Olympics-formula One? For Amateur Boxers, Baku Is All About Rio - Sports

Olympics-formula One? For Amateur Boxers, Baku Is All About Rio - Sports - Nairaland

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Olympics-formula One? For Amateur Boxers, Baku Is All About Rio by FlameDynasty(op): 8:26am On Jun 19, 2016

By Alan Baldwin.

BAKU, June 19 (Reuters) - Formula One has taken over the city streets but for
Cuban Olympic boxing champion Robeisy Ramirez, being in Baku is all about the
road to Rio.

Azerbaijan's first grand prix may have got all the attention but, away from the
fenced-off track and the television cameras, hundreds of amateur boxers from
around the world are also in town and fighting to qualify for the Olympics.
Ramirez, flyweight gold medallist at London 2012, is among 469 boxers from
105 nations hoping that the tournament will open the door to Brazil.
For most, it is the last chance.

"It's a strong tournament. I've got to do what I've always done," the 22-year-
old, now fighting at bantamweight, told Reuters as he wiped away the sweat
after beating Finnish teenager Arslan Khataev 3-0 in his opening bout.
"It's the way it is and I have to succeed.".

Those placed in the top five in the flyweight, bantamweight, lightweight, light-
welterweight, welterweight, middleweight and light-heavyweight categories in
Baku will be sure of going to Brazil.

Light flyweight finalists and the heavyweight and super-heavy champions also
qualify in the event that runs to June 25 with 39 places up for grabs.
Umar Sadiq, a Nigerian-born graduate accountant from Ilford in northeast
London, was one of those hopeful of finally securing his ticket for Brazil.

The light-heavyweight's journey has so far taken him to Lagos, where he won
five fights to earn the right to represent Nigeria, and on to Yaounde in
Cameroon for the African qualifiers.

He failed to get beyond the quarter-finals there so Baku's Sarhadchi Olympic
sports centre, out to the east past car repair workshops and high-rise
apartment blocks, became his next destination.

In front of a small audience mainly consisting of other boxers and officials, he
beat Kenya's Elly Ochola in a preliminary bout.
"It was Lagos, Yaounde, back to London and back to the drawing board. And
now I'm in Baku. I'm hoping to go back to Nigeria again and then on to Rio,"
he told Reuters.

He has funded the trip himself, although his City employers have given him time
off from the finance department.
"I've got three more fights to win to qualify," said Sadiq.
"I guess it adds to the prestige of being in an Olympics because not only have
you got to make your national team but also make the best of the world. I'm
alright with it. I like travelling anyway."

U.S. light-heavyweight Jonathan Esquivel agreed.
"It's only going to make me better along the way," he said of a qualifying
system that has brought him from Anaheim in California to the edge of Europe.
"This is my second qualifier. I placed third in the American qualifiers but it was
top two (who go to Rio), not top three so I came to this.".

There is one final qualifying event for those who have fought professionally, or
in AIBA's semi-pro series, in Venezuela in July which Esquivel would also be
eligible for. He is not planning to go, however.

"We're going to make this one the last one," he said.

http://af.reuters.com/article/nigeriaNews/idAFL4N19A056?sp=true