(COLORADO SPRINGS, COLO.) – Two-time Olympian and 2007 World Champion Rau’shee Warren (Cincinnati, Ohio) will remain amateur and work toward becoming the first-ever three-time Olympic boxer from the United States. The 21-year-old was the youngest male U.S. Olympian in any sport at the 2004 Olympic Games before returning for a second Olympic berth in 2008. After winning the first World Championship for the United States since 1999 at the 2007 World Championships, Warren dropped a heart-breaking one point decision in his opening bout at the 2008 Olympics..
“Becoming the first three-time Olympian in U.S. Boxing history is a great opportunity for me,” commented Warren. “With the changes and improvements that USA Boxing is making for London, I’m very much looking forward to representing the United States again.”
A team captain for the 2008 Olympic Team, Warren served as a leader for his Olympic teammates both in and out of the boxing ring.
Rau’shee epitomizes everything that is positive about representing the United States as an Olympian,” added USA Boxing CEO, Jim Millman. “In Beijing, despite a heart-breaking upset loss, Rau’shee remained fully supportive of his teammates, working with them in practice and rooting them on at every bout. He is a perfect role model for our young boxers to emulate.”
Warren joins top ranked super heavyweight Michael Hunter (Las Vegas, Nev.) in maintaining his amateur status. The duo will be a critical piece of USA Boxing’s rebuilding process as the organization begins the journey toward the 2012 Olympic Games in London.
The 21-year-old has been boxing since early childhood, following his older brothers into the gym. Known for his blazing hand speed, Warren has maintained his number one status in the nation since 2004. He has competed at the highest levels of the sport both nationally and internationally, culminating in his world title in 2007.
While two United States boxers, Edward Eagan and Davey Lee Armstrong, both competed in two Olympic Games prior to Warren, he can become the first ever to box in three by earning a berth in London. He is trained by Mike Stafford, an accomplished trainer who has had boxers on the last three Olympic teams.
USA Boxing, as the national governing body for Olympic-style boxing, is the United States’ member organization of the International Amateur Boxing Association (AIBA) and a member of the United States Olympic Committee (USOC).
Interview with Roy Jones Jr – Tonight on Bloomberg TV
Tonight on the BLOOMBERG TELEVISION® program “Night Talk,” host Mike Schneider talks to Boxing great Roy Jones Jr. about this weekend’s bout against Joe Calzaghe.
He talks about his opponent. “He’s one great fighter. He doesn’t know how to lose…They complain about his pitter-pat punches, which, in this business, don’t really account for a lot, but he uses them to wear people down with them. He’s a very aggressive fighter, a south-paw, makes it more devastating because he’s so aggressive with it. Good guy. Really about the best fighter you’d be able to put me in front of.”
And whether or not he believes this is Calzaghe’s last fight. “No I don’t believe him, cause when I beat him he’s gonna want to fight again.”
He talks about the influence of Sugar Ray Leonard. “He was one of the guys that inspired me to want to go to the Olympics. Mohammed Ali was the one who inspired me to want to box, but Sugar Ray Leonard at the Olympics, he inspired me to want to go to the Olympics.
He talks about Muhammad Ali. “I was a kid that was very agitated. I loved to get on people’s nerves. When I watched him fight Joe Frazier, it occurred to me—as a little kid—wow, he beat him with his mind. He’s doing to Frasier the same thing that I do to people. If I throw my hands, I can do that to people…I see the mindset. I got that down pat.”
And he remembers coming home with the silver from the 1988 Olympics, “I swore it was over with for me. I though my career was over, I thought I was done, no one would want to see me fight no more. I thought it was the end. And the end turned out to be a bright beautiful start of something I never could have imagined.”
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