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Olympic Boxing: “With This Ring” – a new documentary lifts the lid on problems facing women boxers in India

By Michael O’Neill

Women’s boxing was one of the great success stories of London 2012 and  not just from an American,British or Irish viewpoint – indeed  the sport’sInternational Boxing Association (A.I.B.A)   declared that the introduction of women boxers – the last Olympic sport to include both sexes – was considered to be one of the highlights of the entire London 2012 Olympic Games, enticing spectators and media from around the world to one of the hottest venues of the past weeks.

The Katie Taylor/Claressa Shields and Nicola Adams stories  have been  featured in just about every corner of the earth and not just in their home countries -  and rightly so , yet here let us look at the great achievement of another of the world’s finest pugilists, Mary Kom from Manipur – pinweight  Mary was one of those who had to move up two weight classes just to qualify for the Olympics but yet ‘Magnificent Mary’  managed to pull off a Bronze behind new Olympic champion Nikki Adams and China’s world title holder Cancan Ren.

Mary has long  been one of the pioneers of women’s boxing and indeed has won the World  Championship crown on five occasions.  Mary and the otherIndian women have come up against every possible barrier in their home land to gain acceptance for women’s boxing and have had to fight against numerous prejudices. Later this year there will be a new documentary  “With This Ring” which should be compulsive viewing for every boxer male or female and not only in India but worldwide. The documentary’s producers Anna Sarkissian and Ameesha  Joshi    have spent the past six years following the braveIndian women boxers around the world, mainly at their own expense. So what particular problems do the Indian women face?

Let Ameesha and Anna  speaking from Canada tell us of  some of the many problems they do face and that will not go away “immediately” despite Mary Kom’s bronze in London.

“The 35-strong Indian women’s national boxing team trains year-round, six days a week in blistering heat and heavy downpours. As you can imagine, women’s boxing is neither popular nor widely accepted in India, where many women are pressured to marry and abandon their career aspirations.

They are some of the best boxers in the world. And the most under-appreciated.

These women are trailblazers in the purest sense, who can inspire others around the world to step out of the mold and pursue their passion. Though some women have risen to power and achieved prominence in India, many are still treated like second class citizens. The rate of female infanticide and sex-selective abortions is alarming, to say the least. Though these issues are complex and linked with religious, financial, and cultural concerns, suffice it to say that these boxers have had their share of hurdles and there is so much we can learn from their journey.

Though Mary is now becoming a household name (finally!), the other boxers train in relative anonymity, with little to no recognition for their achievements. There are numerous world champions (at different grades inc youth and junior)  on the team who started out with nothing and fought against centuries of tradition to rise to the top. Without this film, their inspirational stories would be cast into the shadows”.

“Young women in India are usually known as somebody’s sister, daughter, wife or mother. For the first time, they are gaining independence by setting their own goals, living independently, and taking the world by storm.

Yes, some have short hair. And yes, they show their legs and wear athletic gear–something which most Indians would frown upon. As one woman that we interviewed put it, wearing shorts amounts to “degrading women.”

Their parents are concerned. At least, they are at the beginning. With bruises or scars on their face or hands, they worry that their daughters will never marry. The importance of holy matrimony cannot be underestimated in India. It’s the most important day of your life.

Then, the boxers start winning. In the case of five-time world champion Mary Kom, her parents only found out she was a fighter when they saw her picture in the newspaper. Her father wasn’t pleased. Mary is now the most successful amateur boxer (male or female) in history and supports her husband and two children financially. Her family came around.

Boxing isn’t all about glory or world championships. Many of these women are boxing to get out of poverty. Successful athletes are often rewarded with government jobs  in the railway or police force, complete with pensions and benefits. It’s almost like hitting the jackpot.

All this doesn’t come easy. The Indian women’s national boxing team, composed of about 35  boxers, trains year-round. Whether it’s 50 degrees or 5 degrees, they wake up at dawn and start working. They generally train two to three times a day, six days a week, for up to 2 hours at a time.

Some of the boxers are also in school at the same time. Their schedule goes something like this: train, eat breakfast, school, train, eat lunch, school, dinner, train, sleep. It’s non-stop  “.

True, all  women have had to fight  against prejudice for many years to even get to the Olympics, and many great  former champions have never made it , but few have faced the   struggle that Mary Kom has  - she became India’s first ever  women’s Olympic medallist – against all the odds.

You can see clips from the documentary here via Youtube

And follow the making of the documentary via:  http://www.indiegogo.com/withthisring

More Clipts About India’s Mery Kom

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By Michael O’Neill, 28 June 2012

250 male and 36 women boxers for Olympics 2012

The AIBA have this morning confirmed the full list of qualifiers for the 2012 Olympic Boxing tournaments (male and female) and as forecast by SportsNewsIreland ,the  81kg “tripartite commission place” that most Irish fans hoped would go to Joe Ward has gone to Montenegro’s  Bosko Draskovic.

