|
|
|
#17 |
|
Aus Boxer
ESB Senior Member
Join Date: Oct 2006
Location: Australia
Posts: 1,068
vCash: 1057 |
Aussie Olympic fighters boxing strong
Australia's Olympic boxing team has overcome initial disruption to Games preparations to present a united front a week out from competition. The team of 11, including Australia's first female Olympic boxer Naomi Fischer-Rasmussen, has been training in Belfast since Tuesday and section manager Phillip Goodes said the squad is sharp and focused. "We're focused on more short and explosive training now. All the hard work has been done back in Australia and it's coming together well," Goodes told AAP on Saturday. The Australians paired up with fighters from Ecuador's Olympic team on Friday for some light sparring work. "Those boys will be the opposition as well, depending on the draw, so even though it was only some light partner work, it was a confidence boost for our boys to make a good showing," Goodes said. The Australian team's preparations haven't all been smooth with medal prospect Damien Hooper removed from the Canberra training camp mid-June after a series of unspecified behavioural breaches involving coaches and fellow squad members. Schoolboy heavyweight Jai Opetaia, 17, was banned from the team's earlier seven-week European tour for missing 19 training sessions before the Oceania championships in March. He eventually re-joined the squad in Canberra along with his father and trainer Martin. Goodes said Opetaia has been training well in Belfast, where he has been without his father. "He has adapted very well and certainly been training very well, with no signs of stress or homesickness at all. He's blending in well with the crew and looking very sharp," Goodes said of the youngest Olympic boxer ever selected for Australia. Light heavyweight medal favourite Hooper, 20, is also impressing team management. "He's got a lot of natural talent and when he wants to turn it on, he will ... and that means he will be quite a danger to his opposition in the Games," Goodes said. With no injury complaints to report, the team is due to arrive in London on Wednesday. "It's just a matter of keeping focused now and especially when we get into the (Olympic) village when distractions will no doubt come into play." [URL]********au.news.yahoo.com/thewest/sport/a/-/other/14326574/aussie-olympic-fighters-boxing-strong/[/URL] |
|
|
|
#18 |
|
Aus Boxer
ESB Senior Member
Join Date: Oct 2006
Location: Australia
Posts: 1,068
vCash: 1057 |
Odd-one-out Naomi packs a punch
NO BILLION dollar baby, Naomi Fischer-Rasmussen quit her job, has lived on next to nothing, and relied on her parents' fundraising efforts in order to make a historic Olympic berth in London............ Read more: [URL]***********.smh.com.au/olympics/news-london-2012/oddoneout-naomi-packs-a-punch-20120725-22ofb.html#ixzz21bMUOhuc[/URL] |
|
|
|
#19 |
|
Belt holder
ESB Addict
Join Date: Apr 2012
Posts: 2,501
vCash: 500 |
Jai Opetaia....
ive been saying. pacific island boxers are going to domminate the heavyweight division in a few years. and they will be coming from australia. [ame]********en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jai_Opetaia[/ame] . |
|
|
|
#20 |
|
Aus Boxer
ESB Senior Member
Join Date: Oct 2006
Location: Australia
Posts: 1,068
vCash: 1057 |
Olympic boxing hopeful Johan Linde can't wait for shot at Olympic glory
OLYMPIC boxing hopeful Johan Linde won't let tensions in the Australian boxing team distract him from his gold medal dream. The South Australian super heavyweight, in lockdown in Canberra, is aware of controversies surrounding the national boxing squad but is firmly focussed on his own preparation. Last week medal prospect Damien Hooper, from Queensland, was removed from the camp after a series of behavioural breaches involving coaches and fellow squad members. "These things can happen, but we're all assuming he's (Hooper) going to be back pretty soon," Linde said. "I was hoping to get back to Adelaide before we left but they (Australian coaches) have been pretty