Ogreman

So I was kind of bored this week (Anyone else feel like there isn’t that much on at the moment?) and entry lists for this were out early so I decided to do a rankings for these world championships and might as well predict them as well.
 
So in terms of the entries here on the one hand China (No Olympians), Russia, Kazakhstan, Turkey, Ireland and to a lesser extent Uzbekistan, Thailand, North Korea, Serbia and Bulgaria are here so probably at least 10 of the top 20 countries in the world are at these world championships but the list of countries who aren’t here is extenxsive So Europe is missing France, Germany, Poland, Ukraine, GB, Poland, all of Scandinavia  Netherlands etc. and Asia missing Mongolia, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Phillipines  has led to a serious lack of depth in a lot of weight classes. None of the strong American nations (USA, Brazil, Canada, Colombia?) are here and even the top African nations like Algeria and Nigeria are missing. The quality of the field that is here is probably at a pretty equal level to those that aren’t so assuming a number of the top countries probably end up competing at the world boxing world championships as well as at these worlds then the world boxing world championships will probably be the higher quality world championship which would be big for world boxing if their first world championship has a stronger field than its Iba counterpart even if that might be different on the men’s side, might not be though.
 
Both of the previous world championships have had caveats with the entry list with top nations absent for various reasons but even though world championships the year after the Olympics are always a bit transitional these entries are very clearly a level below previous years.
 
There are 239 boxers from supposedly 51 countries compared to 324 from 65 in 2023 and 310 from 73 in 2022.
 
Rankings, seeds in brackets (not that they mean much).
  W48 W50kg W52 1 Nazym Kyzaibay (KAZ) Chuthamat Raksat (THA) (1) Buse Naz Cakiroglu (TUR) (1) 2 Iuliia Chumgalakova (RUS) Sabina Bobokulova  (UZB) (4) Chol Mi Pang (DPK) 3 Sevda Asenova (BUL) (2) Daina Moorehouse (IRL) > Feruza Kazakova (UZB) (3) 4 Farzona Fozilova (UZB) > (1) Alua Balkibekova (KAZ) Anna Aedma (RUS) 5 Nurselen Yalgettekin (TUR) Hu Meiyi (CHN) (8) Wei Sitong (CHN) ?? 6 Xueyun Zhong (CHN) ?? Rinata Bezel (RUS) Noelia Gutierrez (ESP) 7 Nicole Durikova (SVK) Fatima Herrera (MEX) Dragana Jovanovic (SRB) (5) 8 Chi Ngo Ngoc Linh (VIE) (5) Laura Fuertes (ESP) (3) Yuliya Apanasovich (BLR) (2) 9 Carleigh Irving (IRL) Zlatislava Chukanova (BUL) (5) Anita Adesheva (KAZ) 10 Ingrid Gomez (MEX) Thi Ngoc Tran Nguyen (VIE) (7) Venelina Poptoleva (BUL) (4) 11 Tayonis Cedeno (VEN) Sanja Mitic (SRB) Imane el Azami (MAR) 12 Ramona Manea (ROU) Yasmine Mouttaki (MAR) (2) Stela Hamza (ROU) 13 Marta Lopez Del Arbol (ESP) Yerlin Quinones (COL)  Esmeralda Patino (MEX) 14 Ryong Kyong (DPK) ?? Byol An Kum (DPK) ??? Rita Soares (POR) 15 Rabab Cheddar (MAR) (4) Aysen Taskin (TUR) Thi To Nhu Tran  (VIE) 16 Anakhanim Ismayilova (AZE) (6) Anush Grigoryan (ARM) (6) Kathreen Sterling (HAI) 17 Snezana Slijkovic (SRB) (3) Alondra Brito (VEN)  Shakhriza Khalilova (KGZ) 18 Suada Ibraimovski (MKD) Mihaela Badescu (ROU) Arinzul Chinabat (MGL) 19 Athina Avramidou (GRE) Marjona Savriyeva (AZE) Thandelwethu Mathiba (RSA) 20 Phiwokuhle Mnguni (RSA) Ntandoyenkosi Ncube (RSA) Maia Odaijiu (MDV) 21 Tamana Ahmadi (AFG) Teona Pirosmanashvili (GEO)  Lencer Akinyi Otieno (KEN) 22   Veronica Nziva (KEN) A Kwashi (ZIM) 23   Wakjira Wada (ETH) Sarafina Fussi (TAN)  
 
W48kg
 
Not the worst field here medals should be between Asian champion Farzona Fozilova ,  former European champion Iullia Chumgalakova , Olympic bronze medallist Nazym Kyzaibay  and veteran Sevda Asenova . Other potential medallists include Xuyen Zhong , Asian silver medallist Chi Ngo Ngoc Linh and European under 22 champion Nurselen Yalgettekin  but I would be pretty surprised if any of the four favourites lost. Chumgalakova and Kyzaibay would be my picks for the final with Kyzaibay to remarkably win a third world title. I say bizarrely because she is a good boxer but far from a great one.
 
Gold- Nazym Kyzaibay , Silver- Iulia Chumgalakova , Bronze- Sevda Asenova , Farzona Fozilova .
 
W50kg
 
Pity that Daina Moorehouse  and Chuthamat Raksat  are in the same bracket as I would have expected them both to medal. Sabina Bobokulova  and Alua Balkibekova  both have fairly straightforward paths to the medal rounds. Rinata Bezel  is probably the pick of the remaining bracket although Olympian Laura Fuertes could maybe cause an upset. There is also an unknown North Korean Byol an Kum to consider there. Fatima Herrera  and Meiyi Hu  maybe could have medalled but are drawn in the Raksat Moorehouse bracket. Reluctantly I’ll back Raksat to finally win haven gotten close at previous major tournaments with Balkibekova probably winning silver.
 
Gold- Chuthamat Raksat , Silver- Alua Balkibekova , Bronze- Sabina Bobokulova , Rinata Bezel .
 
W52
 
Two time Olympic silver medallist Buse Cakiroglu  should cruise to a final. European bronze medallist Dragana Jovanovic should probably be able to ride home advantage to beat either Anita Adesheva  or Venelina Poptoleva  to a medal. Asian champ Feruza Kazakova  should have comfortably enough for bronze but 54kg Olympic bronze medallist and former world champion Chol-mi Pang  will likely be her undoing in the semi-final. Pang does have to beat Anna Aedma but should come through to set up a  Cakiroglu Pang final which should be one of the highest quality fights here. Cakiroglu to win.
 
Gold- Buse Cakiroglu , Silver- Chol-mi Pang , Bronze- Dragana Jovanovic , Feruza Kazakova .
 
  W54 W57 W60 1 Sara Cirkovic (SRB) (4) Karina Ibragimova (KAZ) < (1) Natalia Shadrina (SRB) (1) 2 Hatice Akbas (TUR) Esra Yildiz (TUR) (2) Viktoriya Grafeyeva (KAZ) (5) 3 Zhaina Shekerbekova (KAZ) < (5) Liudmila Vorontsova (RUS) Svetlana Staneva (BUL) 4 Natnicha Chongprongklang (THA) (7) Punrawee Ruenros (THA) (5) Qiange Li (CHN) (6) 5 Jennifer Lehane (IRL) Lacramioara Perijoc (ROU) Nune Asatrian (RUS) (3) 6 Johana Gomez (VEN) (2) Ashleyann Lozada (PUR) Won Un Gyong (DPK) 7 Aziza Yokubova (UZB) Nigina Uktamova (UZB) (3) Gizem Ozer (TUR) (2) 8 Karina Tazabekova (RUS) Valeria Arboleda (COL) Miroslava Jedinakova (SVK) (7) 9 Thi Kim Anh Vo (VIE) Michaela Walsh (IRL) Elida Kocharyan (ARM) 10 Xuan Zhao (CHN) Jenifer Fernandez (ESP) Krisandy Rios (VEN) 11 Widad Bertal (MAR) (1) Mijgona Samadova (TJK) > (4) Sitora Turdibekova (UZB) (4) 12 Jin Hyang Paek (DPK) ? Bolortuul Tumurkhuyag (MGL) Caudia Nechita (ROU) 13 Islem Ferchichi (TUN) Bojana Gojkovic (MNE) Anna Sorokina (LAT) 14 Ekaterina Sycheva (ARM) Andela Brankovic (SRB) (6) Sofia Legaki (GRE) 15 Angelyris Lopez (PUR) < Hyang Suk Ku (PRK) ?? Josefien Betist (SLE) 16 Iulia Coroli (MDA) (6) Yan Cai (CHN) (8) Shoira Zulkaynarova (TJK) 17 Zeynab Rahimova (AZE) (8) Marina Muliarchyk (BLR) Thi Mai Chuc Ngo (VIE) 18 Miria Daiana Andor (ROU) Diana Maestre (VEN) Emily Juma (KEN) 19 Ariadna Gil Alonso (MEX) Aynur Mikayilova (AZE)    20 Oyun-erdene Nergui (MGL) Yasmim Alves (BRA)   21 Melani Volkova (GER) Diana Perez (MEX)   22 Amina Faki (KEN) (3) Halima Vunjabei (TAN)   23 Kyriaki Daponte (GRE) Khuraman Kasumova (GEO)   24 Miraiida Tashpolotova (KGZ) Ainazik Rustambek Kyzy (KGZ)   25 Ashihlobanise Hobongwana (RSA) Melani Girado (CUB)   26 Patricia Becerra (IBA) Huyen Tran Nguyen (VIE) (7)   27 Zulfa Rwenda (TAN) Pauline Chege (KEN)   28 Asefa Abate (ETH) ? Khurshid Mohammadi (AFG)   29 M Haidari (AFG) Imitha Mkala (RSA)   30   Lovelight Fusire (ZIM)    
W54kg
 
The top bracket here is completely up for grabs between Olympians Widad Bertal  and Thi Kim Anh Vo  and Aziza Yokubova or Xuan Zhao . I think Vo might come through but I don’t really know how good the Chinese boxer is. European champion Sara Cirkovic  should be the home star of this tournament and only has to beat veteran Zhaina Shekerbekova  who is well past her best to medal. Olympic silver medallist Hatice Akbas  should easily medal. Final bracket is a bit trickier with Olympian Jennifer Lehane  meeting Asian champ Natnicha Chongprongklang  in the last 32 and Johana Gomez  waiting in a potential quarter final. I will reluctantly pick the young Thai. Either way Cirkovic to beat Akbas in the final.
 
