Australian Boxing/SM Memorial thread

****ing oath !

 

This content is protected

 

The Aussie women are doing great

 

Ken Oath.

 

Australian boxing is starting to resemble the Australian swimming team.

The women win all the medals & the men bask in the glory.

 

Hi Lads - I need to do an update regarding my previous posts on the Commonwealth games selection trials. Based on information on the Boxing Australia website (posted yesterday), it looks like Australia has only been allocated 8 quota spots for boxing - meaning, presumably, we can only take 8 fighters to the Commonwealth games despite the fact there will be 7 weight divisions each for men & women. So Boxing Australia has had to nominate which 8 categories we will be sending boxers in. So far, we've nominated 7 - Women's Bantamweight, Light Middle & Middleweight, Men's Bantamweight, Welter, Light Heavy & Heavy. We will apparently be nominating a fighter in an 8th category after the selection trials.

The foregoing circumstances change some of what I said in my previous two posts on this subject. Firstly, it's now clear why Riek Chuol is contesting Bantamweight & Jacob Cassar has moved up to Welterweight - we haven't nominated Men's Lightweight as a division we're sending a fighter in. So it was wrong of me to say 'someone didn't give the African kid the memo' in terms of which division Riek Chuol should be fighting in. He will, in fact, be contesting the division that gives him the best chance of going. It's also now obvious why Julie Ramadan has come down in weight from Featherweight & Monique Suraci has moved up from Flyweight - we're probably not going to be sending anyone in those weight divisions.

For the record, I agree with the 7 weight divisions Boxing Australia has nominated us to send fighters in. It rewards our best performed amateur boxers over the last 12 months. There's still one weight division in which Boxing Australia has to nominate a fighter in. It seems that it could be either a men's or women's weight division. Men's Light Middle would enable us to send Callum Peters although he may have lost some priority by virtue of having one foot in the professional ranks & having exited in the first round of the World Boxing Championships last year. I've previously said I think Ciara Storch is a future Olympic medalist in the Women's. She would also be worth sending to the Commonwealth games meaning Women's Lightweight could be nominated for our final quota spot. Doing so would maintain gender equality in the team.

 

Selection in the Commonwealth games team is looming as the most exclusive ticket in Australian boxing. We sent 12 to the Olympics (six men, six women) in 2024 & another 12 to the World Boxing Championships in 2025 (again, six men, six women). We only get to send 8 to the Commonwealth games. Our team should really be four men & four women but it's going to be a big call to leave Callum Peters out.

The selection panel consists of three blokes and one unnamed woman 'observer' which makes things even more complicated if they elect to pick another dude in the team. You can't have the women winning all the medals at big tournaments & then take more men than women to the Commonwealth games tournament. It's inequitable. That's what will happen if they put Callum Peters in though.

There's already simmering tensions about the way women have been treated in the national amateur program previously when Boxing Australia was in charge of it. I think that formed the basis of complaints to the media & government in late 2024 / early 2025 when Boxing Australia resumed control of the elite program from Combat Australia.

The Kiwis btw, have been given six quota places for the Commonwealth games. That's six more than they managed to qualify for the Olympics.

 

Floyd Masson vs Karim Maatalla is scheduled for April 8th, that should be a fun fight.

 

Paulie Malignaggi is in Brisbane for the Nikita Zerafa fight. Hopefully he will be on the commentary team.

 

Mundine Jnr has pulled out of his fight with a calf injury

 

He is.

 

Paulie Malignaggi has been saying while he is in Aust that's he been hearing rumours of Errol Spence vs Tim Tszyu is in the works.

 

If Nikita defeats Zerafa he will move to IBF no 3 and then next a IBF eliminator to face the winner of Murtazaliev vs Kelly.

 

I suspect he is going to find his ceiling real soon. Perhaps tomorrow night.

 

So what’s the general consensus lads? Most want Nikita to win but are picking Zerafa to win?