BJ Flores named to NBC broadcasting team for 2012 Olympics

LAS VEGAS, NV (July 23, 2012) World ranked cruiserweight professional boxer B. J. Flores has been named to the NBC broadcasting team for the 2012 Olympic Boxing Competition. Said Flores, “Representing NBC and being part of the Olympic broadcast is truly a great honor and a blessing. I am very much looking forward to seeing an improved USA Olympic Boxing Team with many experienced veterans leading the charge. Coach Abdullah has done a great job with this 2012 team and I predict that more medals will be won than in 2004 and 2008 combined.”

Previously Flores worked on “ESPN Friday Night Fights” for three years prior to being retained by NBC Sports Network to work alongside trainer Freddie Roach and broadcaster Kenny Rice for the networks “Fight Night” series.

Sporting a professional record of 27-1-1 with seventeen knockouts, Flores is world ranked by all four boxing sanctioning bodies, #2 by the WBO, #3 by the WBA, #4 by the WBC and #11 by the IBF.

Born in San Francisco, raised in Missouri and currently residing in Las Vegas, Nevada, Flores developed a passion for boxing as a youngster. “I have always been very passionate about boxing. When I was in the 3rd grade I used to run home from school and watch tapes of my favorite fighters so I could practice their moves during my sparring sessions that night.”

Flores also had a storied amateur career compiling a record of 111-9 while winning the 1997 National Golden Gloves along with the 2001 and 2002 United States Amateur Heavyweight Championships.

Continued Flores about his early years “We grew up without a lot of material things but it taught me to appreciate and be tough. I loved sports and played as many as I could. I had my first fight when I was nine years old and learned so much in my 120 amateur fights. I got to fight National Champions all over the world representing TEAM USA. It was a great experience.

“At a very young age I was exposed to the US Army team and was inspired to box by future Olympians Kennedy McKinney and Vince Phillips. They started on the US Army team and were trained by Kenny Adams in Fort Hood, Texas, where my father was based. Kenny allowed my brother and I to ride on the team bus to their fights and that experience of seeing their discipline towards boxing left a big impression on me.”

In regards to his future in the ring, Flores said, “I am looking forward to fighting on September 8th at the historic Shrine Mosque in Springfield, Missouri. We are planning a great card and I will be defending my North American titles and staying busy in another very important fight to earn a shot at one of the world champions. I have a lot of work to do but I train hard every day and take my job very seriously. I’m looking forward to giving my fans a very entertaining and exciting fight on September 8th”

Boxers to look out for at the London 2012 Olympic Games – Part I

London, Great Britain, 24 July 2012 – With just a few days to go until the biggest show on Earth gets underway in the British capital, we look at the men and women in each of the weight categories. Throughout history, the Olympic Games has brought the best of the best of our sport to the wider public, showcasing boxing in all its glory. This year, with women’s boxing making its debut, the spectacle will be even more phenomenal. We will be here to give you continued and in-depth coverage of all things boxing in the build-up and when the competition begins on 28 July at the ExCeL London.

Men Light Flyweight (46-49kg)

2008 Olympic Title holder: Zou Shiming (CHN)

2011 AIBA World Champion: Zou Shiming (CHN)

Since bursting onto the scene as a precocious talent at the 2003 AIBA World Boxing Championships in Bangkok where he took a sensational silver medal as a 22-year-old, Zou Shiming from the People’s Republic of China has come to dominate the Light Flyweight category for the best part of the last decade, becoming in the process a triple World Champion and taking gold at the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games on his home soil. Now 30, there is a long queue of talented fighters ready to challenge him. The big pretender to his throne is newly signed to the AIBA Professional Boxing (APB) program, 23-year-old South Korean Jonghun Shin, whom Shiming defeated in the AIBA World Boxing Championships Baku 2011 final, but is now a year older and wiser as he travels to London. Russian team

captain David Ayrapetyan will also be one challenging for honours this summer; the 28-year-old has the know-how to go all the way. Puerto Rico’s Jantony Ortiz Marcano looked hungry for success at the AIBA American Olympic Qualifying Event in Rio in May. Patrick Barnes from Ireland could go deep into the competition whilst Italian rising star Manuel Fabrizio Cappai is maturing fast at this level. Last but not least, do not underestimate the class of Cuba’s Yosbany Veitia Soto.

Men Flyweight (52kg)
2008 Olympic Title holder: Somjit Jongjohor (THA)
2011 AIBA World Champion: Misha Aloian (RUS)

There will be no defending champion so there will be the crowning of a brand new Olympic Champion in London. 23-year-old Russian Misha Aloian took gold in Baku and will be the man to beat in the British capital. The biggest threats to his crown will be the sublime and technically gifted Welshman Andrew Selby, who loves to continually switch stance, and the experience US veteran Raushee Warren, one of the stars of the World Series of Boxing. France’s Nordine Oubaali is another who on his day can defeat anyone so if he hits form during the Olympic Games, he could go all the way. Uzbek teenager Jasurbek Latipov’s development has really accelerated of late and he will definitely influence who is crowned champion. Irishman Michael Conlan has also big credentials at this level. One boxer in some form is Italy’s Vicenzo Picardi who, after taking a bronze medal in 2008 in Beijing, will now seek to go all the way to the final in London.

Cuba’s AIBA Bantamweight World Champion Lazaro Alvarez Estrada

Men Bantamweight (56kg)

2008 Olympic Title holder: Badar-Uugan Enkhbat (MGL)

2011 AIBA World Champion: Lazaro Alvarez Estrada (CUB)

With 28 boxers battling it out in the category, there promises to be a few surprises along the way and without the defending Olympic Champion competing, it is an opportunity for someone to imprint his name in the pages of history. 21-year-old Cuban Lazaro Alvarez Estrada (photo) is the overwhelming favourite after his sensational run in Baku saw him take the gold medal, however this year the fledgling talented southpaw will not have the element of surprise. One man who will look to stop the agile Cuban is Great Britain’s Luke Campbell, a compact fighter with a stinging jab. Add Algeria’s combative Mohamed Ouadahi, classy Shiva Thapa of India and Irish record-breaker John Joe Nevin to the mix, there promises to be fireworks. Kazakhstan’s Kanat Abutalipov, who qualified by winning the WSB Individual Championships in 2011, and the impressive Tajik Anvar Yunusov have the armoury to do some serious damage in what will be another hotly contested category.

Tomorrow we will have a look at the men in the Light (60kg), Light Welter (64kg) and Welterweight (69kg) categories.