Gold-Sara Cirkovic , Silver- Hatice Akbas , Bronze- Thi Kim Anh Vo , Natnicha Chongprongklang .
 
W57kg
 
Remarkable that 30 is the most entries of any weight class. Karina Ibragimova  has won medals at both of the last two world championships but has struggled of late and has a very tough draw here. The powerful Ashleyann Lozada  dumped Ibragimova out of the Olympics but she herself lost to Valeria Arboleda  who she would have to beat to get another shot at the Kazakh. 2019 world silver medallist Liudmila Vorontsova  is lurking on the easier side of this top bracket as well. I think Vorontsova is therefore the safest medal pick. Asian champion Punrawee Ruenros  is probably the marginal favourite to medal from the second bracket. She meets 54kg 2022 world silver medallist Lacramioara Perijoc  who moves back up to featherweight despite having struggled at this weight in the past. Olympian Mijgona Samadova  and the unknown Hyang Suk Ku  provide further potential banana skins. Michaela Walsh  in her lengthy has never managed to win a global medal but has a shot here. Andela Brankovic  is a tricky opener especially given she is at home but Walsh won this matchup in all the way back in 2018 if that is worth anything. Jenifer Fernandez  would then meet the winner with Asian silver medallist and Olympian Nigina Uktamova  awaiting the winner. I think Walsh is past it so I’ll back Uktamova. Olympic medallist Esra Yildiz  will win the bottom bracket and probably make the final. I don’t feel confident in my pick of a Vorontsova Yildiz final but that’s where I have ended up so I guess Vorontsova to win. That doesn’t feel right though.
 
Gold- Liudmila Vorontsova , Silver- Esra Yildiz , Bronze- Punrawee Ruenros , Nigina Uktamova .
 
W60kg-
 
Weird to not having Beatriz Ferreira  or Kellie Harrington  here as they have dominated the global titles in this division for a while now. European champion Natalia Shadrina  probably had the best year of her career last year despite narrowly missing out on an Olympic medal and should medal here. Newly minted Asian champion Viktoriya Grafeyeva  probably starts as the favourite here and only has to beat Olympian Sitora Turdibekova  to medal. The bottom bracket is between Gizem Ozer  and Miroslava Jedinakova  who met in a European under 22 final a few years ago. Jedinakova won that won but I think I would back Ozer here. The most interesting bracket includes European silver medallist Nune Asatrian , Olympian and Asian games silver medallist Won Ung-yong , 57kg European champion Svetlana Staneva  and Asian silver medallist Qiange Li . I think Staneva is the pick here. Grafeyeva to beat Staneva in the final.
 
Gold- Viktoriya Grafayeva , Silver- Svetlana Staneva , Bronze- Natalia Shadrina , Gizem Ozer .

W63 W66 W70 1 Kristina Kulukhova (SRB) Busenaz Surmeneli (TUR) (1) Lisa O'Rourke (IRL) 2 Elena Babicheva (RUS) (3) Albina Moldazhanova (RUS) Shu Li (CHN) ? 3 Aida Abikeyeva (KAZ) (2) Pan Zhou (CHN)< Kaye Scott (AUS) (1) 4 Jessica Triebelova (SVK) Navbakhor Khamidova (UZB)  (2) Milena Matovic (SRB) < 5 Shuoyu Zhao (CHN) ?? Grainne Walsh (IRL) Natalya Bogdanova (KAZ) (2) 6 Thananya Somnuek (THA) (1) Zhasmin Kizatova (KAZ) Elena Gapeshina (RUS) 7 Thi Linh Ha (VIE) (5) Ivanusa Moreira (CPV) (3) Oysha Toirova (UZB) 8 Omailyn Alcala (VEN) Stephanie Pineiro (PUR) (4) Saida Lahmidi (MAR) (3) 9 Esma Nur Lok (TUR) Mouna Toutir (MAR) Sema Caliskan (TUR) 10 Loredana Marin (ROU) Crinuta Sebe (ROU) (22 EY gold) Dunia Martinez (ESP) 11 Megan de Cler (IBA) Tamara Kubalova (SVK) Aryna Danylchyk (BLR) (4) 12 Ala Ivashkevich (BLR) Anastasija Lukajic (SRB) Emili Rzayeva (AZE) 13 ((Odinakhon Ismoilova)) (UZB) Friza Asiko Anyango (KEN) Genesis Palma (VEN) 14 Marianna Soto (ESP) Maria Rodriguez (MEX) Darianne Olvera (MEX) 15 Olga Papadatou (GRE) Thabisile Cimi (RSA) Ngoc Mai Hoang (VIE) (5) 16 Jekaterina Sorokina (LAT)   Zabrina Holstrom (SWE) 17 Miriam Hernandez (MEX)   Sinothile Ncube (RSA) 18 Esmaralda Novruzaj (ALB)     19 Nilufar Boboyorova (TJK)     20 Sona Harutyunyan (ARM) (4)     21 Cynthia Mwai (KEN)     22 Hildah Kaye (ZIM)     23 Rebecca Sovula (SLE)     24 Doricas Kibwana (TAN)     W63kg
 
Russian import and European champion Kristina Kulukhova  has been disappointing since winning that European title last year but with home advantage should beat Olympian Thananya Somnuek . Thi Linh Ha was a surprise Olympic qualifier but only has to beat 57kg Olympian Omailyn Alcala to medal here. European silver medallist Elena Babicheva  should also medal. Asian champion Aida Abikiyeva  is probably the pick of the last bracket but will have to beat Shuoyo Zhao  (Chinese have won this division in 4 out of the last 5 world championships) or European bronze medallist Jessica Triebelova . Don’t really know from there so I guess just pick the home boxer
 
Gold- Kristina Kulukhova , Silver- Elena Babicheva , Bronze- Thi Linh Ha , Aida Abikiyeva .
W66kg
 
Back to back world champion Busenaz Surmeneli  should be able to avenge her Olympic disappointment and will have no trouble making the final. Stephanie Pineiro  looks set to become one of the world medallist from this tournament that are nowhere near good enough to become a world medallist certainly not at this point in her career. Crinuta Sebe  is former European youth champion so is the other contender there. European silver medallist Albina Moldazhanova  has a tough bracket here against 2023 70kg world bronze medallist Pan Zhou  and one of Asian under 22 champ Zhasmin Kizatova  or Ivanusa Moreira . Olympic quarter finalist and Asian champion Navbakhor Khamidova has been in great form of late but has a tough fight against fellow Olympian Grainne Walsh  between her and a medal. A year ago I would have confidently picked Grainne Walsh here but now I’m not so sure.
 
Gold- Busenaz Surmeneli , Silver- Albina Moldazhanova , Bronze- Stephanie Pineiro , Navbakhor Khamidova .
 
W70kg
 
Decent field here. World silver medallist Kaye Scott  is here for some reason even though Australia isn’t. She should be able to beat Elena Gapeshina  to medal here. Somehow Aryna Danilchyk  is probably going to medal here. 2022 world champion Lisa O’Rourke should be able to beat world youth medallist Oysha Toirova . Not sure who of Milena Matovic , Shu Li  or Natalya Bogdanova  win the last bracket. I’ll back O’Rourke to beat Scott in the final but nobody here is particularly reliable.
 
Gold-Lisa O’Rourke , Silver- Kaye Scott , Bronze- Shu Li , Aryna Danylchyk .
 
 
W75 W81 W81+ 1 Aoife O'Rourke (IRL) (1) Xiaomeng Wang (CHN) ?? Yilian Zhan (CHN) ?? 2 Lina Wang (CHN) (2) Busra Isildar (TUR) Daria Sazonova (MDA) (2) 3 Anastasia Shamonova (RUS) (3) Gulsaya Yerzhan (KAZ) Maria Kuchmanova (RUS) 4 Nadezhda Ryabets (KAZ) Sarah Scheurich (GER) Elif Guneri (TUR) 5 Aziza Zokirova (UZB) Saltanat Medenova (RUS) Aynur Rzayeva (AZE) (1) 6 Amalia Nita (EY champ) Sokhiba Ruzmetova (UZB) Sara Miljkovic (SRB) (3) 7 Nikolina Gajic (SRB) (4) Viktoriya Kebikava (BLR) (2) Yeldana Talipova (KAZ) 8 Patricia Mbata (NGR) Elizabeth Andiego (KEN) (1) Oltinoy Sotimboeva (UZB) 9 Vasiliki Stavridou (GRE) Elma Hajrovic (SRB) Judy Bobbett (IRL) 10 Alina Veber (BLR) Maria Cimpoeru (ROU) Nena Zamora (PYF) 11 Yaren Duztas (TUR) Hasnae Larti (MAR) >   12 Keidy Guevara (VEN) Yoana Rodriguez (CUB)   13 Dayira Mesa (CUB) Veroiti Nena (PYF)   14 Aminata Koroma (SLE)     W75kg
 
Aoife O’Rourke  has been the best middleweight in the world for the past few years but somehow has fallen short at every global championships so far in her career. Controversially losing a last 16 fight to a boxer she has beaten 4 times before with only other boxers she had beaten before lying between her and gold is as painful as an Olympic experience gets but as a result she probably has the most pressure of any boxer to win here. She should end up facing either multi time 81kg world medallist Lina Wang or Anastasia Shamanova  in the final provided she can beat Aziza Zokirova  and Nadezhda Ryabets .
 
Gold- Aoife O’Rourke , Silver- Lina Wang , Bronze- Nadezhda Ryabets , Anastasia Shamonova .
 
W81kg
 
Don’t really particularly care about the heavyweights. Really hope if they add a 7th womens weight to the Olympics to balance up the genders that they don’t add 81 or 81+ because basically all the best heavyweights can make weight at middleweight and struggle there. Just thought I would put that opinion out there cause I think it might happen. Anyway
 
Gold- Xiaomeng Wang , Silver- Saltanat Medenova , Bronze Busra Isildar , Viktoriya Kebikava .
 
W81+kg
 
Gold- Yilian Zhan , Silver- Daria Sazonova , Bronze- Maria Kuchmanova , Sara Miljkovic .
 