strict on our movements. "We're effectively in lockdown until we get on the plane." Even before the elite camp began Australia boxing coach Don Abnett called on NSW schoolboy heavyweight Jai Opetaia to put an end to their feud and join his teammates at the Australian Institute of Sport. The 16-year-old, who had been training in the US with his father, only agreed to rejoin the camp this week. Linde, who has taken unpaid leave from his job with the SA Department of Treasury and Finance, is one of the oldest fighters on the team but is still a novice at the highest level of the sport. The 29-year-old faced highly-rated Englishman Anthony Joshua in Lithuania recently and took a number of hard fought lessons from the defeat. "It was a very tough fight but I can't wait to fight him again," Linde said. "I've taken a lot away from it given my relative inexperience at this level. "The dream would be to take him on in an Olympic final fighting for a gold medal and that's what I want." Joshua is ranked second in the world after losing a controversial decision to local fighter Magomedrasul Majidov in the final of the world championships in Azerbaijan last year. Linde secured an Olympic berth with a shock knockout in March of Tongan Uaine Fa in the first round of the Oceania qualifying final. The supremely fit fighter and economics graduate has recently completed a whirlwind world tour of tournaments and training. "We trained in China which went great and then we went to Thailand but I got a fair dose of Bangkok belly. "I won silver in a tournament in Serbia and then picked up a bronze in Lithuania." The Olympic boxing team leaves for Northern Ireland on July 16 to acclimatise and heads to the Olympic village a week later. [URL]***********.heraldsun.com.au/sport/london-olympics/olympic-boxing-hopeful-johan-linde-cant-wait-for-shot-at-olympic-glory/story-fn9dheyx-1226408009898[/URL] |
|
|
|
#21 |
|
Aus Boxer
ESB Senior Member
Join Date: Oct 2006
Location: Australia
Posts: 1,068
vCash: 1057 |
Thu 26 - 7pm AOC Team Reception & Flag Bearer Announcement
Fri 27 - 7am General Weigh-in & Medical Fri 27 - 2pm Competition Draw Fri 27 - 9pm Opening Ceremony Everyday 8am Weigh-in 2 sessions of boxing per day info from Boxing Australia facebook. |
|
|
|
#22 |
|
Aus Boxer
ESB Senior Member
Join Date: Oct 2006
Location: Australia
Posts: 1,068
vCash: 1057 |
good video interview of Jai Opetaia;
[url]***********.theherald.com.au/news/local/sport/olympics/australias-2012-olympic-hopes-boxing/2631953.aspx[/url] |
|
|
|
#26 |
|
Contender
ESB Senior Member
Join Date: Oct 2010
Location: NSW
Posts: 1,158
vCash: 925 |
seen this kid fight in just his 3rd amatuer bout and i thought wow this kid if he sticks with it is going to be unreal ( he ko'd his oppenett in 1st rd who was 2yrs older), this kid has a big future might not be this olymics but if he waits for the next one he will still be only 21...big future...still growing...6ft 2.. 17yr old...deff one to watch
|
|
|
|
#27 |
|
Champion
East Side Guru
Join Date: Feb 2010
Location: OLYMPUS
Posts: 9,212
vCash: 300 |
Hooper is our best chance for Gold this year.
[IMG]********images.smh.com.au/2012/07/25/3487726/2607narrowhoop-20120725213805369771-300x0.jpg[/IMG] |
|
|
|
#28 |
|
Belt holder
ESB Addict
Join Date: Mar 2010
Location: Campbelltown, Aus
Posts: 2,626
vCash: 500 |
Just watched a whole bunch of Opetaia's fights. gee he looked good in winning gold in the Light Heavy division in the 2011 Junior Amateur World Championships. Very Impressive kid. Be interesting to see how he fairs at the games against seasoned amateurs and the big boys..
|
|
|
|
#29 | |
|
Journeyman
ESB Jr Member
Join Date: Mar 2012
Posts: 139
vCash: 500 |
Quote:
Mundine does it as well, holding their hands out then just poking with their shots. He looks much better when he puts his punched together and has his hands up and forgets that fancy crap. |
|
|
|
|
#30 | |
|
Belt holder
ESB Addict
Join Date: Mar 2010
Location: Campbelltown, Aus
Posts: 2,626
vCash: 500 |
Quote:
|
|
|
![]() |
| Thread Tools | |
|
|