MILAN GAMBIT

The main test for Azerbaijan's boxing team this year will come at the World Championship in Milan. The first bouts will take place on 1 September and the team is already in the final stages of preparation. What will be the outcome in Italy, given that the backbone of the team is not yet formed and that, in recent years, the home school has fallen behind in the international arena?

Stability is not yet apparent 

Agacan Abiyev, vice-president of the National Federation, in analyzing the situation, noted that our masters of the leather gloves will find it very difficult to compete for medals. "At present there are only the outlines of a new team, so the boxers will find it extremely difficult to deal with stiff competition, at least in the forthcoming world championship, because the team needs time to ensure that the athletes gain the necessary international practice and experience and also develop in the big ring," thinks Abiyev. And this is quite logical, because the team is now preparing for the Olympics in London, and the world championship is regarded as a place for experiment. In addition, the Beijing bronze medal winner, Sahin Imranov, will not go to Milan, as he is taking a career break, so the best reserves have a good chance of expressing themselves.

On the other hand, our athletes are not yet beacons of stability, including the leaders. For example, bronze medal winner at the 2007 World Championship, Samir Mammadov (54 kg), winners of world and European championships, Romal Amanov (69 kg) and Elcin Alizada (91 kg), have recently lost ground and have not shown the form that helped them to win, although it would be, to put it mildly, desirable to be on top form now, because the team are hungry for success. For the time being, our team have contributed to a peculiar achievement at the world championship, a month before it starts. The contest will attract a record number of countries and boxers - 772 boxers from 113 countries will compete in Milan. By comparison, the last world championship in Chicago was attended by 557 athletes from 101 states. The Azerbaijani team will be one of 23 represented by a full complement, that is, in all 11 weight categories. However, quantity does not necessarily mean quality. For example, we sent only Samir Mammadov (51 kg) and Sahin Imranov (57 kg) to the Olympics in Beijing, and the latter won a bronze medal.

But this was a rather pleasant exception, as the recent results of the national team in official contests have declined, while it will be extremely difficult to raise the team's reputation at the upcoming world championship. Not least because the last world championship in Chicago in 2007 missed the contribution of Cuban boxers, who did not go to the US for political reasons. Representatives of the Island of Freedom, this time, are taking a full complement to Milan; which means competition for places will increase substantially. Can our boxers withstand the pressure in such solid company? This is a big question. And given that the World Boxing Championship takes place every two years, the title of the strongest in the world becomes much more significant. Whatever the case, our team's coaching staff still have time before the contest, and training is now entering its final stage.

By the way, the championship promises a number of innovations: for the first time, the casting of lots will be based on AIBA ratings, while the scoring of the bouts will not be available to spectators or boxers. In general, the association has been late in implementing the idea of drawing lots according to boxers' status. Such a scheme is practised in many sports, including judo, where the International Federation updates the rankings almost every week. Now, boxers need to work on their ranking to take part in the world championship. There is enough time to score points - the roster will be published on 29 August and its gradings will form the basis for casting lots at the world championship. We should note that a number of our athletes do not hold the highest positions and should be ready to meet the favourites at early stages of the contest. On the other hand, refereeing, which was previously transparent, will once again be of a closed nature. Whereas previously, boxers knew the current score in a bout, it will now be revealed only at the end. Naturally, all this will cause contestants extra nerves, especially in matches in the later stages, when equal opponents will confront each other.

Women's boxing at the Olympics?

Meanwhile, women's boxing may make its debut at the 2012 Games. But if this idea is accepted, it be at the expense of male categories. That, of course, does not play into the hands of Azerbaijan. The International Association of Amateur Boxing (AIBA) has become significantly active, and it has already identified the categories if women's boxing is included in the Games' programme. Theoretically, women will be represented in three weight categories - up to 51, 60 and 75 kg. The programme committee of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) will consider the proposal at its meeting in Berlin, but the final decision will be made by the IOC Congress, in October this year in Copenhagen.

It is worth remembering that if the AIBA plan is successful, then the number of men's weight categories will decrease. There are currently eleven of them, but if women's boxing is included in the Games, their number could be reduced to eight. "We have prepared a proposal and will submit it to the International Olympic Committee. Boxing is the only Olympic sport in which women do not compete," said Wu Ching-kuo head of the AIBA.

Incidentally, the previous attempt, in 2005, to include women's boxing in the programme of the 2008 Games, ended in failure. Then, the IOC thought that women's boxing was not yet popular throughout the world. If the verdict of the IOC is positive this time, the first qualifier for female boxers wishing to go to the 2012 Olympic Games will be the world championship to be held in Barbados in October 2010.

The vice-president of the National Olympic Committee of Azerbaijan, Cingiz Huseynzada, noted that each sport has the right to make internal changes: the only constant being the number of sets of medals available to a sport at the Games. This is illustrated by fencing, because the women's sabre was included in the programme of the Games only in 2004. "The main idea of the IOC is to make the Games' programme more modern and attractive in terms of television, without upsetting the balance of the total number of participants and medals. But this is very difficult if each discipline is split into male and female programmes - the number of sets of awards will grow. While the number of participants can still be regulated, the situation with awards is much more complex," noted Huseynzada. 

Curiously, a similar situation exists in wrestling, where the number of Olympic weight categories for women may increase. All the more possible in that the head of the International Federation (FILA) Raphael Martinetti, has previously stated that he had a preliminary agreement with the IOC on this matter. Returning to boxing, it must be noted that if eleven sets of medals are fought for, we can assume that their number will remain the same. Thus, men would fight for only eight gold medals, while three high medals would be available to women, if the AIBA's idea were to be accepted. And then the Boxing Federation of Azerbaijan would have to deal with the development of women's boxing, given the holding of mandatory licensing tournaments etc. We can only monitor the situation.