2016 Rio Olympics Boxers to lookout for?

[HanzGruber]

doubt anyone saw but guy got left hanging for a handshake

[HanzGruber]

wow shakur schooled villa

[Eff Pandas]

Looks like one of the youngest US Olympic teams that I can recall. 7 teenagers which probably doesn't bode well for them qualifying for the Olympics or winning medals if they do happen to qualify.

US Olympic Team
108lbs - Nico Hernandez, 19yrs, Wichita, KS
114lbs - Antonio Vargas, 19yrs, Kissimmee, FL
123lbs - Shakur Stevenson, 18yrs, Newark, NJ
132lbs - Carlos Balderas, 19yrs, Santa Maria, CA (qualified for Olympics)
141lbs - Gary Russell, 19yrs, Capitol Heights, MD
152lbs - Paul Kroll, 19yrs, Philadelphia, PA
165lbs - Charles Conwell, 18yrs, Cleveland Heights, OH
178lbs - Jonathan Esquivel, 20yrs, Anaheim, CA
201lbs - Cam F. Awesome, 27yrs, Lenexa, KS
201+lbs - Marlo Moore, 25yrs, Hayward, CA

The first Americas Qualifier will be Mar. 8-20 in Argentina. There will be two more Americas Qualifiers to follow.

[SkillspayBills]

Who was the poster *****ing and moaning about black fighters getting exposure in the Ams? ****ing clown.

[HanzGruber]

Stevenson has not even qualified. He's probably not the favorite for the Olympic Trials either.
Ruben Villa beat Stevenson twice this year. 2-0 against Stevenson, yet I don't see anyone hyping him up. I wonder why, he's American as well.



Even if Stevenson wins the Olympic Trials he still has to qualify. Even if he qualifies he won't Medal in my opinion.

Well shakur qualified today

[kilojay505]

wladimir klitschko

[aldo5408]

Well shakur qualified today

Did you watch it? Stevenson dominated. I was stunned cause villa seemed like he would be the favorite. I also saw him down in Salinas sparring with my friend that's a pro for top rank and villa schooled him. I hope Stevenson gets a gold medal that's who im rooting for

[HI-TECH Boxing]

Well shakur qualified today

Definitely have to give Shakur props. He looked good today. Not going to say he'll win the Gold just yet, because all the top fighters dominate Jose Diaz so it's not like he did anything out of the ordinary. Zhang Jiawei was able to TKO Diaz. Oscar Valdez whooped him worse than Shakur did, so don't get overexcited.
If Stevenson is as good as people think then he should medal considering that this is the weakest Bantamweight division in a while, at least compared to the last few Olympics. The fact that Michael Conlan is number one says a lot. Not that Conlan is a bad fighter, but Conlan would lose to the top 6 or 7 Bantamweights from 2012.
Alberto Melian should be a tougher test tomorrow.

I also have to give props to Nico Hernandez who I thought was the worst out the US team, but he look good in both his fights. I can't wait to see the final between him and the non-stop Colombian. The Colombian always brings it. Biggest heart for sure. It'll be interesting to see how Hernandez handles him.

Another American that looks impressive is Teofimo Lopez, who isn't even representing USA, but instead he's representing Honduras. Tough loss for USA. Not sure if Lopez is better than Balderas, but he looks better from the eye test. (Not a huge fan of Teofimo's style, but he looks good I have to give him that.) Maybe they'll meet at the Olympics. Lopez has been talking all kinds of trash.
Teofimo is a character, I think he'll be a great villain as a pro. The Argentinian commentators were really annoyed with his father who is very vocal. Kind of ****y and he has like a long ritual he does before and after fights that also annoyed the commentators, but he didn't give a crap.
Neither Balderas or Teofimo will medal though, because the Lightweight division is one of the toughest divisions in the amateurs right now. It's going to be almost impossible to beat the top 3 fighters: Lazaro Alvarez, Albert Selimov, and Robson Conceicao.
Then you have great fighters like Joseph Cordina and Sofiane Oumiha. I think those two (I'm probably forgetting someone right now) are the only ones I can see pulling an upset against the top 3.
Cordina is definitely one to watch. Fantastic footwork. Stevenson is lucky he isn't in this weight class.

The USA qualified 3 out of the 9 boxers they send to these qualifiers. Cam Awesome still has a chance tomorrow, so the USA could make it 4 out of 9.
Compared to 2012 where the US qualified 6 out of the 7 boxers they send to those qualifiers, not a great look. People were saying this team was better than the 2012 team and I knew it wasn't true. That 2012 USA team actually wasn't a bad team, but the bad thing for them is that 2012 Olympic Boxing Class was a GREAT one. There really wasn't a bad weight class at those Olympics.
I'm just talking about the men's side.

Of course there are still more qualifiers (2 more) available for the fighters that didn't qualify, but those qualifiers are big unknowns. I expect the top fighters to already be qualified by the time the last chance qualifier takes place. So the US will add a few more qualifiers I'm guessing.

Antonio Vargas biggest disappointment for the USA for sure. The Flyweight division was wide open for him to get a medal in and he look very vulnerable right now. He lost a close one at these qualifiers and he also lost at the Olympic Trials. I thought Vargas was the best chances for medal, not because he was the best, but because the Flyweight is one of the weaker divisions in the amateurs right now. In 2012 it was a great division, but most fighters retired or moved up.