 
Medal table
 
  Gold Silver  Bronze Total Turkey 2 2 2 6 Kazakhstan 2 1 2 5 China  2 1 1 4 Serbia 2 0 3 5 Ireland 2 0 0 2 Russia  1 4 3 8 Thailand 1 0 2 3 Bulgaria 0 1 1 2 Australia 0 1 0 1 Moldova 0 1 0 1 North Korea 0 1 0 1 Uzbekistan 0 0 5 5 Vietnam 0 0 2 2 Belarus 0 0 2 2 Puerto Rico 0 0 1 1  
4 of the last 5 world championships have been won by the host nation. Not sure Serbia quite achieve that here but they had a great Europeans which they also hosted last year and 3  gold could get them there which is definitely possible despite them having never won a medal at these championships before. This prediction almost certainly underestimates North korea and I’m really not very sure what to expect from this Chinese squad. They have been the best nation in the world in women’s boxing over the last Olympic cycle but without their Olympians its hard to know.
Russia didn’t have a great time at the previous world championships but given the lack of depth should do fairly well here. Kazakhstan and Turkey feel like comfortably the safest picks to top the medal table here. Uzbekistan women’s squad has been steadily improving over the last few years and is also probably due a breakout championships and it could come here. 2 medals would be disappointing from an Irish perspective given the experience in the squad but they haven't gotten any easy draws so will have to earn it if they want medals.

MONDO ''WORLD RECORD'' DUPLANTIS DOES IT AGAIN.6.27 ON THE FIRST TRY.11TH WORLD RECORD.

Hey Totalympians 
 
Sorry for the long wait and no reply to your questions about prediction contests. 
 
The reason for the silence from my side has to due with the fact that me and my wife got our daughter in the beginning of December, so my time has been limited to other activities in the recent period. 
 
Due to this big change in me and my wife's life, I will not be able to do Prediction contests for a while. So I will step down as prediction contest manager and I hope one or more of you will take my place and continue doing prediction contests on the forum. 
 
Otherwise, I can recommend what @rafalgorka is doing with Prediction polls as a good alternative. 
 
I hope you all will understand my decision for stepping down as I do want to focus most of my time on my family in this new chapter of our life. 
 
Kind regards, 
Wumo

Good stuff Ogreman. I find the year after Olympics is nearly always a year in flux in boxing. It’s true for most sports but seems *extra* true for boxing.
 
 

Boxing squad projection Feb 2024
 
This place is very quiet at the moment ay? Anyway so I meant to do this after the national championships at the end of last year but just didn’t get around to it but I guess nothing has really changed over the last couple of months. Strandja does start tomorrow though. So I thought it would interesting to just kind of project a potential boxing team for LA and just kind of see how much it evolves over the next few years obviously with all the caveats that still apply with boxing and LA.
 
So for comparison at the this point in the previous cycle Kelyn Cassidy wasn’t even on the radar, Martin McDonagh had only just started boxing and Jude Gallagher, Dean Clancy, Jennifer Lehane and Grainne Walsh were all firmly down the pecking order with the likes of Adam Hession and Brandon McCarthy looking like likely future Olympians.
 
Just age wise for reference Jude Gallagher, Dean Clancy, Jack Marley, Martin McDonagh and Daina Moorehouse were all 21 or 22 for Paris so 17/18 year olds are very much potentially in play for this LA and would expect a number of them to end up being first choice by 2028, 15/16 year olds though (ie John Donoghue) maybe not so much at least for us, other countries absolutely do pick 18/19 year olds for the Olympics.
 
I should caveat that this is more of a projection of who we try to qualify with and I'm not yet worrying about who/ how many would qualify. Oh and while world boxing has already been tinkering with weightclasses (don’t get me started on that), for now I’m just sticking with the ones from Paris.
 
Mostly this is just for me to look back on in 1/2/3 years to see how this hypothethical squad has evolved. I list boxers roughly (emphasis on roughly) in order of my own preference/ expectation but I like some of these will absolutely look dumb in a year or two.
 
I’m going to put question marks next to boxers who could end up in a different weightclass and brackets around boxers who may or may not be available for selection. (I know that technically could be all of them but you know what I mean.) And I definitely have forgotten someone.
 
M51kg- Patsy Joyce, Louis Rooney, Scott Thompson, Jamie Collins, Clepson dos Santos, Sean Mari.
 
So its funny how we spent the entirety of the last Olympic cycle looking for someone to usurp Sean Mari or Mari himself to take a leap and then a couple of months after the Olympics we get European under 22 champions at 48kg and 54kg albeit neither came against particularly impressive fields. Patsy Joyce is an interesting one regarding the last cycle. He lost a bout review to the eventual champion (Vishvaneth Suresh ) at the youth worlds in 2022 from a bracket that produced 3 Paris Olympians including bronze medallist Junior Alcantara but we never really give anyone a look until they produce at under 22 level. I don’t know how close to qualifying Joyce would have gotten but it would have been interesting had he been given a shot at the extended squad and not Ricky (has never won a fight at a major tournament) Nesbitt.
 
Joyce could end up following Dylan Eagleson lead of trying to be an undersized counterpunching featherweight rather than go down in weight but he is even smaller than Eagleson. I think Joyce could end up being world class but at this point the range of outcomes for him is very wide. Rooney doesn’t have the same underage pedigree mostly because he was stuck behind Joyce but is quite talented in his own right and doesn’t come with any questions about potential weight classes.
 
Both Scott Thompson and Jamie Collins come out of the youth ranks with some pedigree but lets wait and see how they evolve. Clepson dos Santos finally got himself on a European under 22 podium at the third attempt last year and won nationals in Mari’s absence and while I did think he looked better last year is still an uninspiring option. This particular weight class is still Sean Mari’s this year with Rooney and Joyce above and below him but the younger lads should ultimately surpass him by 2028.
 
M57kg- Dylan Eagleson, Jude Gallagher, Jamie Graham, Adam Hession, Rhys Owens?, Gavin Ryan.
 
The most interesting development here is that despite speculation about all 3 of Eagleson, Gallagher and Hession turning pro at least for now they all remain in the amateur ranks. I still think Eagleson has the highest ceiling despite his return after a year out with various injuries resulting in a loss against Rhys Owens at Ulster elites albeit at 60kg. Gallagher is absolutely good enough to make it to multiple Olympics but it remains to be seen if he can take that next step to make global podiums or if his career tracks more like someone like Brendan Irvine. Adam Hession is still the same technically sound but ultimately underwhelming boxer he has been for the last 3 years or so. Moved up to 60kg for nationals presumably to ensure he got picked for the world championships but then promptly lost to the internationally unproven Rhys Owens.
 
Gavin Ryan and Jamie Graham both very nearly medalled at the world youth championships in 2022 and 2024 respectively, Ryan is now national champion in Gallagher’s absence. Graham impressed me at lot at world youths only losing to eventual champion Samandar Olimov  who Adam Hession will presumably lose to in his fight against him at Strandja tomorrow.
 
M63.5kg- Lee McEvoy, Roy Colgan, Dean Clancy, Martin McDonagh, Jason Nevin,.
 
This is the most wide open of the divisions both in the short term and from an LA Olympics perspective. Dean Clancy has gone backwards since his impressive run to qualify at European games in 2023 and then became the poster child of why so many Olympians didn’t compete at nationals by losing to Roy Colgan another who went close to medalling at world youths in 2022. Colgan doesn’t have the medals his talent deserves and threw away a medal against an inferior but more physical opponent at European under 22s and failed to back up a spectacular performance to beat Clancy at nationals losing the final to Jason Nevin but I like him and think he has serious potential. Nevin himself is similar to Rhys Owens (listed at 57kg) in that he has some impressive results and performances domestically but has to this point done nothing internationally.
 
Martin McDonagh comes out of the youth ranks this year without the medals his talent deserves having withdrawn injured from European youths and then ran into a tank in eventual champion Platon Kozlov  at world youths. My favourite at this point is Lee McEvoy who medalled at world youths in 2022, He is rail thin and does need to get stronger but height and reach advantages proved very effective during the last Olympic cycle and he picks some great punches.
 
M71kg- Bobbi Flood, Aidan Walsh, (John Donoghue?). Ryan Jenkins?, Jon McConnell, Tadhg O’Donnell?,  Eugene McKeever
 
Quite possibly could take the title from 57kg for the highest quality division over the course of this Olympic cycle. Bobbi Flood has been the most hyped up boxer in the country for the last few years, notable given that there is no lack of talent coming through. Only managed bronze at his first European under 22s but put up an admirable fight against Yurii Zakharieiev . Definitely has the potential to be a strong medal contender by the time LA comes around so his development is probably more important than most others.
 
How long Aidan Walsh sticks around really depends on where his head is at but despite a disappointing outcome at the Olympics he did prove he is still up there with the best pure counterpunchers in the world. He would be 32 by the time LA comes around.
 
Jon McConnell is national champion and could end up with this spot in some national selections over the next couple of years but something will have gone wrong if he is in the mix for LA selection.
 
Then there are Ryan Jenkins and Tadhg O’Donnell who both leave the youth ranks after disappointing world champs at 63.5kg and 71 kg respectively after both taking bronze at Europeans. O’Donnell is very skilled and looks great until you put him under pressure at which point he just crumbles entirely, Jenkins has less underage pedigree but I am higher on his potential, a soft chin cost him at worlds but he is technically sound punch picker who carries some serious power.
 
And finally there is John Donoghue who followed up his 2023 junior world championships by absolutely dominating Europeans last year. He will only hit the senior ranks in 2027 and likely at a weight class (a growth spurt could maybe push him to a higher division.) that isn’t going to be lacking for good options. I think circumstances could mean LA is just too soon but if he continues to develop at the rate he currently is, he absolutely should ultimately win Ireland an Olympic medal.
 
M80kg- Kelyn Cassidy, Gavin Rafferty?, Josh Olaniyan?, James Whelan
 
At this point this looks like Kelyn Cassidy or burst so if he decides he is better off in the pro ranks then we are in trouble and at 27 trying to win a world medal this year and then turn pro could make sense for him. Rafferty and Olaniyan are both currently battling for selection at 75kg so probably represent the most logical potential competition. In terms of youngsters coming through I guess Tadhg O’Donnell could end up here but he struggled mightily with physicality at 71kg and I’m not sure there is an easy way to reconcile that other than to compete at a lower weight division. Whelan is the current number 2 but I don’t think is good enough to do anything internationally. If Cassidy goes pro and no one else steps up though he could end up with the selection nod.
 
