Well, after nearly two weeks of Olympic boxing, the Finals are upon us. Some heavy big names have fallen by the wayside through four rounds of competition and other names have risen to take their place. Most of the Finals should be good viewing and hopefully none will be blighted by the terrible scoring of previous rounds. By my count, only two of these are pretty much foregone conclusion and the rest should be competitive. Three of those are absolute must-sees in TQBR’s book: the light welterweight, middleweight and super heavyweight finals.
(Roberto Cammarelle, left, after beating Magomedrasul Medzhidov, right; photo via London 2012 Olympics website)
The fights below are listed in the order they’ll transpire, with all set to be streamed by NBC’s Olympic website, and if the online schedule is to be believed, simulcast by CNBC. The commentary crew will be broadcasting from afar, thanks to this bit of awkwardness.
The first five weight classes — light flyweight, bantamweight, light welterweight, middleweight, heavyweight — are up Saturday. The remaining five finish Sunday.
Light Flyweight 49kg/108lb
Zou Shiming (China) vs. Kaeo Pongprayoon (Thailand): This should be quite the tidy little fight between tidy little men. Defending Olympic champ Zou, the old maestro/fox/veteran/insertclichéhere got an unexpectedly tough fight in the semis against Ireland’s Paddy Barnes. Pongprayoon, to my eye, does everything that Barnes does, but better. He brings the ridiculous stamina you expect from Thai fighters with an added dash of ring savvy and nuance. I think he’ll get the upset.
Bantamweight – 56kg/123.4lb
John Joe Nevin (Ireland) vs. Luke Campbell (Great Britain) : Ireland’s John Joe Nevin boxed his arse off to get a huge upset victory over Cuba’s Lazaro Alvarez Estrada. He can do it again against likely crowd favourite Luke Campbell (I say likely because there’s been a huge Irish contingent at Excel Arena throughout the games). Campbell doesn’t seem to have as many dimensions as the Irishman and got through in a semi-final in which his opponent did exactly what he wanted him to. I suspect Nevin will counterpunch his way to victory.
Light Welterweight 64kg/141lb
Roniel Iglesias Sotolongo (Cuba) vs. Denys Berinchyk (Ukraine): The first of the must-see finals. Berinchyk was an ultimate truth machine in his Semifinal, ratcheting up the pressure throughout, while Iglesias was as classy and accurate as they come. Will Berinchyk’s pressure work against Cuban ballroom footwork? Can Iglesias deter Berinchyk like he has his other opponents? I have no idea, but I can’t wait to find out.
Middleweight – 75kg/165.3lb
Esquiva Falcao Florentino (Brazil) vs. Ryota Murata (Japan): Two “compulsory viewing” bouts in a row. Florentino and Murata both have serious power and neither man is afraid to stand and bang. The Brazilian would be wise to save his energy until the 3rd, when Murata has been at his most dangerous throughout the games. If Florentino can keep his wits about him, then he can outpoint the Japanese favourite. That would be a huge story for Brazil, the hosts of the next Olympic games, but it’s no guarantee.
Heavyweights – 91kg/200.6lb
Oleksandr Usyk (Ukraine) vs. Clemente Russo (Italy): I think we’re going to see a knockout in this fight. Usyk, who started with a bye, has taken a little while to find his feet. But he looked positively scary in the semifinals, taking Tervel Pulev apart. Russo, who was badly hurt by the much more basic Teymur Mammadov in his semifinal, might try and make it ugly in response.
Flyweight – 52kg/114.6lb
Tugstsogt Nyambayar (Mongolia) vs. Robeisy Ramirez Carrazana (Cuba): Nyambar has been really cool to watch throughout the games and showed unexpected boxing chops in his last bout, but I don’t think he gets past Ramirez, who borders on superlative. I just don’t see what the Mongolian can do – if he boxes he’ll be outdone and if he brawls he’ll be picked off.
Lightweight – 60kg/132.2lb
Vasyl Lomachenko (Ukraine) vs. Soonchul Han (South Korea): No one’s come close to threatening phenom Lomachenko this Olympics and I seriously doubt Han is the one to do it. There’s nothing much else to say here, watch it just to see Lomachenko in action.
Welterweight – 69kg/152.1lb
Freddie Evans (Great Britain) vs. Serik Sapiyev (Kazakhstan): This should be a classic battle between activity and clean counterpunching. Sapiyev was made in the same Kazakh factory that they make all the other Kazakh counterpunchers and his straight shots are a sight to behold. Evans, like his British teammates, knows how to turn it up a gear but he’ll have to outland Sapiyev a lot to cancel out the Kazakh’s likely more eye-catching punches.
Light Heavyweight 81kg/178.5lb
Egor Mekhontcev (Russia) vs. Adilbek Niyazymbetov (Kazakhstan): Niyazymbetov really shouldn’t be here at all, getting through after two shady decisions. Mekhontcev, much like Usyk, has accelerated throughout the tournament, going from average looking to cross-the-road scary. The only way I see Niyazymbetov winning is continued sponsorship from International Amateur Boxing Association (AIBA) officials.
Super Heavyweight – 91kg+/200.6lb+
Roberto Cammarelle (Italy) vs. Anthony Joshua (Great Britain): The biggest boys, appropriately, are left ’til last. The final must-see bout of the Finals should be a very interesting contest. I’m not sure why, but Joshua hasn’t dominated in front of his home crowd the way he did at the 2011 World Championships in Azerbaijan. Is it nerves? Or have his opponents have studied the tape and come up with more effective strategies? The Italian isn’t the man he was when he won the gold medal in 2008, but he’s still as smart as they come and, as they say, power is the last thing to go. Joshua has the attributes to win, but Cammarelle has the know-how to frustrate his ambitions. If the hometown hero gets stage fright, the final bout of the Olympics could be a huge disappointment for the legion of British fans at Excel Arena.
