The United States will return to international duel action on October 16 as eleven members of USA Boxing’s National Team face top athletes from Great Britain at the Ted Constant Convocation Center in Norfolk, Va. The USA vs. Great Britain Duel will be the first domestic duel in 2009, following international competitions in Ireland and Italy earlier in the year.
“It’s always great to be an American, but even better when we have the opportunity to support our U.S. Olympians. We’re looking forward to a fun crowd and fun evening when the USA takes on Great Britain on October 16,” said Doug Higgons, Global Spectrum’s Regional Vice President and General Manager at the Ted Constant Convocation Center.
The squad representing the United States in the international event is a strong mix of national champions, World Championships team members and international newcomers. The boxers competing in Norfolk will be: 2009 Light Flyweight National Champion Miguel Cartagena (Philadelphia, Pa.), 2009 Flyweight National Champion Louie Byrd (Denver, Colo.); 2009 USA Boxing National Championships bantamweight silver medalist Luis Rosa (East Haven, Conn.); 2009 Featherweight National Champion Kevin Rivers (Landover, Md.); lightweight national team member Eric Fowler (Iola, Texas); light welterweight national team member Andre Sherard (Milwaukee, Wis.); 2009 Welterweight National Champion Errol Spence (Desoto, Texas); 2009 USA Boxing National Championships silver medalist Jesse Hart (Marquette, Mich.); heavyweight national team member Anthony Mack (Plano, Texas); and 2009 USA Boxing National Championships super heavyweight silver medalist Javier Torres (Commerce, Calif.).
2009 USA Boxing National Championships light heavyweight bronze medalist Steve Geffrard (Boca Raton, Fla.) was selected to compete in the event, but as Great Britain was unable to field a boxer in his weight division; he will not be boxing in the duel. Great Britain is replacing the spot with a second flyweight. The United States will announce the second flyweight competing in the event shortly.
The coaches leading the U.S. team into action are Barry Hunter (Fort Washington, Md.), Gloria Peek (Norfolk, Va.) and Willie Taylor (Arlington, Va.) with Robert Matney (Virginia Beach, Va.) serving as the Team Manager for the event. Rich Neves (Pleasanton, Calif.) and Randy Richard (Opelousas, La.) will work as the AIBA officials with Dr. Tony Al-Amin (Elkton, Md.) and Fran Webb (Manvel, Texas) joining the delegation as the physician and computer technician respectively.
The Great Britain squad competing in Norfolk will be: light flyweight Paul Butler, flyweights Khalid Yafai and Daniel Chapman, bantamweight Andrew Selby, featherweight Iain Weaver, lightweight Daniel Phillips, light welterweight Scott Cardle, welterweight Craig Dixon, middleweight Karl Kirkham, heavyweight Stephen Simmons, and super heavyweight Amin Isa. Coaches James Davison, David Alloway, and Nigel Davies will lead their squad in Norfolk.
The United States participates in international duel events throughout the year both in the United States and abroad in an effort to provide consistent international competition for the athletes. The Norfolk event will be the first of three duels against Great Britain in the United States with competitions taking place in Des Moines, Iowa and St. Louis, Mo., later in the month.
The United States vs. Great Britain duel will kick off at 7:30 p.m. EST at the Ted Constant Convocation Center in Norfolk. Tickets for the event run from $17 to $53 and can be purchased through the venue website at http://www.constantcenter.com.
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). It is responsible for the selection and management of the United States Olympic Boxing Team, and for the governance and oversight of USA Boxing’s national organization of 38,000 members, 1,400 individual boxing clubs, and 1,600 sanctioned events annually.