M92kg- Jack Marley, Nathan Ojo, Shay O’Dowd?, Brian Kennedy?.
 
Jack Marley was one of the few Olympians to compete at nationals and really impressed while beating Nathan Ojo. Ojo won bronze at world youths a couple of years ago and is similar enough stylistically to Kelyn Cassidy (backfoot counterpuncher). He apparently missed under 22s last year because he had holidays booked so despite his talent I’m not sure he quite has the dedication coaches like to see but his style has been the one that so many boxers had success with in this division in Paris. (Loren Alfonso Dominguez , Davlat Boltaev , Victor Schelstraete )  Shay O’Dowd was one of the youth boxers who medalled for the IBA- neutral team at world youths. To be somewhat fair to the selectors that was his first time competing internationally and it was a soft enough draw. Pretty sure he has another year at youth level so should be interesting to see how he develops.
 
M92kg+- Adam Olaniyan, Martin McDonagh
 
There is a buses analogy that definitely applies here. European and world youth champion Adam Olaniyan is well ye know very talented and unlike other weight classes which were diluted by the IBA and world boxing running parallel championships, he beat everyone there was to beat. My one concern with him was his willingness to allow physical opponents to push him back to the ropes and then unload which oh so nearly cost him against Oleksandr Sliesariev  in the European semi-final. I just wonder if better, stronger more experienced senior opponents would punish that in the senior ranks. Obviously with a super heavyweight, they will probably take Olaniyan's development slowly and probably rightly so.
 
McDonagh was unlucky to only take bronze at European under 22s losing a fight I thought he had done enough to win against Stylianos Roulias  with a boxer he had beaten before waiting in the final. It will be interesting to see what kind of level McDonagh settles out after his rapid development over the last year. McDonagh probably needs some silverware over the next couple of years if he wants any chance of ultimately holding off Olaniyan.
 
 
 
W50kg- Daina Moorehouse, Shannon Sweeney, Carleigh Irving, Tiffany Spencer, Caitlin Fryers.
 
Lets not bring up Moorehouse’s Olympics but she has the chance truly establish herself at the top of this division globally over the next couple of years. Assuming the training squad of 8  that went on a camp to China is the world champs selection then Shannon Sweeney is a bizarre omission given that 52kg is vacant. Carleigh Irving is the only interesting selection for worlds as while she did take silver at European under 22s a few months ago, I wasn’t that impressed with her performance but ye know 48kg isn’t that strong so maybe she can be competitive.
 
Of the omitted squad for world youth championships, despite not ultimately medalling I thought Tiffany Spencer was the most egregious non selection. She lost a quarter final to Ruby White  at Europeans who won all her other fights by stoppage and subsequently won world boxing’s youth world championships comfortably. Spencer did lose a very narrow split decision that cost her a medal at worlds but it was bizarre that she wasn’t in the actual squad.
 
W54kg- Jennifer Lehane, Carlagh Peake?, Robyn Kelly, Chloe Gabriel, Nicole Kinsella.
 
Not the most inspiring weight class at the moment. Lehane is what she is, solid but wouldn’t really expect her to trouble the podium at worlds. Carlagh Peake ended up being the most notable non selection by winning 3 fights including beating a Russian on her way to silver at world youths. That said she did get stopped in her opening round at Europeans and like that world final which was her only fight against truly world class opposition would have been stopped if it was earlier in the competition. Its not that she shouldn’t have been selected just that a different draw and her non selection would have looked justified. She is a quality counterpuncher and though she competed at 50kg last year given her height, I’d expect her to move up a bit over the next few years.
 
Robyn Kelly is fine and has a couple of European under 22 bronzes but lost to Chloe Gabriel at nationals, Gabriel had some success underage but hasn’t really had any success at senior level.
 
W57kg- Niamh Fay, Michaela Walsh, Grace Conway?
 
So despite Michaela Walsh being clearly past her peak she still refuses to lose at national championships easily dispatching Niamh Fay last November. So we now have the issue that Fay is proabably the better boxer but Walsh stylistically has the advantage so until Walsh steps aside or Fay figures out how to beat counterpunchers Walsh will keep this spot. Niamh Fay does have some very impressive wins and I do think her footwork has improved to the level that she would be my pick right now with the caveat that she will always be inconsistent and encounter matchups that just don’t suit her.
 
Grace Conway has European junior and youth silver medals and has a ton of potential. She is very tall so while she was boxing at 52kg last year, she has already moved up to 57kg while still at youth level this year so could end up at 60kg rather than here. Massive talent either way but might not quite be physically ready in time for LA.
 
W60kg- Ava Henry?, (Amy Broadhurst), ((Kellie Harrington)), Kellie McLoughlin.
 
We have plenty of talent coming through in and around this weightclass but its unclear if there is anyone actually at it. Kellie McLoughlin moved up from featherweight to take the national title last year but she is doing anything noteworthy internationally. There are a few names that could end up giving us a real shot at winning this title for the 4th/5 time but no name that quite fits perfectly.
While we did have 3 youth world champions last year I would make it very clear that Ava Henry was by far the most talented youth boxer in Ireland last year, and one of the best if not the best in the world. Stylistically and physically she reminds me a lot of Amy Broadhurst. The issue for Henry though is that she was boxing at 63kg last year and it is a tough ask to go down in weight from the youth ranks to senior level especially if she thinks that she is better off and would get picked at 66kg. I would expect her to stay at 63kg for the next year or two and then potentially move up/down for Olympic selection.
 
Also, I mentioned it earlier how Ireland doesn’t really pick boxers straight out of the youth ranks but Henry this year is one of those cases which I find strange as to why we wouldn’t select her at every opportunity, there is a massive hole in our worlds squad at her weight class, she is absolutely good enough, why not send her?, for the experience if nothing else.
 
Kellie Harrington was included in the the national squad list in January and is apparently still training. She is definitely retired but would it actually shock any of us if half way through 2026 she decided she wanted to give it one more go?
 
I kind of sorta maybe called that Amy Broadhurst wouldn’t turn pro and would stick around for LA. In her statement though she didn’t specify what country she would attempt to qualify for LA. I don’t know if she would want to switch back to Ireland (although Eoin Pluck seems to be back in the good books.), if it is possible to switch back (given how easy it was to switch in the first place, I assume it is.) or if we would want her back but maybe. Anyway she is well pregnant at the moment so there is no point in speculating about this for another while anyway
 
I mentioned Grace Conway above as potentially a name to watch here, the last name I would mention is Niamh Fay who while it would be a big jump to go from 54kg to 60kg, her style does suit being undersized and being able to get inside her opponents so if she remains stuck behind Michaela Walsh, I’d consider this if I were her.
 
Basically there is enough talent in and around this weight class that it is likely someone will ultimately seize it and put us back in medal contention, who that is and when that will be though I’m not sure. I guess it is possible that we get a situation like 66kg last time where everyone above and below it eyed it up only for Grainne Walsh to ultimately end up with the nod.
 
W66kg- Lisa O’Rourke, Siofra Lawless, Kyla Doyle, Grainne Walsh.
 
This weight ended up being stacked from nowhere during the last Olympic cycle but looks likely to be stacked from the off this time around albeit for now Grainne Walsh is in the short term unthreatened.
 
Look I was critical of this selection and I‘ve never been her biggest fan but the Olympics themselves were ultimately harsh on Grainne Walsh losing a stylistic mismatch in her opening fight and then watching two opponents Amy Broadhurst beat meet in the final and one Lisa O’Rourke beat win bronze. I kind of hope she gets a bit of redemption at worlds because she has been an excellent servant to Irish boxing. Lisa O’Rourke has had an inconsistent and injury riddled few years since becoming world champion but will likely start as one of the favourites to retake that 70kg title next month. If there is an overarching lesson for me from the last Olympics it was that size and reach is crucial and Lisa O’Rourke fits that bill.
 
Then there are the two youth world champions. Look, Make no mistake Siofra Lawless is an immense talent but I don’t think she is quite as good as Junior and Youth world titles in back to back years makes it sound and take nothing away from it but I don’t think it was the strongest field that she had to beat. Unlike Ava Henry, I don’t think Siofra Lawless would be potentially able to move down to the potentially empty 60kg. Add in that she still has another year at youth level and I’m not sure she will be quite ready for LA. She could very easily prove me wrong though.
 
Kyla Doyle went from absolutely no pedigree to European and World youth champion in a year which is remarkable. My one criticism of her would be that she does get drawn into physical scraps quite easily but when she gets in lets her hands go and then gets out again she is a joy to watch. Definitely has a fair bit of development still to do particularly compared to someone like Lawless who is a year younger but so much more refined but Doyle’s ceiling is sky high. I really don’t know how this weight class will ultimately shake out.
 
W75kg- Aoife O’Rourke, Evelyn Igharo?, Nell Mcloughlin, Laura Moran.
 
It is absolutely crazy that Aoife O’Rourke still doesn’t have a global medal given her performances and results at every other tournament and as such these upcoming world championships are more important for her than anyone else. Evelyn Igharo’s career has been one case of what might have been after another but she is still very talented. Nell McLaughlin and Laura Moran have both medalled at the last two world youth championships albeit the heavier women’s weights tend to not be that strong/ have many entries. That said McLaughlin’s performance to outwork and outlast Dilara Sak who had given Kyla Doyle trouble at Europeans (Yeah I don’t know why Sak moved up 2 weightclasses) was probably my favourite fight of that tournament. I know we won 3 world titles but there was something poetic about watching an overlooked boxer who only made the semis because of a walkover come through against a much more decorated, fancied and skilled opponent.
 
 
Anyway that was a lot longer than I thought it would be. I feel like I left a lot of detail out as well. And yeah I know this is gauranteed to look stupid in a year or two but sure look.

Is this our first confirmed 2028 qualification pathway confirmed?
 
[World Taekwondo] World Taekwondo Changes Olympic Ranking Points Cycle
 
I think we were already aware that there would be a change to ranking system for LA. It's now confirmed that World Taekwondo are switching to a 2-year ranking cycle. 
 
The first ranking period runs from July'24 - June'26 with the second period running from July'26 to June'28. Ranking points from the first phase will be used to determine entry and seeding for Grand Prix events in the second phase. Only the points acquired from July'26-June'28 will count towards Olympic qualification. 
 