After a year long journey, 250 men and 36 women boxers have now qualified for the London 2012 Olympic Games.

These Olympic Games will be a watershed moment in the history of the sport of boxing, the noblest of disciplines, with the women making their debut in three weight categories (48-51kg, 57-60kg and 69-75kg). There is huge anticipation for the competition to get started with some of the finest talent around ready and primed to set the tournament alight with displays of the highest order.

The men will be competing in ten weight divisions, from Light Fly to Super Heavyweight, with 91 having qualified at the AIBA World Boxing ChampionshipsBaku 2011, 146 through the Continental Qualifying Events, five via the inaugural World Series of Boxing season’s Individual Championships and finally eight selected as part of the Tripartite process.

The women had 25 boxers qualifying at the AIBA Women’s World Boxing Championships Qinhuangdao 2012 with one place reserved for an athlete from the Olympic Games’ host nation whilst a further eleven were given quotas after being identified in the Tripartite selection.

The world will come to a standstill when the cream of the crop takes to the ring at the ExCeL London from 28 July to 12 August.

Who will be the ones to claim gold? See below the full list of boxers competing at the London 2012 Olympic Games.

Link to boxers list

Article Credit: Sports News Ireland

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By Michael O’Neill – 28th June.

For Katie Taylor, the long wait is over. Now she knows who her opponents will be when she strives for that all elusive Gold in London in August.
The AIBA issued the full list of 60kg competitors this morning

1. Adriana Dos Santos ARAUJO- Brazil
2. Cheng DONG – China
3. Natasha Paula JONAS – Great Britain
4. Katie TAYLOR – Ireland
5. Saida KHASSENOVA– Kazakhstan
6. Mahjouba OUBTIL – Morocco
7. Alexis PRITCHARD – New Zealand
8. Mihaela LACATUS – Romania
9. Sofya OCHIGAVA – Russia
10. Mavzuna CHORIEVA – Tajikistan
11. Rim JOUINI – Tunisia
12. Quanitta Lee UNDERWOOD – United States

For Katie and Peter Taylor the news will come with relief as it will enable Katie to plan ahead but there will be grave disappointment that the opponents do not include such as Turkey’s Gulsum TATAR, a two times world champion nor any of the Scandinavians such as Norway’s Ingrid EGNER or Sweden’s Helena FALK.

During the World championships in China and since the Taylor’s have been vociferous in their requesting that the world’s top boxers be included and it is difficult to understand how such as Jouini, Oubtil and Pritchard came to be preferred over those mentioned. Much of course will now depend on the draw and since there are only two seeds, Taylor and Ochigava, this means that Taylor could still face any one of Jonas,Underwood or Cheng Dong in her first bout on August 6th at the Excel Centre.

The draw of course will be crucial but on form the four semi-finalists would likely include Taylor, Ochigava, Jonas and either Underwood or Cheng Dong.

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Later this evening Olympic boxing will return to Malta, at the Rialto Theatre, in Cospicua

By Alexander Zammit

Yesterday, The Boxway Gym in Birkirkara, was a busy place, bustling with activity as it hosted the weigh in for these budding boxers of the future.

Malta has not had any Olympic boxing shows for over a year; local coaches and boxers were becoming frustrated with the lack of activity and this show comes as a welcome relief to the local boxing community.

The line up for this show was quite impressive and the numbers which attended the weigh-in highlighted the popularity of the sport in Malta.

Women’s Boxing Will Feature On The Show

Two young Maltese females Redianne Spiteri and Brenda Micallef will also be making their debut at the Rialto and there was no love lost between these two as they outdid the male boxers in giving each other the meanest looks possible.

One interesting point about this weigh in, is that there was a higher than usual number of fit looking heavyweights and even a couple of super heavyweights. This argues well for the future of local boxing as heavyweights are indeed rare in Malta both on a professional and amateur level.

Organisers have 10 bouts lined-up for the Rialto Hall show. Doors will open at 7:00 p.m and the first fight will start at 7;30pm. Tickets are available for ring level standing (12 euro), VIP Seated Ringside (17 euros), VIP Seated on Park (20 euros) and VIP Gallery (25 euros) at BOXWAY FITNESS CENTRE, or at the door on the evening. For more information call 99461751 or email boxwayfitness @ gmail.com

Bout 1 Light- Welter

Daniel Tait (red) V Pierre Parnis (Blue)

Bout 2 Welter

Mark Calleja (Red) V Renald Heyman (Blue)

Bout 3 Light Heavy

Melvin Micallef (Red) V Joseph Cremona (Blue)

Bout 4 Light Heavy

Joseph Ablea (Red) V Joseph Serg (Blue)

