Hasan N'Dam and Amnat Ruenroeng in Rio qualifier

Of course pros are now eligible to compete in the Olympics. But with the decision only recently made and the existing pro powers rallying against it, there aren't many pros willing to commit to going for Olympic glory. Are you aware of any pros planning to compete in the qualifiers in Venezuela? There's only one that I'm aware of: Hassan N'dam. He'll actually be boxing in the 81 kg/178 lb light heavyweight division! Lomachenko mentioned that a big challenge for pros would be having to be on weight throughout the tournament. So pros would be fighting at their 'ring weight' rather than their 'dehydration weight', which we regard as the guy's weight. N'dam obviously isn't consistently even within the 165 lb aiba middleweight limit, so he'll be boxing against bigger guys. Can't see him doing too well against De la Cruz.

http://espndeportes.espn.go.com/box...mer-ex-campeon-mundial-en-apunt****-para-jjoo

Canada is the only country that insists they want to get as many pros as they can in the Olympics. Yeah Tony Luis bringing us the gold!

 

http://www.scmp.com/sport/boxing/ar...-boxers-hassan-ndam-and-amnat-ruenroeng-enter

Hasan N'Dam and Amnat Ruenroeng are confirmed for the ABP/WSB/pro qualifying event that starts tomorrow. N'Dam in the 81 kg/179 lb light heavyweight division, and crazily Ruenroeng in the 60 kg/132 lb lightweight division. N'Dam not being able to stay at 165 throughout and having to compete at light heavy is reasonable, and he wouldn't be too outsized as his natural weight is probably over 170, and other light heavies would be under 179, unlike the pros who are only on weight for the second they're on the scale. But you'd think Ruenroeng as a flyweight could at least make 123 lbs bantam, rather than having to compete at lightweight. He was a light flyweight at the 2008 Olympics, so is naturally a small guy.

Here's the tournament site and bout sheets for both divisions:
http://www.aiba.org/apbwsb-olympic-qualification-event/

81 kg:
http://d152tffy3gbaeg.cloudfront.net/2016/06/C75-C75W81.pdf

60 kg:
http://d152tffy3gbaeg.cloudfront.net/2016/06/C75-C75W60.pdf

Does anyone know much about N'Dam and Ruenroeng's potential opponents? N'Dam's likely first fight is Jonathan Esquivel, from the States. I think N'Dam's footspeed, range, and combos could really do him well in 3 rounders. Ruenroeng's first opponent is German Artur Bril, who has a lot of WSB experience and fought APB last year, but wasn't elite in either competition. I hope N'Dam qualifies but don't see him beating la Cruz or Ward, I doubt Ruenroeng qualifies.

By the way, I am completely in favour of pros competing in the Olympics. It is stupid and ignorant to insist that top amateurs can't compete with pros, and it will be compelling to see how well-known pros do in the 3 round tournament format. Considering the WBC and IBF will now not rank N'Dam and Ruenroeng they only deserve props for fighting for personal and national pride rather than money. My only qualm is that the qualification process doesn't allow it to be a true best on best like every other sport. Only 3 of 28 spots in a division can be earned through the ABP/WSB/pro qualification tournament, and APB and WSB boxers have additional spots that non-AIBA pros don't. I guess AIBA's happy with that, and is using the Olympics as a carrot to dangle pros towards APB in the future.

 

N'Dam will likely have to beat Denys Solonenko to qualify. Just caught up on a bit of video of him. Built like a tank, pressure fighter, knows how to close the distance. Him and N'Dam would be pretty wild.

 

Thanks, and I see that now. Maybe he could fight at 165, but I am probably right that he'll be more comfortable at light heavy even if he's giving up a bit of weight. Against Genov at least he'd be undersized for sure, as Genov apparently fought a few pro fights at cruiser.

 

There's a Thai at bantam, so that's probably also why Ruenroeng's competing at lightweight.

 

Shin was slated to fight in APB but dropped out, I guess that's good enough. This tournament is bizarre, basically s****heaps from WSB and APB. The amateur qualifiers were higher quality. Esquivel failed at the amateur Americas qualifiers then gets a second crack because he has some WSB experience. N'dam better get through these guys.