As per previous cycles, the top five athletes in each of the relevant weight categories based on the Olympic rankings published in January'28 will automatically qualify for the LA Olympics. 
 
Another qualification criteria confirmed relates to the Grand Slam Champion Series. In previous qualification pathways, if the top ranked athlete in the Grand Slam merit points was also qualified through the Olympic rankings, the quota was reallocated to the next highest ranked Olympic athlete. For Los Angeles, this quota would be reallocated to the athlete ranked No. 2 in Grand Slam merit points.
 
If this athlete is also within the top-5 in the Olympic rankings, the quota will be given to the next highest ranked athlete in the Olympic rankings. 

Boxing squad projection Feb 2024
 
This place is very quiet at the moment ay? Anyway so I meant to do this after the national championships at the end of last year but just didn’t get around to it but I guess nothing has really changed over the last couple of months. Strandja does start tomorrow though. So I thought it would interesting to just kind of project a potential boxing team for LA and just kind of see how much it evolves over the next few years obviously with all the caveats that still apply with boxing and LA.
 
So for comparison at the this point in the previous cycle Kelyn Cassidy wasn’t even on the radar, Martin McDonagh had only just started boxing and Jude Gallagher, Dean Clancy, Jennifer Lehane and Grainne Walsh were all firmly down the pecking order with the likes of Adam Hession and Brandon McCarthy looking like likely future Olympians.
 
Just age wise for reference Jude Gallagher, Dean Clancy, Jack Marley, Martin McDonagh and Daina Moorehouse were all 21 or 22 for Paris so 17/18 year olds are very much potentially in play for this LA and would expect a number of them to end up being first choice by 2028, 15/16 year olds though (ie John Donoghue) maybe not so much at least for us, other countries absolutely do pick 18/19 year olds for the Olympics.
 
I should caveat that this is more of a projection of who we try to qualify with and I'm not yet worrying about who/ how many would qualify. Oh and while world boxing has already been tinkering with weightclasses (don’t get me started on that), for now I’m just sticking with the ones from Paris.
 
Mostly this is just for me to look back on in 1/2/3 years to see how this hypothethical squad has evolved. I list boxers roughly (emphasis on roughly) in order of my own preference/ expectation but I like some of these will absolutely look dumb in a year or two.
 
I’m going to put question marks next to boxers who could end up in a different weightclass and brackets around boxers who may or may not be available for selection. (I know that technically could be all of them but you know what I mean.) And I definitely have forgotten someone.
 
M51kg- Patsy Joyce, Louis Rooney, Scott Thompson, Jamie Collins, Clepson dos Santos, Sean Mari.
 
So its funny how we spent the entirety of the last Olympic cycle looking for someone to usurp Sean Mari or Mari himself to take a leap and then a couple of months after the Olympics we get European under 22 champions at 48kg and 54kg albeit neither came against particularly impressive fields. Patsy Joyce is an interesting one regarding the last cycle. He lost a bout review to the eventual champion (Vishvaneth Suresh ) at the youth worlds in 2022 from a bracket that produced 3 Paris Olympians including bronze medallist Junior Alcantara but we never really give anyone a look until they produce at under 22 level. I don’t know how close to qualifying Joyce would have gotten but it would have been interesting had he been given a shot at the extended squad and not Ricky (has never won a fight at a major tournament) Nesbitt.
 
Joyce could end up following Dylan Eagleson lead of trying to be an undersized counterpunching featherweight rather than go down in weight but he is even smaller than Eagleson. I think Joyce could end up being world class but at this point the range of outcomes for him is very wide. Rooney doesn’t have the same underage pedigree mostly because he was stuck behind Joyce but is quite talented in his own right and doesn’t come with any questions about potential weight classes.
 
Both Scott Thompson and Jamie Collins come out of the youth ranks with some pedigree but lets wait and see how they evolve. Clepson dos Santos finally got himself on a European under 22 podium at the third attempt last year and won nationals in Mari’s absence and while I did think he looked better last year is still an uninspiring option. This particular weight class is still Sean Mari’s this year with Rooney and Joyce above and below him but the younger lads should ultimately surpass him by 2028.
 
M57kg- Dylan Eagleson, Jude Gallagher, Jamie Graham, Adam Hession, Rhys Owens?, Gavin Ryan.
 
The most interesting development here is that despite speculation about all 3 of Eagleson, Gallagher and Hession turning pro at least for now they all remain in the amateur ranks. I still think Eagleson has the highest ceiling despite his return after a year out with various injuries resulting in a loss against Rhys Owens at Ulster elites albeit at 60kg. Gallagher is absolutely good enough to make it to multiple Olympics but it remains to be seen if he can take that next step to make global podiums or if his career tracks more like someone like Brendan Irvine. Adam Hession is still the same technically sound but ultimately underwhelming boxer he has been for the last 3 years or so. Moved up to 60kg for nationals presumably to ensure he got picked for the world championships but then promptly lost to the internationally unproven Rhys Owens.
 
Gavin Ryan and Jamie Graham both very nearly medalled at the world youth championships in 2022 and 2024 respectively, Ryan is now national champion in Gallagher’s absence. Graham impressed me at lot at world youths only losing to eventual champion Samandar Olimov  who Adam Hession will presumably lose to in his fight against him at Strandja tomorrow.
 
M63.5kg- Lee McEvoy, Roy Colgan, Dean Clancy, Martin McDonagh, Jason Nevin,.
 
This is the most wide open of the divisions both in the short term and from an LA Olympics perspective. Dean Clancy has gone backwards since his impressive run to qualify at European games in 2023 and then became the poster child of why so many Olympians didn’t compete at nationals by losing to Roy Colgan another who went close to medalling at world youths in 2022. Colgan doesn’t have the medals his talent deserves and threw away a medal against an inferior but more physical opponent at European under 22s and failed to back up a spectacular performance to beat Clancy at nationals losing the final to Jason Nevin but I like him and think he has serious potential. Nevin himself is similar to Rhys Owens (listed at 57kg) in that he has some impressive results and performances domestically but has to this point done nothing internationally.
 
Martin McDonagh comes out of the youth ranks this year without the medals his talent deserves having withdrawn injured from European youths and then ran into a tank in eventual champion Platon Kozlov  at world youths. My favourite at this point is Lee McEvoy who medalled at world youths in 2022, He is rail thin and does need to get stronger but height and reach advantages proved very effective during the last Olympic cycle and he picks some great punches.
 
M71kg- Bobbi Flood, Aidan Walsh, (John Donoghue?). Ryan Jenkins?, Jon McConnell, Tadhg O’Donnell?,  Eugene McKeever
 
Quite possibly could take the title from 57kg for the highest quality division over the course of this Olympic cycle. Bobbi Flood has been the most hyped up boxer in the country for the last few years, notable given that there is no lack of talent coming through. Only managed bronze at his first European under 22s but put up an admirable fight against Yurii Zakharieiev . Definitely has the potential to be a strong medal contender by the time LA comes around so his development is probably more important than most others.
 
How long Aidan Walsh sticks around really depends on where his head is at but despite a disappointing outcome at the Olympics he did prove he is still up there with the best pure counterpunchers in the world. He would be 32 by the time LA comes around.
 
Jon McConnell is national champion and could end up with this spot in some national selections over the next couple of years but something will have gone wrong if he is in the mix for LA selection.
 
Then there are Ryan Jenkins and Tadhg O’Donnell who both leave the youth ranks after disappointing world champs at 63.5kg and 71 kg respectively after both taking bronze at Europeans. O’Donnell is very skilled and looks great until you put him under pressure at which point he just crumbles entirely, Jenkins has less underage pedigree but I am higher on his potential, a soft chin cost him at worlds but he is technically sound punch picker who carries some serious power.
 
And finally there is John Donoghue who followed up his 2023 junior world championships by absolutely dominating Europeans last year. He will only hit the senior ranks in 2027 and likely at a weight class (a growth spurt could maybe push him to a higher division.) that isn’t going to be lacking for good options. I think circumstances could mean LA is just too soon but if he continues to develop at the rate he currently is, he absolutely should ultimately win Ireland an Olympic medal.
 
M80kg- Kelyn Cassidy, Gavin Rafferty?, Josh Olaniyan?, James Whelan
 
At this point this looks like Kelyn Cassidy or burst so if he decides he is better off in the pro ranks then we are in trouble and at 27 trying to win a world medal this year and then turn pro could make sense for him. Rafferty and Olaniyan are both currently battling for selection at 75kg so probably represent the most logical potential competition. In terms of youngsters coming through I guess Tadhg O’Donnell could end up here but he struggled mightily with physicality at 71kg and I’m not sure there is an easy way to reconcile that other than to compete at a lower weight division. Whelan is the current number 2 but I don’t think is good enough to do anything internationally. If Cassidy goes pro and no one else steps up though he could end up with the selection nod.
 
M92kg- Jack Marley, Nathan Ojo, Shay O’Dowd?, Brian Kennedy?.
 
Jack Marley was one of the few Olympians to compete at nationals and really impressed while beating Nathan Ojo. Ojo won bronze at world youths a couple of years ago and is similar enough stylistically to Kelyn Cassidy (backfoot counterpuncher). He apparently missed under 22s last year because he had holidays booked so despite his talent I’m not sure he quite has the dedication coaches like to see but his style has been the one that so many boxers had success with in this division in Paris. (Loren Alfonso Dominguez , Davlat Boltaev , Victor Schelstraete )  Shay O’Dowd was one of the youth boxers who medalled for the IBA- neutral team at world youths. To be somewhat fair to the selectors that was his first time competing internationally and it was a soft enough draw. Pretty sure he has another year at youth level so should be interesting to see how he develops.
 
M92kg+- Adam Olaniyan, Martin McDonagh
 
There is a buses analogy that definitely applies here. European and world youth champion Adam Olaniyan is well ye know very talented and unlike other weight classes which were diluted by the IBA and world boxing running parallel championships, he beat everyone there was to beat. My one concern with him was his willingness to allow physical opponents to push him back to the ropes and then unload which oh so nearly cost him against Oleksandr Sliesariev  in the European semi-final. I just wonder if better, stronger more experienced senior opponents would punish that in the senior ranks. Obviously with a super heavyweight, they will probably take Olaniyan's development slowly and probably rightly so.
 
