The next Olympic Games, the great, once-every-four-years spectacle you can't miss, are just around the corner. For boxing fans, the 2024 Paris Games will be particularly interesting because, quite shockingly and depressingly, it has been announced that boxing may not last much longer as a staple Olympic sport. Of course, we are all hoping for a sound decision that boxing will stay, but this is in the hands of various powers. We can only wait and watch.
The six boxers who will represent Great Britain in Paris, France later this month have now been officially announced by Team GB. They are:
Delicious Ollié – Super Heavyweight
Pat Brown – Heavyweight
Lewis Richardson – Light Middleweight
Chantelle Reid – Middleweight
Rosie Eccles – Welterweight
Charlie Davison – Bantamweight.
“There's some incredible boxing talent at this tournament and we as British fans will be watching and rooting for all six – three men, three women and hopefully six medals. It would be incredible if all six boxers could bring home a medal and six gold medals would be astronomical.”
Chief among the six is the flamboyantly named Delicious Ollie, a Commonwealth Games gold medalist and talented heavyweight who is seen as a strong contender for a medal, possibly even gold. Speaking on behalf of his fellow British athletes, Ollie said: “We have all been training hard to qualify but the work is not done yet. I will continue to train hard for the biggest stage – Paris, France.”
It will be interesting to see which boxers will represent other countries in Paris. The Olympics will see 124 male and 124 female boxers competing in seven men's and six women's weight classes. Boxing will begin in Paris on July 27th, with the final taking place on Saturday, August 10th.
Over the decades, some of the sport's greatest boxing talents have won Olympic medals and gone on to have illustrious professional careers. With British boxers returning as heroes from France in August, will we see the next Lennox Lewis, the next Anthony Joshua, the next Nicola Adams, the next James DeGale, the next Lauren Price or the next Chris Finnegan?
