Dubois to start Boxing Road to Tokyo event

[Ruthless-RKO]

https://www.newhamrecorder.co.uk/sport/ ... -1-6561451



Caroline Dubois will represent GB Boxing in the first bout of the Boxing Road to Tokyo Olympic qualifying event which gets underway at the Copper Box Arena on the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park in London today.

The unbeaten 19-year old sister of heavyweight star Daniel and current BBC Young Sports Personality of the Year will box Ala Staradub of Belarus in her first-ever bout as a senior as she starts her campaign to qualify for Tokyo 2020 in the women's lightweight (60kg) division.

Victory for Dubois will see her come up against the competition's number one seed, Mira Potkonen, of Finland who won a bronze medal at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio, where she ended the reign of Ireland's defending champion Katie Taylor.

The opening day will feature strong British interest as super-heavyweight, Frazer Clarke, will take on Italy's Clemente Russo in the final bout of the evening.

The highly experienced Italian won heavyweight won a silver medal at the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing where he defeated former WBC heavyweight world champion, Deontay Wiilder in the semi-finals. He also won silver at London 2012, losing to Oleksandr Usyk of the Ukraine in the final.

The British pair will bookend a day of action that will see 35 bouts take place over two sessions of boxing at the Copper Box Arena.

Another big name to feature will be Delfine Persoon of Belgium who will follow Caroline Dubois into the ring in the women's lightweight category to face Nikoleta Pita of Greece.

Persoon has boxed as a professional and in June 2019 controversially lost a close bout against IBF and WBA champion Katie Taylor on the Anthony Joshua vs Andy Ruiz undercard in Madison Square Garden in New York.

Tickets are on sale now for £10 at see.tickets/boxingroadtotokyo.

People can also pay on the door at the Copper Box Arena with tickets priced £15.

Full details of the draw for the whole competition and a list of entrants is available at boxingroadtotokyolondon.org/draw/results.

[maverick23]

Is this available to watch anywhere? I’d quite like to see how Dubois gets on.

[Ruthless-RKO]

Is this available to watch anywhere? I’d quite like to see how Dubois gets on.

Maybe on here

https://www.olympicchannel.com/en/live/

[Ruthless-RKO]

https://tokyo2020.org/en/news/watch-the ... rom-london

Day 1 of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic boxing qualifiers kicks off in London today, as boxers from Europe seek to clinch one of 77 spots available for the Olympic Games. The first day of action is split into two sessions - afternoon and evening - with 35 bouts scheduled to take place in the capital of England.

Watch it live right here from 12 p.m. GMT/UTC (afternoon session) and 6 p.m. GMT/UTC (evening session).

[Ruthless-RKO]

In a major upset, former WBC female lightweight champion Delfine Persoon (44-2, 18 KOs) was defeated by unheralded amateur boxer Nikoleta Pita in the opening round of today’s Olympic qualifier at the Copperbox in London. Scores were 29-28 4x for Pita, 29-28 1x for Persoon, who lost a very controversial decision against Katie Taylor for the undisputed women’s lightweight title last year.

[Ruthless-RKO]

Caroline Dubois wins in opening qualifier for Tokyo 2020 Olympics

Caroline Dubois won the first fight of her senior career in a Tokyo 2020 Olympic qualifier on Saturday.

The 19-year-old Londoner outpointed Ala Staradub of Belarus in the opening bout at the Copper Box near London's 2012 Olympic stadium.
Dubois, an unbeaten junior world and Olympic champion, dominated in a 5-0 points victory to progress in the women's lightweight draw.

Dubois, whose 10 siblings include unbeaten professional heavyweight Daniel Dubois, has a tougher next fight against 2016 Olympic bronze medallist and top seed Mira Potkonen.

The Finn, who Dubois has previously sparred, had a bye to the second round.

"It was an alright fight, Ill give it a C, I could have done a lot better but obviously there was a lot of pressure that was built up," said Dubois of her debut.

"Even though Mira is No 1 seed, she has only got two hands, two legs and one brain. If I can't beat her, I can't ever say I will be the best."

Meanwhile in the same draw as Dubois, there was a shock for Delfine Persoon. The Belgian, who narrowly lost to Katie Taylor in June of last year, was knocked out by Greece's Nikoleta Pita.

The former IBF and WBC lightweight champion opted to return to the amateur ranks with her sights set on qualifying for the Olympics rather than chase a rematch against Taylor.

The Belgian lost a split 4-1 decision in the 60kg lightweight division but will have one last chance to earn her spot at Tokyo 2020 at a final global qualification tournament which is currently scheduled to take place in May in Paris.

On Saturday night, British super heavyweight Frazer Clarke takes on Italian Clemente Russo in the final fight of the opening day.

Russo, 37, who beat former WBC world champion Deontay Wilder at the 2008 Olympics, is a double world champion and 2008 and 2012 Olympic silver medallist.

Clarke is a 28-year-old former sparring partner of two-time world champion Anthony Joshua.

The Briton is making his third attempt to qualify for an Olympics after missing out to Joshua, who won gold at 2012, and 2016 silver medallist Joe Joyce.