McDonagh was unlucky to only take bronze at European under 22s losing a fight I thought he had done enough to win against Stylianos Roulias  with a boxer he had beaten before waiting in the final. It will be interesting to see what kind of level McDonagh settles out after his rapid development over the last year. McDonagh probably needs some silverware over the next couple of years if he wants any chance of ultimately holding off Olaniyan.
 
 
 
W50kg- Daina Moorehouse, Shannon Sweeney, Carleigh Irving, Tiffany Spencer, Caitlin Fryers.
 
Lets not bring up Moorehouse’s Olympics but she has the chance truly establish herself at the top of this division globally over the next couple of years. Assuming the training squad of 8  that went on a camp to China is the world champs selection then Shannon Sweeney is a bizarre omission given that 52kg is vacant. Carleigh Irving is the only interesting selection for worlds as while she did take silver at European under 22s a few months ago, I wasn’t that impressed with her performance but ye know 48kg isn’t that strong so maybe she can be competitive.
 
Of the omitted squad for world youth championships, despite not ultimately medalling I thought Tiffany Spencer was the most egregious non selection. She lost a quarter final to Ruby White  at Europeans who won all her other fights by stoppage and subsequently won world boxing’s youth world championships comfortably. Spencer did lose a very narrow split decision that cost her a medal at worlds but it was bizarre that she wasn’t in the actual squad.
 
W54kg- Jennifer Lehane, Carlagh Peake?, Robyn Kelly, Chloe Gabriel, Nicole Kinsella.
 
Not the most inspiring weight class at the moment. Lehane is what she is, solid but wouldn’t really expect her to trouble the podium at worlds. Carlagh Peake ended up being the most notable non selection by winning 3 fights including beating a Russian on her way to silver at world youths. That said she did get stopped in her opening round at Europeans and like that world final which was her only fight against truly world class opposition would have been stopped if it was earlier in the competition. Its not that she shouldn’t have been selected just that a different draw and her non selection would have looked justified. She is a quality counterpuncher and though she competed at 50kg last year given her height, I’d expect her to move up a bit over the next few years.
 
Robyn Kelly is fine and has a couple of European under 22 bronzes but lost to Chloe Gabriel at nationals, Gabriel had some success underage but hasn’t really had any success at senior level.
 
W57kg- Niamh Fay, Michaela Walsh, Grace Conway?
 
So despite Michaela Walsh being clearly past her peak she still refuses to lose at national championships easily dispatching Niamh Fay last November. So we now have the issue that Fay is proabably the better boxer but Walsh stylistically has the advantage so until Walsh steps aside or Fay figures out how to beat counterpunchers Walsh will keep this spot. Niamh Fay does have some very impressive wins and I do think her footwork has improved to the level that she would be my pick right now with the caveat that she will always be inconsistent and encounter matchups that just don’t suit her.
 
Grace Conway has European junior and youth silver medals and has a ton of potential. She is very tall so while she was boxing at 52kg last year, she has already moved up to 57kg while still at youth level this year so could end up at 60kg rather than here. Massive talent either way but might not quite be physically ready in time for LA.
 
W60kg- Ava Henry?, (Amy Broadhurst), ((Kellie Harrington)), Kellie McLoughlin.
 
We have plenty of talent coming through in and around this weightclass but its unclear if there is anyone actually at it. Kellie McLoughlin moved up from featherweight to take the national title last year but she is doing anything noteworthy internationally. There are a few names that could end up giving us a real shot at winning this title for the 4th/5 time but no name that quite fits perfectly.
While we did have 3 youth world champions last year I would make it very clear that Ava Henry was by far the most talented youth boxer in Ireland last year, and one of the best if not the best in the world. Stylistically and physically she reminds me a lot of Amy Broadhurst. The issue for Henry though is that she was boxing at 63kg last year and it is a tough ask to go down in weight from the youth ranks to senior level especially if she thinks that she is better off and would get picked at 66kg. I would expect her to stay at 63kg for the next year or two and then potentially move up/down for Olympic selection.
 
Also, I mentioned it earlier how Ireland doesn’t really pick boxers straight out of the youth ranks but Henry this year is one of those cases which I find strange as to why we wouldn’t select her at every opportunity, there is a massive hole in our worlds squad at her weight class, she is absolutely good enough, why not send her?, for the experience if nothing else.
 
Kellie Harrington was included in the the national squad list in January and is apparently still training. She is definitely retired but would it actually shock any of us if half way through 2026 she decided she wanted to give it one more go?
 
I kind of sorta maybe called that Amy Broadhurst wouldn’t turn pro and would stick around for LA. In her statement though she didn’t specify what country she would attempt to qualify for LA. I don’t know if she would want to switch back to Ireland (although Eoin Pluck seems to be back in the good books.), if it is possible to switch back (given how easy it was to switch in the first place, I assume it is.) or if we would want her back but maybe. Anyway she is well pregnant at the moment so there is no point in speculating about this for another while anyway
 
I mentioned Grace Conway above as potentially a name to watch here, the last name I would mention is Niamh Fay who while it would be a big jump to go from 54kg to 60kg, her style does suit being undersized and being able to get inside her opponents so if she remains stuck behind Michaela Walsh, I’d consider this if I were her.
 
Basically there is enough talent in and around this weight class that it is likely someone will ultimately seize it and put us back in medal contention, who that is and when that will be though I’m not sure. I guess it is possible that we get a situation like 66kg last time where everyone above and below it eyed it up only for Grainne Walsh to ultimately end up with the nod.
 
W66kg- Lisa O’Rourke, Siofra Lawless, Kyla Doyle, Grainne Walsh.
 
This weight ended up being stacked from nowhere during the last Olympic cycle but looks likely to be stacked from the off this time around albeit for now Grainne Walsh is in the short term unthreatened.
 
Look I was critical of this selection and I‘ve never been her biggest fan but the Olympics themselves were ultimately harsh on Grainne Walsh losing a stylistic mismatch in her opening fight and then watching two opponents Amy Broadhurst beat meet in the final and one Lisa O’Rourke beat win bronze. I kind of hope she gets a bit of redemption at worlds because she has been an excellent servant to Irish boxing. Lisa O’Rourke has had an inconsistent and injury riddled few years since becoming world champion but will likely start as one of the favourites to retake that 70kg title next month. If there is an overarching lesson for me from the last Olympics it was that size and reach is crucial and Lisa O’Rourke fits that bill.
 
Then there are the two youth world champions. Look, Make no mistake Siofra Lawless is an immense talent but I don’t think she is quite as good as Junior and Youth world titles in back to back years makes it sound and take nothing away from it but I don’t think it was the strongest field that she had to beat. Unlike Ava Henry, I don’t think Siofra Lawless would be potentially able to move down to the potentially empty 60kg. Add in that she still has another year at youth level and I’m not sure she will be quite ready for LA. She could very easily prove me wrong though.
 
Kyla Doyle went from absolutely no pedigree to European and World youth champion in a year which is remarkable. My one criticism of her would be that she does get drawn into physical scraps quite easily but when she gets in lets her hands go and then gets out again she is a joy to watch. Definitely has a fair bit of development still to do particularly compared to someone like Lawless who is a year younger but so much more refined but Doyle’s ceiling is sky high. I really don’t know how this weight class will ultimately shake out.
 
W75kg- Aoife O’Rourke, Evelyn Igharo?, Nell Mcloughlin, Laura Moran.
 
It is absolutely crazy that Aoife O’Rourke still doesn’t have a global medal given her performances and results at every other tournament and as such these upcoming world championships are more important for her than anyone else. Evelyn Igharo’s career has been one case of what might have been after another but she is still very talented. Nell McLaughlin and Laura Moran have both medalled at the last two world youth championships albeit the heavier women’s weights tend to not be that strong/ have many entries. That said McLaughlin’s performance to outwork and outlast Dilara Sak who had given Kyla Doyle trouble at Europeans (Yeah I don’t know why Sak moved up 2 weightclasses) was probably my favourite fight of that tournament. I know we won 3 world titles but there was something poetic about watching an overlooked boxer who only made the semis because of a walkover come through against a much more decorated, fancied and skilled opponent.
 
 
Anyway that was a lot longer than I thought it would be. I feel like I left a lot of detail out as well. And yeah I know this is gauranteed to look stupid in a year or two but sure look.

@rafalgorka 8
@canadafan2024 7
@Gianlu33 7
@Josh 6
@phelps 6
@Ogreman 6
@Wumo 5
@hckošice 5
@heywoodu 4
@OlympicsFan 4

Congratulations @Ogreman  and medallists @ady48 and @Jahiegel (2nd olympic medal)
 
A big thanks  @Wumofor all the hard work done.

Final Standing is available here
 
 Ogreman    ady48  Jahiegel   
 
Here is the presentation of the three medallists. Congratulation to all three medallists of this prediction contest. @Ogreman with the gold medal, @ady48 with the silver medal and @Jahiegel with the bronze medal.

