NEWS

The final day of action at the ‘World Boxing Cup: USA Boxing International Invitational’ in Pueblo, Colorado saw the home nation finish top of the medal table with three golds for flyweight (51kg), Terry Washington, light-welterweight (63.5kg), Dedrick Crocklem, and light-heavyweight (80kg), Amir Anderson. The latter two were decided by walkovers as their opponents pulled-out through injury.

It meant the USA narrowly pipped Brazil, China and Great Britain, who each won two golds, to the coveted slot at the top of the medal table. Algeria, Australia, Canada and Denmark all finished with one gold medallist.

The two walkovers meant that the final day saw 11 bouts, which included a number of top-class match-ups featuring boxers that have already qualified for this summer’s Olympic Games in Paris.

In the men’s light-middleweight division, Denmark’s European Games champion, Nikolai Terteryan, continued his excellent form with a split decision (4:1) victory over the USA’s Keon Davis to add to the gold medal he won at this year’s first World Boxing Cup event in Sheffield in January.

Another intriguing battle took place in the men’s featherweight (57kg) category where Brazil’s Luiz Oliveira and Great Britain’s Owain Harris met in a re-match of their qualification bout from the recent 1^st World Qualifying Tournament in Italy. Once again, it was the Brazilian who prevailed with a victory that was much closer than the unanimous verdict indicated.

The women’s competition saw four of the six medals go to China and Great Britain with wins for Yu Wu (50kg), Wen Lu Yang (60kg), Charley Davison (54kg) and Elise Glynn (57kg). Algeria’s sole gold came in the light-welterweight (66kg) category where Paris-bound, Imen Khelif, secured a unanimous victory over Emilie Sonvico of France.

The women’s middleweight (75kg) final saw a face-off between two members of World Boxing’s Athlete Committee, Tammara Thibeault of Canada and Australia’s Caitlin Parker. The pair have boxed each other before and could meet again in this summer’s Olympics, however on this occasion it was the Canadian 2022 world champion, Thibeault, who prevailed with a unanimous win.

The full list of gold medallists includes:

Women’s 50kg: Yu Wu (CHN)

Women’s 54kg: Charley Davison (GBR)

Women’s 57kg: Elise Glynn (GBR)

Women’s 60kg: Wen Lu Yang (CHN)

Women’s 66kg: Imen Khelif (ALG)

Women’s 75kg: Tammara Thibeault (CAN)

Men’s 51kg: Terry Washington (USA)

Men’s 57kg: Luiz Oliveira (BRA)

Men’s 63.5kg: Dedrick Crocklem (USA)

Men’s 71kg: Nikolai Terteryan (DEN)

Men’s 80kg: Amir Anderson (USA)

Men’s 92kg: Keno Machado (BRA)

Men’s 92kg+: Teremoana Teremoana (AUS)

All of the results from the event can be viewed at: https://www.usaboxing.org/2024-international-invitational

The action from the final day can be watched back at: https://www.youtube.com/@officialworldboxing

The winners of the second World Boxing Cup event of the year will be determined in today’s final day of action at the World Boxing Cup: USA Boxing International Invitational in Pueblo.

Of the 13 weight categories, the Elite Male 63.5kg and Elite Male 80kg have already been decided due to walkovers. The USA’s Dedrick Crocklem (63.5kg) and Amir Andersen (80kg) will receive the gold medals with Great Britain’s, Patrick Mughalzai (63.kg) and the USA’s Robby Gonzalez (80kg), taking silver.

The other 11 finals will be contested over a single session which will take place from 12:00 (MT), 19:00 (CET).

To follow the action live visit: https://www.youtube.com/@officialworldboxing

All of the event information including results, bout sheets and the draw can be viewed at https://www.usaboxing.org/2024-international-invitational

World Boxing will also be posting updates throughout the competition on its social channels:

Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/officialworldboxing/

X / Twitter – https://twitter.com/RealWorldBoxing

Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/OfficialWorldBoxing

52 boxers from 12 countries will contest the semi-finals of the World Boxing Cup: USA Boxing International Invitational which get underway today in Pueblo, Colorado.

The semi-finalists include 13 boxers from the USA, 11 from Great Britain, seven from Brazil, six from Australia, four from China, three from France, two each from Germany and Canada, and one from Czechia, Algeria, Sweden and Denmark.

The two sessions of boxing will take place at 12:00 (MT), 19:00 (CET) and 18:00 (MT), 01:00 (CET).

To follow the action live visit: https://www.youtube.com/@officialworldboxing

All of the event information including results, bout sheets and the draw can be viewed at https://www.usaboxing.org/2024-international-invitational

World Boxing will also be posting updates throughout the competition on its social channels:

Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/officialworldboxing/

X / Twitter – https://twitter.com/RealWorldBoxing

Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/OfficialWorldBoxing

More than 120 boxers from 17 countries are set to take part in the ‘World Boxing Cup: USA International Invitational’ in Pueblo, Colorado this week, 16-20 April 2024.

It is the second event of this year’s series and follows the ‘World Boxing Cup: GB Open’, which took place in Sheffield, England in January.

