USA Boxing Announces the 2012 U.S. Olympic Games Staff‏

The coaching staff that will be nominated to the United States Olympic Committee to lead the U.S. Olympic Boxing Team into action in London has been set. 2004 Olympic Head Coach Basheer Abdullah (Fort Carson, Colo.) will serve in the same role in London while 2000 Olympic Assistant Coaches Candelario Lopez (San Jose, Calif.) and Israel Acosta (Milwaukee, Wis.) will join him as assistants. 2012 Women’s World Championships Team Manager Delilah Rico (Los Angeles, Calif.) rounds out the staff in the Team Leader role.

“We are sending a very experienced coaching staff to London with the 2012 U.S. Olympic Team and we believe that their knowledge will be critical in aiding our athletes to perform at the highest level,” said USA Boxing Executive Director Anthony Bartkowski. “Coach Abdullah’s Olympic Games experience provides him and the staff with a huge advantage as the team prepares to face the world’s best boxers.”

Abdullah will be traveling to his fourth straight Olympic Games, having served as the Technical Advisor in 2000 and 2008. The 49-year-old Abdullah led the U.S. Army’s World Class Athlete Program as Head Coach from 1997 to 2012 and has coached numerous athletes to national titles during his career. In addition, he served as the Head Coach for the past two Women’s World Championships as the female athletes prepared for their Olympic debut. The 2004 USA Boxing Coach of the Year, Abdullah has coached at every major national and international event, including the Pan American Games and World Military Championships and looks forward to using his expertise to guide the U.S. team to medals in London.

Acosta, who enjoyed a decorated career as an athlete, is returning to the Olympic Games for the second time. With 28 years of experience in coaching, Acosta also enjoys an impressive resume. In addition to his work in 2000, he served on the 2007 Pan American Games staff and has worked numerous international duals and competitions. He has coached multiple national champions over the past three decades and enjoyed numerous coaching awards, including USA Boxing Coach of the Year in 1992. Acosta most recently served as the Head Coach for the Women’s Continental Championships and Team USA won eight medals, six of them gold.

Lopez will enjoy a repeat appearance at the Olympic Games as well with his selection to the 2012 staff. A veteran of international competition, Lopez has led the Youth World Championships squad three times, most recently in 2008 as well as previously serving as Head Coach for the Women’s World Championships.

Rico has dreamt of being Olympic Team Manager since she first got involved in the sport in 2005. She worked her way up the ladder, serving in the important role at the Junior Olympics three times before being selected as the Women’s International Dual Series Team Leader in 2010. Most recently, she worked as the Team Manager for the Women’s World Championships in Qinhuangdao, China where the women won five medals.

All of the staff nominations are pending approval from the United States Olympic Committee Board of Directors.

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The Brackets are Drawn in Six Weight Divisions at the 2012 USA Boxing National Championships

The tournament brackets for the 2012 USA Boxing National Championships were drawn in six weight divisions on Saturday in preparation for Sunday’s action at the Fort Carson Special Events Center.

Due to the large number of registered athletes in the male lightweight, light welterweight, middleweight, light heavyweight, heavyweight and super heavyweight classes, an additional day of competition was added for those weight classes. The event draw for the remaining men’s weight divisions and the female weight classes will take place on Sunday.

The winners in the seven men’s unqualified weight divisions, which are the six weight classes being contested on Sunday as well as light flyweight, will advance to the final international Olympic qualifying tournament.

The tournament brackets in the six weight classes drawn on Saturday can be found at http://usaboxing.org/news/2012/02/26/2012-usa-boxing-national-championships-brackets/46861?ngb_id=9.

Results will be disseminated nightly upon the completion of competition and running results can be found at www.usaboxing.org.

♔EL Boxing Empress & MMA Princess♔, See you at the Fights and Thank You for your time.EL Boxing Empress Online @ Twitter http://www.twitter.com/Keishamorrisey ©®™ 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011 All photos other than specified by "EL Boxing Empress & MMA Princess" Keisha Morrisey, for ♔Empire Morrisey Photo-Studios♔, KCKMT for Bloodline Boxing Communications Entertainment and ★Starlite★ Boxing's Sweetscience Magnews-Online Publication all rights reserved.

Ten Boxers Claim U.S. Olympic Team Trials Titles in Mobile

A full week of boxing culminated in final round competition on Friday at the U.S. Olympic Team Trials for Men’s Boxing in Mobile, Ala. The champions bracket winners faced off with the challengers bracket victors in 10 bouts of action. The challengers bracket winners were looking to stay alive in the tournament with a victory while the winners bracket athletes hoped to seal their Olympic Trials titles on Friday night.

Eros Correa (San Jose, Calif.) won the first title of the night in his bout with challengers bracket winner Santos Vasquez (Sparks, Nev.). The bout was closely contested throughout with Correa holding a slim 14-12 edge with one round of boxing remaining. He doubled his lead over the final three minutes to win a 22-18 decision and the light flyweight title.

Rau’shee Warren (Cincinnati, Ohio) became the first boxer to win three straight U.S. Olympic Team Trials titles on Friday night. Warren defeated a game Shawn Simpson (Chicago, Ill.) by a 31-18 margin in their second match-up of the week. Warren led by only two points after the first round but began to build on his lead as both boxers looked for openings in their opponent’s defense. Warren led 14-9 after the second, but both boxers’ hands really began to fly in the final stanza. Despite Simpson’s best efforts, he couldn’t impact Warren’s date with history and the two-time Olympian moved one step closer to becoming the first U.S. boxer ever to compete in three Olympic Games.