Final Standing 
 
Rank User Nation Total 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 #PP #4 #3 #2 1 Ogreman 252 5 4 21* 27** 22* 33 26** 21* 38* 53** 2 5 29 10 13 2 ady48 241 2 4 17** 25* 22* 29** 18 30* 34 53*** 7 3 28 14 7 3 Jahiegel 233 4 1 18* 17* 38**** 27* 21 26** 38* 38 5 2 26 14 6 4 Epic Failure 233 4 4 17* 20* 28* 27 19 29** 24 56**** 5 2 25 14 8 5 Faramir 232 2 4 10 22* 32** 27* 18 29**** 38 46** 4 3 23 11 6 6 maestro 232 3 7 13 23* 30** 28* 20 30*** 45*** 32 1 2 28 15 5 7 dullard 226 4 4 14* 19* 18** 29 18 20* 38* 55**** 4 4 25 11 7 8 africaboy 225 7 5 18** 24* 18* 30** 15 27* 36* 44** 1 1 24 11 5 9 Henry_Leon 224 3* 1 21** 25* 32** 25* 24* 24* 28 39* 2 4 22 13 9 10 cjsavory 220 4 7 15** 30*** 35** 20* 14 25* 32 37* 1 2 24 8 8 11 George_D 219 3 4 24*** 22* 19* 20 18 32*** 33 41** 3 1 24 15 4 12 Monzanator 218 3 4 26** 26** 22* 26* 10 25* 41** 33* 2 1 25 5 11 13 valtellina 218 2 1 21** 22* 24* 21* 18 24* 35* 49* 1   27 9 6 14 toulousain 213 3 1 14* 27** 28* 15* 22 31** 32* 38** 2 2 24 14 5 15 Topicmaster1010 212 2 2 15* 16 29* 18* 11 32** 38** 46*** 3 3 23 10 6 16 Laraja 211 6 1 22* 27** 32** 22* 15* 16 30** 37* 3 1 26 10 8 17 Pablita 209 2 4 12 26** 29** 23** 11* 22* 35* 40* 5 1 23 9 3 18 MagyarBabu 204 7 5 16* 27** 21** 15* 22* 22* 26* 43* 0 2 26 8 6 19 CiroMennella99 204 2 4 16* 20* 25** 15 17 31*** 32* 41** 1   21 10 8 20 Rdbc 203 5 0 22* 14 29** 15 19 25* 30** 34* 10 2 22 12 8 21 hckošice 202 4* 1 19** 35** 25** 13* 19** 19 36 30 1 4 22 11 8 22 Josh 199 2 2 13* 23** 21* 21* 15* 30*** 27 42* 3   21 7 9 23 Erigert 193 5 1 11 24* 19* 21* 12* 23** 38** 36** 3 2 21 9 6 24 suchyy7 193 2 1 23 23** 23* 18** 12 25** 32* 32* 2   21 10 4 25 jnathletics 190 1 1 11 22 19 20 16 25 35 38 2 3 24 13 4 26 OlympicsFan 189 2 1 14 21 19 23 8 26 29 41 5 2 23 11 7 27 rybak 188 1 5 12*** 23** 21* 23* 20* 24* 31* 27 1 1 24 5 8 28 Ufilov 183 4 3 14*** 25* 26* 10 14 20* 28** 35** 4 1 21 12 4 29 See-ya 178 5 4 16* 12* 14* 23** 13* 13** 30* 47* 1 3 20 9 4 30 Cinnamon Bun 169 1 1 17* 18* 29** 14* 18** 16** 22 32* 1 1 16 7 8 31 vlad 167 5 1 18** 14* 17 22* 17* 24*** 17* 30 2 1 16 7 10 32 Hipooo 162 3 0 21** 12 22** 14* 14 18* 35** 22** 1 2 15 14 6 33 Roamingrover86 152 1 1 25*** 17* 16* 21* 7 20*** 23* 20 1   14 7 4 34 SteveParker 137 1 1 10** 8 19* 17** 5* 18** 26* 30* 2   13 5 2 35 Donce 132 3 1 8 11 19* 16* 11 29*** 34***** 0 0 1 11 8 4 36 Book 127 0 4 20 10 16 6 7 19 22 22 1 1 16 8 5 37 PanchoB 114 4 1 13 12 10 9 5 13 18 29 0 1 13 5 6 38 JOSE SEIJO 110 4 4 12 8 13 6 13 11 17 18 4   13 7 3  
01: August 1st - Day 1
02:  August 2nd - Day 2  
03: August 3rd - Day 3
04: August 4th - Day 4
05: August 5th- Day 5
06: August 6th- Day 6
07: August 7th- Day 7
08: August 8th - Day 8
09: August 9th - Day 9
10: August 10th - Day 10
11: August 11th - Day 11

Not at the games, just haven't posted much during the games so apologies for that. Just haven't had as much time as I would have needed to do some of the things I had kind of wanted to get done. On the boxing, I just haven't had that many sophisticated thoughts on it beyond erratic judging and a dissapointing Irish display that I haven't fully got my head around. I missed a few sessions that I haven't had the chance to catch up on and the majority of the rest with the exception of the Irish fights it has been my second/third screen and boxing kind of needs your full focus. (plus that boxing thread has descended into some form of madness I do not think I can tame.)
That said I do think my predictions/ rankings ultimately held up a little better than they were trending towards after the first few days but I won't have a full look back on them until after the boxing finishes and those first couple of days were just me wondering how I had spent so much time watching all of these fellas only to get so much so badly wrong.
This does remind me I need to do a wrap up of my rowing form rankings but I was planning to update them daily and just didn't in the end.
But yeah there were other things I wanted to do even smaller pieces of analysis on and just didn't get around to but I will post most of my thoughts once the games are over.
So apologies, but it's nice to know someone misses me when I go somewhat quiet on this forum.

I thought it was a really good and enjoyable fight. It was the right decision though, Oumiha is ridiculously accurate and Sanford doesn't really move his head much so every single shot Oumiha threw landed. Second and third rounds were both close and Sanford landed some really good punches but while the French have gotten a couple of hometown decision, this wasn't one of them and I didn't have any issue with the scoring here.
 
There is an important distinction to be made here between doing more of the work and landing more/ landing better punches. Doing more work is just a means to an end, the latter is the scoring criteria.

Not at the games, just haven't posted much during the games so apologies for that. Just haven't had as much time as I would have needed to do some of the things I had kind of wanted to get done. On the boxing, I just haven't had that many sophisticated thoughts on it beyond erratic judging and a dissapointing Irish display that I haven't fully got my head around. I missed a few sessions that I haven't had the chance to catch up on and the majority of the rest with the exception of the Irish fights it has been my second/third screen and boxing kind of needs your full focus. (plus that boxing thread has descended into some form of madness I do not think I can tame.)
That said I do think my predictions/ rankings ultimately held up a little better than they were trending towards after the first few days but I won't have a full look back on them until after the boxing finishes and those first couple of days were just me wondering how I had spent so much time watching all of these fellas only to get so much so badly wrong.
This does remind me I need to do a wrap up of my rowing form rankings but I was planning to update them daily and just didn't in the end.
But yeah there were other things I wanted to do even smaller pieces of analysis on and just didn't get around to but I will post most of my thoughts once the games are over.
So apologies, but it's nice to know someone misses me when I go somewhat quiet on this forum.

I had it on but wasn't fully focused on it so only saw bits and pieces. Didn't have an issue with Chinyemba winning based on what I saw but I didn't see the full fight so can't really comment on it. I will try to watch it later. There are a few other fights I need to properly rewatch as well.

Just updating these with early eliminated boats/ finalists. Apologies for the purple but I couldn't find a good colour, All the reds look like bronze. Lithuania's double obviously the big early loser but it was a complete lottery what kind of form they would show up with. Speaking of the women's double. The two semi-finals there are ridiculously lopsided, Romania, USA, Australia, Norway and the Brits who looked good in their heat, all in the semi final. Given Ireland's in the other one I'm not complaining. China LW2x caught a massive crab which is why they are gone and Italy's new men's double just didn't work. Quads have mostly gone roughly to form although China's women don't look they will medal.

Just updating these with early eliminated boats/ finalists. Apologies for the purple but I couldn't find a good colour, All the reds look like bronze. Lithuania's double obviously the big early loser but it was a complete lottery what kind of form they would show up with. Speaking of the women's double. The two semi-finals there are ridiculously lopsided, Romania, USA, Australia, Norway and the Brits who looked good in their heat, all in the semi final. Given Ireland's in the other one I'm not complaining. China LW2x caught a massive crab which is why they are gone and Italy's new men's double just didn't work. Quads have mostly gone roughly to form although China's women don't look they will medal.

Just updating these with early eliminated boats/ finalists. Apologies for the purple but I couldn't find a good colour, All the reds look like bronze. Lithuania's double obviously the big early loser but it was a complete lottery what kind of form they would show up with. Speaking of the women's double. The two semi-finals there are ridiculously lopsided, Romania, USA, Australia, Norway and the Brits who looked good in their heat, all in the semi final. Given Ireland's in the other one I'm not complaining. China LW2x caught a massive crab which is why they are gone and Italy's new men's double just didn't work. Quads have mostly gone roughly to form although China's women don't look they will medal.

Excuse for a second folks while I clear my lungs…..
 
Yessssssssssssssss!!!!!!!!   
 
Ireland has an Olympic swimming medal!! And more importantly our first medal of these Olympics 

Olympic Predictions (M92+kg, Predicted Medal Table)
 
M92+kg
 
Gold- Bakhodir Jalolov (1) , Silver- Kamshybek Kunkabayev (2) , Bronze- Joshua Edwards (4) , Bronze- Abner Texeira (6) .
 
  Seedings
    1
Joshua Edwards (USA)
8
Mahammad Abdullayev (AZE)
2
Delicious Orie (GBR)
7
Kamshybek Kunkabayev (KAZ)
3
Mourad Kadi (ALG)
6
Abner Texeira (BRA)
4
Bakhodir Jalolov (UZB)
5
Teremoana Jnr (AUS)
 
 
Bracket 1
 
My pick- Joshua Edwards (4) .
 
Very interesting bracket to start off. Nelvie Tiafack (5)  and Mahammad Abdullayev (11)  reacquaint with each other after Abdullayev beat Tiafack to qualify for the Olympics back at European games. Tiafack had won when they met prior to that. Tiafack is inconsistent and both he and Abdullayev are quite similar being kind of traditional bruising powerful super-heavyweights that don’t move a whole lot. Diego Lenzi (10)  has taken a couple of quality scalps earlier this year (Orie and Ghadfa Drissi el Aissaoui) but has an uphill task against Panam champion Josh Edwards. Edwards is a tidy boxer but physically he is not as built as most heavyweights and whether it is Tiafack or Abdullayev, it will be interesting to see how he deals with that level of power. I like his chances though.
 
Bracket 2
 
My pick- Bakhodir Jalolov (1) .
 
Defending champion Bakhodir Jalolov is the most clear cut favourite in boxing, last lost a fight in 2018 and has beaten most of his primary competition here including Teremoana Jnr (3)  who is his toughest opponent between him and a medal. Teremoana packs a serious punch and should be able to dispatch Dmytro Lovchynskyi (14)  in his opening fight. Omar Shiha (13)  enjoyed a stroke of luck to qualify with a cut ending Danabieke Bayikewuzi’s hopes but got no luck here and will do well to last 3 rounds against Jalolov.
 
Bracket 3
 
My pick- Abner Texeira (6) .
 
