USA vs Great Britain - October 2009

[Dennis]

For some reason, the boxers have to be born 1990 or before and some of the #1's are too young.

I forgot about that requirement. I have heard that might be some type of AIBA rule change. Have you heard anything about it?
48kg-Cartenga is too young.
51kg-Byrd is barely old enough.
54kg-Magdaleno is too young.
57kg-Rivers is barely old enough.
60kg-Caferro - old enough.
64kg-Gomez is too young.
69kg-Spence is barely old enough.
75kg-Gausha - old enough.
81kg-Brant is barely old enough.
91kg-Shimmell - old enough.
91+kg-Hunter - old enough.

[byrdman66]

Dennis ?

I hear that Mike Hunter is turning Pro 12/12/09 in Las Vegas, Nevada

do you know if that is true?

[badsboxer]

thanks Dennis - you always seem to know the scoop

[Dennis]

Dennis ?

I hear that Mike Hunter is turning Pro 12/12/09 in Las Vegas, Nevada

do you know if that is true?

Jeff - Boxrec seems to think so, but I've seen the info on pro debuts be wrong many times in the past so I don't know. I could tell you that so and so said yes and so and so said no, but that can always change sort of like boxers who "retire" and then change their minds. Maybe Mike would like to shed some light on the subject. I know that he checks out this site. Even then he could say that he was turning pro and then change his mind and vice-versa. The bottom line is if Mike gets on a plane for Russia on December 12th, then obviously he isn't turning pro that night in Vegas. I personally would like to see Mike stay amateur and make the domestic competitons that much tougher. If he turns pro, then there is one less quality boxer in the USA amateur system which hurts our amateur program overall.

[boxfan88]

Yes as a matter of fact, my friend did get overlooked. What really sucks is that there is only ONE tournament in actuality that determines the rankings for the year - and who gets to fight matches, tournaments and duals overseas - the US Nationals. USAB has been promising more ranking tournaments for years. Why spend all that money on expensive trips where we get slammed, when we can have more local ranking tournaments to bring up the "good" fighters. If you hurt your hand or get sick, for example, and miss just the US Nationals, you are basically done for the year! They just say, "There's always next year". What USAB needs to do is have MORE ranking tournaments here in the US to weed out the bums who get "lucky" because of a lucky draw or a good fighter got an injury, or was sick and the bum gets lit up like a christmas tree or stopped by another country overseas. And not to mention "favorites" because a US coach brings his fighter from his gym who isn't even ranked. You know exactly who i'm talkin about Dennis, but you have to be politically correct.

[Dennis]

Yes as a matter of fact, my friend did get overlooked. What really sucks is that there is only ONE tournament in actuality that determines the rankings for the year - and who gets to fight matches, tournaments and duals overseas - the US Nationals. USAB has been promising more ranking tournaments for years. Why spend all that money on expensive trips where we get slammed, when we can have more local ranking tournaments to bring up the "good" fighters. If you hurt your hand or get sick, for example, and miss just the US Nationals, you are basically done for the year! They just say, "There's always next year". What USAB needs to do is have MORE ranking tournaments here in the US to weed out the bums who get "lucky" because of a lucky draw or a good fighter got an injury, or was sick and the bum gets lit up like a christmas tree or stopped by another country overseas. And not to mention "favorites" because a US coach brings his fighter from his gym who isn't even ranked. You know exactly who i'm talkin about Dennis, but you have to be politically correct.

Do I know you - by your username I would assume that you are 21 years old so maybe you are a boxer. In regard to your arguments they don't make a lot of sense. You are complaining about USAB "talking" about promising to use other ranking tournaments and not following through. So that makes it sound like you don't think they should just send the top 4 from the USA Nationals. However, you then complain that they sent the boxers who they sent to England for the most recent duals. Those boxers were the NGG champs, NGG runner-ups and then back to the USA Nationals starting with the #4's (as the #4's have not gotten any trips). That is USAB using another ranking tournament in a sense. Instead of using the ranking points they just gave the opportuninty to boxers who did well at another major tournament. Why is that a problem? You got what you wanted. Or did your friend do poorly in both the USA Nationals and the NGG?