The event in Pueblo features a high-quality field with almost half of the boxers already having secured a place at this summer’s Olympic Games, including six boxers from the home nation line-up: Jennifer Lozano (50kg), Jajaira Gonzalez (60kg), Morelle McCane (66kg), Jahmal Harvey (57kg), Omari Jones (63.5 kg) and Joshua Edwards (92kg+).

Other Paris 2024 boxers that will be looking to use the event as part of their Olympic preparations include Canadian world champion, Tammara Thibeault (75kg) and Australia’s Caitlin Parker (75kg) who have both recently joined World Boxing’s Athlete’s Committee. Parker is part of a strong Australian team, which includes 12 boxers that will be competing at the 2024 Olympics.

Other Paris-bound competitors in the USA this week include: Delicious Orie (92kg+), Charley Davison (57kg) and Chantelle Reid (75kg) from Great Britain; China’s Qian Li (75kg) and Abner Teixeira (92kg) from Brazil.

The five-day competition will take place across all 13 Olympic weight categories, seven for men and six for women. There will be two sessions per day [at 12:00 and 18:00 Mountain Time (MT) / 19:00 and 01:00 Central European Time (CET)] for the first four days and one session for the final day of action (12:00 MT).

The draw for the event, which is being delivered by USA Boxing in association with World Boxing, will take place on 15 April 2024.

All of the event information including draw sheets, results, updates, photographs and a live stream of the action can be viewed at: https://www.usaboxing.org/2024-international-invitational.

More news on the World Boxing Cup: USA Boxing International Invitational will be posted on World Boxing’s social channels in the build-up to the event and throughout the competition at:

• Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/officialworldboxing/
• X / Twitter – https://twitter.com/RealWorldBoxing
• Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/OfficialWorldBoxing

To mark the up-and-coming one-year anniversary of the launch of World Boxing (on 13 April 2023), we spoke to the reigning middleweight World Champion, Tammara Thibeault, about her recent decision join World Boxing’s Athletes Committee.

The 27-year-old boxed for Canada at the 2020 Olympic Games in Japan and will compete at her second Olympics this summer having secured her place at Paris 2024 when she won gold at the 2023 Pan-American Games.

Q: Why did you choose to join World Boxing’s Athlete Committee?

A:  I chose to join World Boxing’s athlete committee because I truly believe that the athlete’s voice makes a difference. We are always the ones in the mix and we are the ones at competitions.  We need to be able to work together to create the best environment for athletes to feel safe and to be able to perform. It is a unique position and it makes all the difference.

As the chair of Boxing Canada’s first athlete committee, I have experience of this and have been able to work with our board and make changes necessary so that the athletes feel like they have a voice and that they are heard.

Q:  What would you like to achieve in your work with World Boxing?

A:  Right now, since it’s just the beginning of the Athlete Committee, the first thing I would like to do is represent World Boxing’s values and be the voice of the athletes and help ensure that athletes feel listened to and heard, and that World Boxing is an organisation for the athletes.

Q: Why is it important that boxing remains part of the Olympic Movement?

A:  Boxing is a special sport. It is one of the original sports of the Olympics and it is important that it remains so. The Olympics provides inspiration for boxers and is a huge platform for the sport. To lose its place at the Olympics would do massive damage to boxing.

Q: Paris will be your second Olympic Games – what are you most looking forward to?

I am looking forward to representing Canada on the international stage and taking part in a real Olympics – because unfortunately Tokyo took place during the pandemic – in one of the most beautiful cities in the world.

Q: What has been the highlight of your boxing career so far?

I would have to say the whole the 2022 season. I accomplished quite a few things in that season when I won gold at the American Boxing Confederation (AMBC) Championships, the World Championships and the Commonwealth Games, all in a row, and I did it while having fun.

It was the highlight of my career and a beautiful year. I got to travel the world, meet incredible people and be a good icon for boxing and women’s boxing.

Q: Who has been the biggest influence on your sporting career?

The biggest influence on my career is not a boxer – the biggest influence is my father. He was an athlete and played American football. What he has brought to me in my career is my work ethic, my determination and my will to just be the best version of myself. He taught me that the sky is the limit.

 “World Boxing welcomes the decision by CAS to withdraw recognition of IBA and the subsequent comments by the IOC in which it expressed a desire to partner with a new International Federation that is committed to ‘good governance, the integrity of competitions, transparency of finances and accounts, and autonomy’. 

“That International Federation is World Boxing. The decision by CAS and the comments from the IOC send a clear and unambiguous message to all National Federations that if they want boxers from their country to have the life-changing opportunity to continue to compete at future Olympic Games then they must now support and seek to join World Boxing, which is the last remaining hope for the sport to retain its status as an Olympic sport beyond Paris 2024. 

“There is no alternative and the IOC has made it clear that the ‘National Olympic Committees (NOCs) and National Boxing Federations hold the future of Olympic boxing in their own hands’. 

“Any National Federation or NOC that continues to think its boxers will have an Olympic future elsewhere and without joining World Boxing is making a grave error that will be ruinous for the sport and hugely damaging for its boxers. 