On paper the weakest of the four brackets. Both last 16 fights should be fairly straightforward wins for Djamili Aboudou Moindze (12)  against Mourad Kadi (16)  who does have the odd good win on his resume and Abner Texeira against the tricky Gerlon Congo (15)  who Texeira has beaten before. That would set up an fascinating quarter final between Aboudou Moindze and Texeira with both boxers having beaten each other in the past, with the most recent contest going in favour of the home boxer. With home advantage I really feel like I should pick the Frenchman but I do think Texeira is the significantly more talented boxer and as such expect him to produce the goods when it counts.
 
Bracket 4
 
My pick- Kamshybek Kunkabayev (2) .
 
Quality bracket this where all four of these boxers have significant pedigree. 2021 world silver medallist Davit Chaloyan (9)  meets European champion Delicious Orie (8) . Orie has had some bad losses of late and the Brits comparing him to Anthony Joshua is delusional but he is talented and for me should beat Chaloyan. World bronze medallist Ghadfa Drissi el Aissaoui (7)  faces Olympic bronze medallist Kamshybek Kunkabayev in what should be quite a close fight. Ghadfa Drissi el Aissaoui is a big man and consistent operator but I will back Kunkabayev although he is the boring pick. Kunkabayev against Orie should also be close but I’m not that convinced by Orie so let’s back Kunkabayev.
 
Medal Fights
 
Josh Edwards (4)  vs Bakhodir Jalolov (1) , Abner Texeira (6)  vs Kamshybek Kunkabayev (2) .
 
While I think Edwards is talented, he won’t get close to Jalolov. I’m close to certain the second semi-final will be different than this prediction but if this was the particular semi-final, I’ll stick with the boring pick of Kunkabayev. The final would then be a renewal of the Kunkabeyev vs Jalolov rivalry although calling it a rivalry is generous as Jalolov has always won this matchup comfortably consistently.
 
Gold- Bakhodir Jalolov , Silver- Kamshybek Kunkabayev , Bronze- Joshua Edwards , Bronze- Abner Texeira .
 
Predicted medal table         Predicted Gold Predicted Silver Predicted Bronze Total medals Contenders (Top 8 in rankings) Uzbekistan 3 1 1 5 8 Turkey 2 0 0 2 3 Kazakhstan 1 2 1 4 6 France 1 1 1 3 4 Ireland 1 0 2 3 7 Chinese Taipei  1 0 1 2 3 Italy 1 0 0 1 3 North Korea 1 0 0 1 2 Canada 1 0 0 1 1 Ukraine 1 0 0 1 1 China  0 3 0 3 6 India 0 1 3 4 4 USA 0 1 2 3 4 Cuba 0 1 1 2 5 Philippines 0 1 1 2 3 Thailand 0 1 0 1 3 Romania 0 1 0 1 1 Brazil 0 0 3 3 6 Bulgaria 0 0 2 2 4 Georgia 0 0 2 2 2 Australia  0 0 1 1 3 Colombia 0 0 1 1 3 Congo 0 0 1 1 3 Spain 0 0 1 1 2 Azerbaijan 0 0 1 1 1 Dominican Republic 0 0 1 1 1 South Korea 0 0 1 1 1 Great Britain and NI 0 0 0 0 3 Serbia 0 0 0 0 2 Algeria 0 0 0 0 1 Croatia 0 0 0 0 1 Denmark 0 0 0 0 1 Refugee team 0 0 0 0 1 Germany 0 0 0 0 1 Mexico 0 0 0 0 1 Norway 0 0 0 0 1 Panama 0 0 0 0 1 Poland 0 0 0 0 1 Tajikistan 0 0 0 0 1 Zambia 0 0 0 0 1  
So I have Uzbekistan expected to top the medal table with Turkey in a very precarious second, Decent and successful games for Kazakhstan, Ireland, France and Chinese Taipei. I have India winning a miraculous four medals and while the USA and China would be happy with 4 and 3 medals respectively the lack of gold would frustrate them. I should note this is already wrong as Oh Yeonji  lost today to Wu Shih-yi .

Olympic Predictions (M92+kg, Predicted Medal Table)
 
M92+kg
 
Gold- Bakhodir Jalolov (1) , Silver- Kamshybek Kunkabayev (2) , Bronze- Joshua Edwards (4) , Bronze- Abner Texeira (6) .
 
  Seedings
    1
Joshua Edwards (USA)
8
Mahammad Abdullayev (AZE)
2
Delicious Orie (GBR)
7
Kamshybek Kunkabayev (KAZ)
3
Mourad Kadi (ALG)
6
Abner Texeira (BRA)
4
Bakhodir Jalolov (UZB)
5
Teremoana Jnr (AUS)
 
 
Bracket 1
 
My pick- Joshua Edwards (4) .
 
Very interesting bracket to start off. Nelvie Tiafack (5)  and Mahammad Abdullayev (11)  reacquaint with each other after Abdullayev beat Tiafack to qualify for the Olympics back at European games. Tiafack had won when they met prior to that. Tiafack is inconsistent and both he and Abdullayev are quite similar being kind of traditional bruising powerful super-heavyweights that don’t move a whole lot. Diego Lenzi (10)  has taken a couple of quality scalps earlier this year (Orie and Ghadfa Drissi el Aissaoui) but has an uphill task against Panam champion Josh Edwards. Edwards is a tidy boxer but physically he is not as built as most heavyweights and whether it is Tiafack or Abdullayev, it will be interesting to see how he deals with that level of power. I like his chances though.
 
Bracket 2
 
My pick- Bakhodir Jalolov (1) .
 
Defending champion Bakhodir Jalolov is the most clear cut favourite in boxing, last lost a fight in 2018 and has beaten most of his primary competition here including Teremoana Jnr (3)  who is his toughest opponent between him and a medal. Teremoana packs a serious punch and should be able to dispatch Dmytro Lovchynskyi (14)  in his opening fight. Omar Shiha (13)  enjoyed a stroke of luck to qualify with a cut ending Danabieke Bayikewuzi’s hopes but got no luck here and will do well to last 3 rounds against Jalolov.
 
Bracket 3
 
My pick- Abner Texeira (6) .
 
On paper the weakest of the four brackets. Both last 16 fights should be fairly straightforward wins for Djamili Aboudou Moindze (12)  against Mourad Kadi (16)  who does have the odd good win on his resume and Abner Texeira against the tricky Gerlon Congo (15)  who Texeira has beaten before. That would set up an fascinating quarter final between Aboudou Moindze and Texeira with both boxers having beaten each other in the past, with the most recent contest going in favour of the home boxer. With home advantage I really feel like I should pick the Frenchman but I do think Texeira is the significantly more talented boxer and as such expect him to produce the goods when it counts.
 
Bracket 4
 
My pick- Kamshybek Kunkabayev (2) .
 
Quality bracket this where all four of these boxers have significant pedigree. 2021 world silver medallist Davit Chaloyan (9)  meets European champion Delicious Orie (8) . Orie has had some bad losses of late and the Brits comparing him to Anthony Joshua is delusional but he is talented and for me should beat Chaloyan. World bronze medallist Ghadfa Drissi el Aissaoui (7)  faces Olympic bronze medallist Kamshybek Kunkabayev in what should be quite a close fight. Ghadfa Drissi el Aissaoui is a big man and consistent operator but I will back Kunkabayev although he is the boring pick. Kunkabayev against Orie should also be close but I’m not that convinced by Orie so let’s back Kunkabayev.
 
Medal Fights
 
Josh Edwards (4)  vs Bakhodir Jalolov (1) , Abner Texeira (6)  vs Kamshybek Kunkabayev (2) .
 
While I think Edwards is talented, he won’t get close to Jalolov. I’m close to certain the second semi-final will be different than this prediction but if this was the particular semi-final, I’ll stick with the boring pick of Kunkabayev. The final would then be a renewal of the Kunkabeyev vs Jalolov rivalry although calling it a rivalry is generous as Jalolov has always won this matchup comfortably consistently.
 
Gold- Bakhodir Jalolov , Silver- Kamshybek Kunkabayev , Bronze- Joshua Edwards , Bronze- Abner Texeira .
 
Predicted medal table         Predicted Gold Predicted Silver Predicted Bronze Total medals Contenders (Top 8 in rankings) Uzbekistan 3 1 1 5 8 Turkey 2 0 0 2 3 Kazakhstan 1 2 1 4 6 France 1 1 1 3 4 Ireland 1 0 2 3 7 Chinese Taipei  1 0 1 2 3 Italy 1 0 0 1 3 North Korea 1 0 0 1 2 Canada 1 0 0 1 1 Ukraine 1 0 0 1 1 China  0 3 0 3 6 India 0 1 3 4 4 USA 0 1 2 3 4 Cuba 0 1 1 2 5 Philippines 0 1 1 2 3 Thailand 0 1 0 1 3 Romania 0 1 0 1 1 Brazil 0 0 3 3 6 Bulgaria 0 0 2 2 4 Georgia 0 0 2 2 2 Australia  0 0 1 1 3 Colombia 0 0 1 1 3 Congo 0 0 1 1 3 Spain 0 0 1 1 2 Azerbaijan 0 0 1 1 1 Dominican Republic 0 0 1 1 1 South Korea 0 0 1 1 1 Great Britain and NI 0 0 0 0 3 Serbia 0 0 0 0 2 Algeria 0 0 0 0 1 Croatia 0 0 0 0 1 Denmark 0 0 0 0 1 Refugee team 0 0 0 0 1 Germany 0 0 0 0 1 Mexico 0 0 0 0 1 Norway 0 0 0 0 1 Panama 0 0 0 0 1 Poland 0 0 0 0 1 Tajikistan 0 0 0 0 1 Zambia 0 0 0 0 1  
So I have Uzbekistan expected to top the medal table with Turkey in a very precarious second, Decent and successful games for Kazakhstan, Ireland, France and Chinese Taipei. I have India winning a miraculous four medals and while the USA and China would be happy with 4 and 3 medals respectively the lack of gold would frustrate them. I should note this is already wrong as Oh Yeonji  lost today to Wu Shih-yi .

Thanks for the Ogreman. It shows there is a wafer thin margin in Ireland wing medals and winning none. A couple of bad decisions could make all the difference. Still hoping O’Rourke can win Gold but am worried about Kellie. She’s keeping a very low profile.

Really interesting previews. Thanks for those. Seems incredible that Cuba won’t have at least one gold medal winner!