Skip to content
Main Content
22/02/2008
1st European Olympic Qualification Tournament - Roseto degli Abruzzi, nr Pescara, Italy
25 February - 1st March
The off-season tranquillity of Adriatic seaside resort Roseto degli Abruzzi, so named after the rose bushes the fishermen 'Abruzzi' used to plant outside their cottages, is about to be disturbed as 250 of the best amateur boxers from 41 countries in Europe descend upon the town in a bid to chase 26 of the remaining 51 Olympic qualification spaces open to Europeans (the remaining 25 will be decided in the second and final Olympic qualification tournament in Athens 7-14th April).
The first round of qualifications was decided at the AIBA World Championships in Chicago (October 2007), where Team GB qualified a record breaking four boxers (Murray, Gavin, Saunders & Jeffries) including the first ever British world amateur champion in Frankie Gavin (60kg) and bronze medals for Joe Murray (54kg) and Brad Saunders (64kg).
The boxing starts on the 25th February and continues each day until the finals on 1st March, apart from a much needed rest day on the 28th. Boxers can only guarantee qualification by reaching the final. In weight categories (54, 57, 69 & 75kg) the losing semi-finalists will box-off to decide who claims the 3rd qualification. Therefore Friday 29th February (semi-finals) will be the most eagerly anticipated day of boxing. Some boxers will have to win four bouts in five days to qualify.
GB Head Coach Terry Edwards said: 'It is arguably tougher to qualify boxers at the European qualifiers than at the Worlds. Nevertheless the team is very strong and has trained hard for this event. Everyone knows what they have to do.'
Boxing will take place in the 'Palazzo dello Sport' a basketball bowl that has been set-up to accommodate two Olympic size boxing rings.
Weight (kg) | No. of Competitors | Olympic Qualification Places Available |
48 | 13 | 2 |
51 | 16 | 2 |
54 | 24 | 3 (GB Boxer already qualified - Joe Murray) |
57 | 24 | 3 |
60 | 19 | 2 (GB Boxer already qualified - Frankie Gavin) |
64 | 24 | 2 (GB Boxer already qualified - Bradley Saunders) |
69 | 26 | 3 |
75 | 30 | 3 |
81 | 21 | 2 (GB Boxer already qualified - Tony Jeffries) |
91 | 29 | 2 |
+91 | 24 | 2 |
The British boxers attending the tournament are:
Weight | England | Scotland | Wales |
48 | Paul Butler |
|
|
51 | Khalid Yafai | Andrew Cuthbert | Mo Nasir |
57 | Stephen Smith | Darren Traynor |
|
69 | Billy Joe Saunders |
|
|
75 | James DeGale | James Quigley |
|
91 | Danny Price | Stephen Simmons |
|
+91 | David Price |
|
|
Nb. British boxers have already qualified at 54, 60, 64 and 81kg so no British boxers are permitted to enter at these weights. Eight of the thirteen boxers above receive funding from UK Sport and train centrally at the Sheffield English Institute of Sport under GB Head coach Terry Edwards. Non-funded boxers from Scotland and Wales will be looked after by national coaches Kevin Smith and Tony Williams respectively.
A full daily boxing report will appear on the ABAE website www.abae.org.uk.
The Italian boxing federation website www.fpi.it is also a good source or information as is the International Amateur Boxing Association www.aiba.org.