Bout 5 JRN Female Light Bantam

Redianne Spiteri (Red) V Brenda Micallef (Blue)

Intermission

Bout 6 Middle

Bryan Farrugia (Red) V James Borg (Blue)

Bout 7 Super

Randle Gili (Red) V Mark Policino (Blue)

Bout 8 Middle

Alan Ellul (Red) V Alfred Bonnici (Blue)

·         Bout 9 Super

Shaun Attard (Red) V Joseph Carabott (Blue)

Bout 10 Middle

Joseph Dimech (Red) V Joseph Bonello (Blue)

Organisers have 10 bouts lined-up for the Rialto Hall show. Doors will open at 7:00 p.m and the first fight will start at 7;30pm. Tickets are available for ring level standing (12 euro), VIP Seated Ringside (17 euros), VIP Seated on Park (20 euros) and VIP Gallery (25 euros) at BOXWAY FITNESS CENTRE, or at the door on the evening. For more information call 99461751 or email boxwayfitness @ gmail.com

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By AIBA

March 6 – 2012

On the 13th March, the doors to the 39th edition of the Chemistry Cup will open.  This is the next significant event before the Olympic qualifiers and will be held in Halle, Germany. The world’s top boxing nations will be taking part in this exciting gathering.

The organisers are expecting 111 athletes from 19 nations to compete at the tournament and these nations make up four of the AIBA Confederations. The participating nations will be the host nation Germany, Algeria, Austria, Brazil, China, Denmark, France, Ireland, Italy, Kazakhstan, Lithuania, Moldova, Mongolia, Morocco, Netherlands, Romania, Russia and Uzbekistan.

There are no less than seven AIBA World Champions on the entry list of the Chemistry Cup, giving the local fans a unique opportunity to see world class fights in Halle.

One of these great athletes is Mongolia’s Olympic Games silver medallist, Purevdorj Serdamba, who secured the gold medal at the 2009 AIBA World Championships in Milan. However, following that success, his form was not sufficient to win any further contests until he competed in the last edition of the AIBA World Boxing Championships in Baku. Here, Serdamba achieved the bronze medal as well as a quota place for the London Olympic Games 2012.

Another formidable star, China’s Beijing Olympic Games winner and three-time AIBA World Champion, Zou Shiming will compete in the flyweight division in Halle. His main opponent will be Russia’s current AIBA World Champion, Misha Aloyan. Uzbekistan’s Jasurbek Latipov, Germany’s Ronny Beblik and Mongolia’s Tugstsogt Nyambayar are also some of the incredible medal bearers from the AIBA World Championships.

Everton Lopes claimed the gold medal in the light welterweight class in Baku and made boxing history for Brazil. The 24-year-old South American boxer will have another chance to prove his skills and talent in Halle, but can expect to come up against some tough opponents, such as Mongolia’s AIBA World Championship bronze medallist, veteran Uranchimeg Munkherdene as well as Lithuania’s Youth Olympic Games winner, 20-year-old Evaldas Petrauskas.

Kazakhstan’s Serik Sapiyev attained an impressive four medals in the recent history of AIBA World Championships, among them two glorious golds. The potential clash between the Kazakh team captain and Russia’s top welterweight boxer, AIBA World Championships silver medallist, Andrey Zamkovoy is one of the most anticipated fights of the tournament.

Russia’s particularly hard-hitting duo, Egor Mekhontsev and Artur Beterbiyev, both had excellent performances at the 2009 AIBA World Championships in Milan, where both boxers were adorned with medals. Following this accomplishment, both changed weight divisions and the upcoming tournament in Halle will certainly showcase the pair as strong gold medal contenders. It will also be an excellent opportunity to check out where they stand in their run-up to the Olympics.

Mongolia’s reigning Olympic Champion and former AIBA World Championship silver medallist, Enkhbat Badar-Uugan will return to the Chemistry Cup after a long recovery from injuries. Nonetheless, there is an undoubted likelihood that he will be able to reach the gold medal in the bantamweight class, where Germany’s European Champion, Denis Makarov, will be his major adversary.

Fighting for survival and for a chance at defending their thrones in Halle will be five titleholders, of which four represent Germany. We will witness Youth Olympic Games winner, 19-year-old Artur Bril, Patrick Wojcicki, Stefan Haertel as well as Kevin Kuenzel strutting their stuff on the canvas this March. Other top contenders to look out for at this year’s Chemistry Cup are Russia’s European Championship silver medallist, Dmitriy Polyanskiy and Ireland’s super talented light heavyweight boxer, current European Champion and AIBA Youth World Champion, Joseph Ward. It will be an exciting yet thorny contest, an event where we will be witness to some phenomenal boxing treats in the lead up to the London Games.

Source: AIBA

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