problem making 108, but Donald will very soon with his height. Donald is probably going to get taller too so I see him at 114 within a year and probably at 123 by 2012. The tricky part is for his coach to guess at where his weight will be in August 2012 and put him in the correct weight class. We don't need a repeat of the situation with Gary Russell.

[Dennis]

A case in point about growing, gaining weight and moving up weight classes in the open class:
Andre Dirrell was boxing at very low weights in the Junior Olympic divisionm 100# at 14, 106 at 15 and 16 years of age. He then moved up in weight as he matured. At 18 he won the 2001 USA Nationals at 125#. Later that year he moved up to 125 & won the 2001 USA U-19 title at 132. He then moved up to 139 for the National PAL in the fall of 2001 and won that tournament. He then moved up to 165 in 2003 where he stayed until the Olympics in 2004. He now boxes at 168 as a pro.

[DCAmateurBoxing]

- 2 Philly fighters, fighting in a local gym trying to advance to the nationals, i would imagine there would be a touch of urgency in that fight. I saw it on youtube - Donald Smith hands down outboxed him - it would probably be easier for him next time. They are both pretty young I wonder how long they can stay at 108.

I think Miguel let being #1 get to his head. I think he won't have a problem making 108, but Donald will very soon with his height. Donald is probably going to get taller too so I see him at 114 within a year and probably at 123 by 2012. The tricky part is for his coach to guess at where his weight will be in August 2012 and put him in the correct weight class. We don't need a repeat of the situation with Gary Russell.

I don't think Gary's situation was a matter of just picking the right weight class but him not being monitored properly AND a result of the fact that the team is selected so damn far out from the games. These are still growing young boxers in many cases and in Gary's case, I don't think he had competed at 54kg for at least a full year before the games. If an amateur boxer doesn't make weight, you should look at the coaches too. Why was he making weight by himself hours before the Olympic weigh-in?? I do agree w/ you that it is sometimes a "guess", but it better be right or you will definitely pay later. I bet if personal coaches were involved more w/ the Olympic team, things like that would never happen.

[Dennis]

The coaches of young boxers have to realize that the boxers may gain weight in the 1 year from the Olympic trials until the Olympics and make sure the boxer can gain a few pounds without growing out of the weight class.

[Puncher7]

exactly why was he making weight by himself?

[atlanta coach]

If im not mistaken wasnt one of the Olympic coaches also Garys personal coach . i agree personal coaches need to be more involved in all aspects.

[tobyjuhl]

no, the head coach for the 08 team was Dan Campbell, he had worked with Gary before the games in beijing, but Gary's real coach is his Father Gary Russell Sr.

[JayWater]

Eddie Gomez is mens open class now and he stopped some guy in the 1st round in the 152 lb open NYGG

[Dennis]

no, the head coach for the 08 team was Dan Campbell, he had worked with Gary before the games in beijing, but Gary's real coach is his Father Gary Russell Sr.

One of Gary Russell Sr.'s assistant coaches, Robert "Herb" Martin, became an assistant coach for the 2008 USA Olympic team. He was there with Gary Jr. the whole time. I think Gary Jr just outgrew 119. He is boxing at 125-126 as a pro where the boxers weigh-in the day before and can rehydrate better if they cut weight. Gary Jr is boxing on the ESPN card tonight. If Gary had been able to make 119 as a pro then maybe you can say he could have done it as an amateur, but he can't even do it as a pro.

Shawn Porter who boxed 165 as an amateur weighed in yesterday at 152 for tonight's ESPN main event fight.

[mar yg]

Be careful on overhyping a 16 year old. Donald Smith won, but he was running and hanging on in that last round. He got rocked and received a standing 8 count. Let him develop without the added pressure.

With his height, I see him moving up in weight over the next 2 years. He probably will be boxing 123 by 2012. There are a lot of good boxers in that weight class.

That's true dennis, I don't know why they keep saying he's only 16.. Miguel is only 17.. I know donald and I will say it was a good win for him but when they fight again Cartagena will stop him if not he will get rocked and won't be able to hold for life like he did, I really can't see him beating miguel again... IMO.

From what i saw it was to easy to score, Donald hit him with every punch he swung i personally think the next fight will be even worst.Miguel is a good fighter i respect him but hes just over matched when it come to the height and skills of Donald.

[grantboxing]

yeah miguel is a very good boxer but lets not forget that this is amateurs and no one fighter is unbeatable nowadays at least ...we seen wat happen with warren but this is boxing. but donald and his camp have every reason to be proud of what he did because its not common.. and plus ive seen him out pointed by a dc fighter in the 08 regional jos but the judges still gave it to him

[grantboxing]

yeah miguel is a very good boxer but lets not forget that this is amateurs and no one fighter is unbeatable nowadays at least ...we seen wat happen with warren but this is boxing. but donald and his camp have every reason to be proud of what he did because its not common.. and plus ive seen him out pointed by a dc fighter in the 08 regional jos but the judges still gave it to him

him meaning Cartegena when he fought matos

[COACH J]

Was you there at the matos fight? Where did you see it at, on YouTube? I was there and the only people that said that matos won was his friends and family, cause even Barry Hunter, matos coach told miguel that he won and to excuse his people for their rudeness then told deven that this is why he have to stay focus and in the gym. This was the first time I met coach Hunter and to hear him say that really made me respecet him, I'm a new coach and I never seen a coach carry himself the way he did. Matos is a great fighter and I'm waiting to see him in the open class.

[DCAmateurBoxing]

Was you there at the matos fight? Where did you see it at, on YouTube? I was there and the only people that said that matos won was his friends and family, cause even Barry Hunter, matos coach told miguel that he won and to excuse his people for their rudeness then told deven that this is why he have to stay focus and in the gym. This was the first time I met coach Hunter and to hear him say that really made me respecet him, I'm a new coach and I never seen a coach carry himself the way he did. Matos is a great fighter and I'm waiting to see him in the open class.

I thought Dev won that bout too. If it was computer scoring, he would have won too IMO. I don't think as a JO bout it would have been a high scoring bout even though there was a lot of punches thrown. BTW, I was there too and the part that you left out is that Matos still advanced to the Nationals JOs in that weight class. I heard the bout was protested because it turned out the judges were a majority from Miguels LBC which shouldn't have been the case with 3 LBCs participating. That's why Miguel won. It was still a good match though, but you left out that detail.

[COACH J]

You are right DC ,matos did go to the national on a protest and got DQ the first night, looks like we both lefted out details, what's wrong no one looks at defence that's why I think cartagena won he blocked most of the punches. Matos fought my kid the night before and beat him, I just think Cartagena won IMO.

[coach q]

Damon Allen Jr. 132lb open class, just turned open recently! he impressed me at the 2009 national pals his first open tournament....i think he do really good! he has good lateral movement and nice hand speed and accuracy, i think he has a shot of making the 2012 team!