[Dennis]

And not to mention "favorites" because a US coach brings his fighter from his gym who isn't even ranked. You know exactly who i'm talkin about Dennis, but you have to be politically correct.

Who is the boxer? Who is the coach? I guess I'm not sure who you are talking about. As for me having to be politically correct - I guess you don't know me. If you look back at my posts, I've been very critical of USAB over the years. I continue to send them info on how to correct problems that I see. I am trying to become part of the solution by being on our LBC's BOD and coaching/officiating and making suggestions and criticisms whenever necessary. I also give them positive feedback when appropriate. As an attorney and a Buckeye fan living in Michigan, I don't get told very often that someone thinks I'm trying to be PC. Usually quite the opposite.

[boxfan88]

You make some very good points. I am just frustrated by the system and merely pointing out that there HAS to be more than one or two ranking tournaments to determine and bring out the best boxers. I know for a fact that USAB has told us many times that they are going to add more. It hasn't happened. Maybe the mess at USAB has something to do with it. By the way, you are correct. I am 21. Excellent deduction. My hand is healed now and I will enter every tournament I can now. Don't bother with who I am now. You will see me come up soon. I have been working very hard.

[JMac]

88, the US Championships determines the initial rankings but they can and do change based on how boxers do at other major US national tournaments like the PAL, GG's and in international competitions. The US Championships also determines who gets stipends and that does not change until the next US nationals. The coaches/international committe has been working on a ranking system and when it if finalized, it will be posted on the USAB website.
As for coaches picking their own boxers to compete in international events, you're wrong. The coaches/international committee picks the boxers for international events and the committee has been assigning some personal coaches of the boxers to the events, not the other way around. If you remember the last Olympics, one of the biggest complaints was that once a boxer made the team, the personal coaches were not allowed much involvement with their boxer. USAB has made a conscious effort to change that for future teams.

[badsboxer]

I agree with you dennis, that you have been critical of USAB when necessary from time to time. But 88 does have a point. How would you change the current situation to allow more competition to get the best boxers to represent us?
JMAC, any word on when this new system may be out? And if a boxer is picked to go somewhere, would his coach be allowed to go along and coach him? I know there are dozens of coaches who are upset that they cannot go along with a boxer they have trained from day one.

[JMac]

JMAC, any word on when this new system may be out? And if a boxer is picked to go somewhere, would his coach be allowed to go along and coach him? I know there are dozens of coaches who are upset that they cannot go along with a boxer they have trained from day one.

The new ranking system will be out soon. I don't know the exact date but the recent PAL championships and international events will be factured into the next rankings.
If any boxer is picked for an intenational event and his coach was not picked as part of the staff, the coach is always allowed to go at their own expense. I've seen that happen many times. USAB hopes to involve personal coaches in camps and competitions but you can't have evey personal coach assigned to each competition but they will try to get one for every competition if possible. The coaches have to be a level 3 or 4 certified coach to work an international competition.

[Dennis]

I agree with you dennis, that you have been critical of USAB when necessary from time to time. But 88 does have a point. How would you change the current situation to allow more competition to get the best boxers to represent us?

Who says the best boxers didn't represent the United States? A few top boxers were offered the opportunity to represent the U.S. but they declined for various reasons. By giving up to 6 or 7 different boxers in each weight class the chance at international competition this year, I think USA Boxing has tried to give all the top guys a chance. Our boxers need to improve and that will only happen with hard work at the local level, more camps at the national level and more international competitions. Keeping more of our top amateur stars in the amateur system longer will also help.

[Dennis]

I thought the training camps for the duals in the U.S. were too short. They were 4-5 days long. Now the people making decisions about training camps decided that Team USA didn't need a training camp prior to going to Russia. The boxers will arrive in Khanty-Mansyisk, Russia on December 13th. After flights of at least 13 hours plus layovers, the boxers are going to be jet-lagged on the 13th. There is also the 10 hour time change. The boxers will be able to train hard on the 14th & 15th with a light day on the 16th as the competition starts on the 17th. Sounds like another 4 day training camp.