The champions bracket winning streak continued in the bantamweight division as Joseph Diaz, Jr. (El Monte, Calif.) punched his ticket for Azerbaijan with a close 17-14 victory over O’Shanique Foster (Orange, Texas). The two were tied at nine with one round remaining and Diaz outscored Foster by a three-point margin in the last round to win the final decision and the bantamweight crown.

Jose Ramirez (Avenal, Calif.) joined the first three winners bracket champions in earning a victory on Friday night. Ramirez defeated 2008 Olympian Raynell Williams (Cleveland, Ohio) in their lightweight showdown to advance to take the gold medal. He led by a small one-point margin after the opening stanza and pushed his lead to six after two. Ramirez held on over the final three minutes to take a 21-16 victory and the lightweight title.

In the light welterweight division, one of the biggest surprises of the tournament claimed an Olympic Trials title. The United States Marine Corps’ Jamel Herring (Coram, N.Y.) won the gold medal with a 15-10 decision over Pedro Sosa (Bronx, N.Y.). After a close first round, Herring moved out to an 11-7 lead after two rounds. Sosa couldn’t overcome his deficit and Herring won a 17-14 final to claim the light welterweight title.

Errol Spence (Desoto, Texas) won the sixth title of the night in his bout with Amir Imam (Albany, N.Y.). Spence grabbed a three-point advantage after one and extended it to a 17-12 lead with one round of boxing remaining. He held on to his five-point edge over the final three minutes to win a 24-19 decision and win the welterweight gold medal.

Middleweight Jesse Hart (Philadelphia, Pa.) won the most convincing bout of the evening action in his rematch of the 2010 National Championships finals with Luis Arias (Milwaukee, Wis.). Hart came flying out of the gate before Arias could find his rhythm and took a 16-3 lead after two rounds. He didn’t leave any room for doubt, extending his lead over the final three minutes to win a 21-6 decision and the middleweight title.

The champions bracket continued to roll in the light heavyweight division with Marcus Browne (Staten Island, N.Y.) winning his showdown with Siju Shabazz (Las Cruces, N.M.). The trend of close first rounds returned in the light heavyweight class. Browne took a small one point advantage after the opening round and fully grabbed the momentum in the second, enjoying a 12-7 lead with one round remaining. Shabazz made it interesting in the third, pulling to within two but he couldn’t take the lead and Browne won a 14-12 final decision.

Michael Hunter (Las Vegas, Nev.) won his second straight U.S. Olympic Team Trials championship in convincing fashion in his bout with Joseph Williams (Bronx, N.Y.). Hunter wasted no time getting on the score board, scoring 13 points in the first round to take a commanding 13-3 lead. He held a 21-10 advantage after the second round and went on to win a 28-17 final decision to claim his second straight Olympic Team Trials.

Lenroy Thompson (Lenexa, Kansas) made the night a clean sweep for the champions bracket with a victory over Laron Mitchell (San Francisco, Calif.). Mitchell kept the bout interesting, applying pressure to the moving Thompson. Thompson held a 15-6 lead after the second round and pushed it to a 21-9 final decision to win the super heavyweight championship.

All of tonight’s winners must qualify internationally through the 2011 AIBA World Championships, September 22-October 10 in Baku, Azerbaijan in order to compete in London. The light flyweight through light heavyweight division boxers will need to finish in the top ten while the heavyweight and super heavyweight athletes will have to finish in the top six to officially punch their tickets for London. As all of the champions bracket winners won tonight’s bout, there won’t be any bouts on Saturday.

USA Boxing President Harold Adonis announced Joe Zanders as the Olympic Team Head Coach earlier this week and Zanders enjoyed the chance to meet his team first hand in Mobile.

♔EL Boxing Empress & MMA Princess♔, See you at the Fights and Thank You for your time.EL Boxing Empress Online @ Twitter http://www.twitter.com/Keishamorrisey ©®™ 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011 All photos other than specified by "EL Boxing Empress & MMA Princess" Keisha Morrisey, for ♔Empire Morrisey Photo-Studios♔, KCKMT for Bloodline Boxing Communications Entertainment and ★Starlite Boxing's Sweetscience Magnews-Online Publication all rights reserved.

U.S.A. v. Puerto Rico National Teams, Live Webcast on www.GoFightLive.tv, This Saturday, April 26th at 7pm

National Teams from the United States and Puerto Rico will convene in the boxing Mecca of Philadelphia for an Olympic-style boxing dual on April 26 at the Liacouras Center. This major event will feature top boxers from both teams as each prepare for the Olympic Games.

The competition will showcase many of the athletes who will be vying for gold in Beijing in August. The United States and Puerto Rico battled prior to the Olympic Games in 2004 as well, and many of the same faces could be on hand for the April 26 match-up. 2007 World Champion and two-time Olympian Rau'shee Warren (Cincinnati, Ohio) could face a rematch with 2008 Puerto Rican Olympian and Pan American Games gold medalist McWilliams Arroyo. The two squared off at the light flyweight division in their earlier battle, but both have moved up to the flyweight division for the 2008 Olympic Games.

"The U.S. National Team has had a strong rivalry with Puerto Rico for years. This event will preview many of the top contenders in Beijing, and promises to be a night of outstanding competition," said USA Boxing CEO Jim Millman."

The United States is enjoying a resurgence in amateur boxing, and is currently ranked second in the world based upon their finish at the 2007 World Championships in Chicago, Ill. Puerto Rico and the United States haven't faced off in head-to-head dual action since May of 2004 as the two nations battled prior to the 2004 Olympic Games.

USA Boxing, as the national governing body for Olympic-style boxing, is the United States' member organization of the International Amateur Boxing Association (AIBA) and a member of the United States Olympic Committee (USOC).

See the competition LIVE Sat., April 26th, on www.GoFightLive.tv, starting at 7 PM EDT!