“For boxing to lose its place at the Olympic Games would be devastating for boxers at all levels in every part of the world. The Olympic Games provides inspiration and an unmatched platform for the sport. Without the Olympic Games, boxing and boxers will suffer. Fewer people will come into the sport at the grassroots and there will be less opportunities for elite boxers. This will damage the sport at every level and cannot be allowed to happen. 

“This is an urgent situation and the clock is ticking. The leaders of boxing’s National Federations now have a critically important decision to make and we urge every one of them that cares about boxers and the future of the sport to apply to join and support World Boxing in its efforts to ensure boxing remains at the heart of the Olympic Movement, before it is too late.” 

World Boxing, the new International Federation set-up to ensure boxing remains at the heart of the Olympic Movement, has published its Strategic Plan 2024-28.

The plan was formally approved by World Boxing’s members at its inaugural Congress and details how the organisation will: keep boxing at the heart of the Olympic movement; ensure the interests of boxers are put first; deliver sporting integrity and fair competitions; create a competition structure designed in the best interests of the boxers and operate according to strong governance standards and transparent financial management.

The plan is built around the delivery of five strategic objectives and sets out a series of action plans detailing how it will:

• Establish World Boxing as a recognised credible organisation
• Operate best practice governance
• Deliver world standard competitions
• Increase the worldwide media exposure of boxing
• Achieve financial stability and sustainability 

It contains sections on World Boxing as a business, the core business product of boxing and details the vision, mission and values of World Boxing.

Simon Toulson, Secretary General, World Boxing, said: “Since it was publicly launched in April 2023 World Boxing has achieved an enormous amount in a short time. It has established itself as a credible international sports organisation with nearly 30 member National Federations from all five Continents and staged its inaugural Congress in which it held open, transparent and fair elections that mean World Boxing now has a high-quality Executive Board with many years of boxing experience.

“The Strategy sets out a roadmap for how World Boxing will build on this and deliver on its central goals of ensuring its creates a better future for the sport and ensures boxing remains at the heart of the Olympic Movement.”

World Boxing’s Strategic Plan 2024-28 can be viewed here.

The second World Boxing Cup of 2024 will take place at the Pueblo Convention Center, Pueblo, Colorado, 16-20 April 2024.

More than 150 boxers from over 20 countries are registered to take part in the event, which is officially known as the ‘World Boxing Cup: USA Boxing International Invitational’.

National Olympic Committees (NOCs) that have registered teams to take part in the event include: Algeria, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, Colombia, Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Germany, Great Britain, New Zealand, Nigeria, Panama, Philippines, Sweden, Chinese Taipei, US Virgin Islands and the Boxing Refugee Team.

The home nation line-up is expected to include the six boxers that have already qualified for Paris 2024:

Jennifer Lozano (50kg), Jajaira Gonzalez (60kg), Morelle McCane (66kg), Jahmal Harvey (57kg), Omari Jones (71 kg) and Joshua Edwards (92kg+).

The Pueblo event follows January’s ‘World Boxing Cup: GB Open – Sheffield 2024’ in England and is part of the new World Boxing Cup format which enables male and female boxers accrue ranking points over several stages of competition throughout the calendar year. It culminates in a year-end Finals event when the stage winners and other top-ranked boxers will compete for the World Boxing Cup trophy.

The five-day competition will take place at all 13 Olympic weight categories, seven for men and six for women. There will be two sessions per day [at 12:00 and 18:00 Mountain Time (MT) / 19:00 and 01:00 Central European Time (CET)] for the first four days and one session for the final day of action (12:00 MT). 

Many of the participating countries will use the event in Pueblo as preparation for the 2^nd World Qualification Tournament in Bangkok, Thailand, 25 May – 2 June 2024, which will be the final chance for boxers to secure qualification for Paris 2024.

The draw for the World Boxing Cup: USA Boxing International Invitational, which is being delivered by USA Boxing in association with World Boxing, will take place on 15 April 2024 and all of the event information, include draw sheets, results, updates, photographs and a live stream of the action can be viewed at: https://www.usaboxing.org/2024-international-invitational.

World Boxing’s President, Boris van der Vorst, said:  “We are committed to delivering high quality competition opportunities for boxers and I am very grateful to our colleagues at USA Boxing for hosting this event.  I am very confident that it will build on the success of the recent World Boxing Cup in England and will provide excellent competition for all of the boxers and support the preparation of those men and women that are planning to compete in the final Olympic qualifying event in Thaliand in May.”

Mike McAtee, Executive Director/Chief Executive, USA Boxing, added: “USA Boxing is excited to host a preview of this summer’s Olympic Games on our home field with World Boxing. This competition will provide boxers with a high-quality experience before representing their respective countries in Paris, with many of these boxers expected to be boxing for a Olympic gold medal this summer. We look forward to showcasing amateur Olympic-style boxing to our community and building a fan base for our team and the other teams heading into Paris.”

More news on the World Boxing Cup: USA Boxing International Invitational will be posted on World Boxing’s social channels in the build-up to the event and throughout the competition at:

• Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/officialworldboxing/
• X / Twitter – https://twitter.com/RealWorldBoxing
• Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/OfficialWorldBoxing