The event, involving 342 male and female boxers from more than 40 countries with 77 Olympic spots available, remains on despite most other sport in Europe being cancelled due to the coronavirus outbreak.

Boxers from countries like Italy, the worst affected by the outbreak in Europe, have been in Britain for several weeks.

[maverick23]

Is this available to watch anywhere? I’d quite like to see how Dubois gets on.

Maybe on here

https://www.olympicchannel.com/en/live/

Thanks mate - she looked decent. Quick hands.

[milpool]

In a major upset, former WBC female lightweight champion Delfine Persoon (44-2, 18 KOs) was defeated by unheralded amateur boxer Nikoleta Pita in the opening round of today’s Olympic qualifier at the Copperbox in London. Scores were 29-28 4x for Pita, 29-28 1x for Persoon, who lost a very controversial decision against Katie Taylor for the undisputed women’s lightweight title last year.

I'm surprised this wasn't bigger news.

[Ruthless-RKO]

Olympic boxing qualifiers in London to be held behind closed doors

A European qualifying event for this year's Tokyo Olympic boxing tournament will be closed to spectators from Monday due to the coronavirus outbreak, organisers said.

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) boxing task force which is organising the event in the Copper Box at London's Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park said the decision was due to "concerns for public, athlete and volunteer welfare."

The boxing is also being streamed live on the Olympic Channel, with 53 bouts scheduled on Monday. Sunday was the second day of the competition, which has gathered together 342 male and female boxers from 43 countries with 77 Olympic spots available.

Coronavirus: Postponements and cancellations in sport

Another qualifier is scheduled for Paris in May, but that remains uncertain with sport across the continent being cancelled due to the coronavirus outbreak.

There was disappointment for home fans when British women's welterweight Rosie Eccles went out on a 4-1 split decision to Russian fourth seed Saadat Dalgatova, who reaches the quarterfinals.

"Potentially one more chance... but I've got to prove now after that performance that I've earned my place at that second qualifier as well. I'm hoping my Olympic dream isn't over and that this was just a blip on the way," Eccles told the BBC.

Stateless Afghan refugee boxer Farid Walizadeh suffered a blow to his hopes of fighting at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics after injury ruled him out of his lightweight fight.

Poland's Damian Durkacz was given a walkover to the last-16 in the 57-63kg category as a result of the 22-year-old's no-show.

Walizadeh, who fled Afghanistan on foot as a seven-year-old and ended up in an orphanage in Istanbul before being relocated to Portugal, can also still qualify in Paris.

Reaching Tokyo has always been a long shot, however, for the youngster who received a scholarship from the IOC last March to train full-time.

The Tokyo Games are due to begin in July. The London tournament is being organised by an IOC task force after the suspension of international federation AIBA last June because of issues concerning governance and finance.

[Ruthless-RKO]

Olympic Boxing Qualifiers For Europe Will Be Suspended

The European Olympic Boxing Qualifying tournament is to be suspended after today’s evening session because of the changing world situation over coronavirus.

The tournament began on Saturday and was supposed to run until March 24 at the Copper Box in London.

However, after the decision was made to continue behind closed doors on Monday, the teams were told on Monday afternoon that this evening’s session will be the last. A statement said that qualification would be suspended until May, with the remaining quote places decided in May and June.

Two qualifying tournaments have already taken place, for Africa and Asia/Oceania. The Americas tournament, which was due to start in Buenos Aires next week, has already been postponed.

The final world qualifying event, scheduled for May, will also now be postponed.

Morinari Watanabe, the head of the IOC’s Boxing Task Force, addressed team officials at a meeting after the afternoon session informing them of the decision.

Increasing travel restrictions meant that there were worries for teams and officials getting home after the event if it had run its course.

A total of 77 quota places for the Tokyo Olympics were due to be up for grabs in London. Of those 16 will be decided tonight and they will stand for when qualifying resumes. The plan would be to start up the tournament at the same point it finishes tonight.

The statement said: “In light of the constantly changing landscape worldwide, the IOC Boxing Task Force (BTF) has decided today to suspend the current Boxing Road to Tokyo European qualifier in London, Great Britain, and the subsequent Americas and final world qualifiers, which were scheduled to take place in May.

“The European qualifier, which started on 14 March and was planned to run until 24 March, will be closed after today’s evening session.

“Safeguarding the well-being of the athletes, officials and all other participants is a top priority for the BTF. Since the preparation phase of the event, the BTF has been working in close cooperation with the Local Organising Committee (LOC) – the delivery body of the competition – as well as its stakeholders, its own medical experts and the national health authorities, to set up the necessary precautionary measures.

“The BTF eventually took the decision to suspend the event today, amid increasing global travel restrictions and quarantine measures, in order to allow the participants from over 60 countries to adjust their travel plans and return home.

“The BTF will continue to evaluate the situation daily, aiming to complete the distribution of the remaining Tokyo 2020 boxing quota places in May and June. The BTF’s priority remains the qualification of athletes on the field of play, and it will inform all stakeholders as soon as more information is available.”

The IOC also said that it was still committed to staging the Tokyo Olympics in 2020.