Brazil's boxing is still in its developing stage but exceeded expectations after ten athletes secured their participation at the 30th Summer Olympic Games in London. The South American country set a new record for itself with its boxers' performances in the qualification events and these results are not only a good omen for London but bode well for the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics as well.
The Brazilian boxing team has been in Great Britain to acclimatize and is now ready to build on the success of last year when Everton Dos Santos Lopes took the Light Welterweight (64kg) gold at the AIBA World Boxing Championships Baku 2011. Four experienced coaches, a physical trainer, a psychologist and a nutritionist have been supporting the team's preparation in Sheffield while nine younger Brazilian boxers also travelled as sparring partners.
23-year-old Roseli Amaral Feitosa made a real breakthrough for the South American country in this Olympic era after she claimed a gold medal at the 6th AIBA Women's World Boxing Championships Bridgetown 2010. Following her success she went down a weight division and qualified for the London 2012 Olympic Games.
Multiple-Panamerican Champion Adriana Dos Santos Araujo advanced to the quarter-finals of the 7th AIBA Women's World Boxing Championships to also secure her Olympic participation. The team's third athlete in the women's draw is South American Games winner and Flyweight (51kg) No.1 Erica Dos Santos Matos, who has won three gold medals in previous Panamerican Championships.
National hero, Panamerican Games silver medallist and Beijing Olympian Everton Dos Santos Lopes caused the major surprise at the last AIBA World Boxing Championships in Baku after beating Ukraine's Denys Berinchyk to take the title. The fleet-footed Lopes has just won a tough tournament in Russia and is now ready for his bid for Olympic glory.
Strong Lightweight (60kg) Robson Donato Conceicao is another Brazilian with big medal hopes after almost defeating Ukraine's Beijing Olympic Games winner and two-time AIBA World Champion Vasyl Lomachenko in Baku last year. Conceicao is still unbeaten in 2012 and has bagged four gold medals in various tournaments in the build up to these Olympic Games, triumphing in the process over Kazakhstan's AIBA World Championships bronze medallist Gani Zhailauov, so look out for him.
The most experienced boxer in the team is Myke Michel Ribeiro Carvalho who competed at the Athens and at the Beijing Olympic Games. The Panamerican Champion boxer won the AIBA American Olympic Qualifying Rio 2012 in May in which he defeated Cuba's Welterweight (69kg) No.1 Arisnoide Despaigne. A member of the national squad since 2001, Carvalho has now big medal aspirations in the British capital.
Brazil's top middleweight (75kg), 22-year-old Esquiva Falcao Florentino won a valuable bronze medal at the AIBA World Boxing Championships Baku 2011 where he eliminated four strong rivals and secured a career highlight for himself. During his preparations for the London 2012 Olympic Games, the young Brazilian boxer triumphed over Asian Champion Shukhrat Abdullayev and Kazakhstan's strong favourite Danabek Suzhanov.
Esquiva's older brother, Yamaguchi Falcao Florentino, increased his international experience in the last couple of years with a season in the World Series of Boxing and some worldwide elite tournament, and with silver medals at both the Panamerican Games and the AIBA American Olympic Qualifying Event Rio 2012, he will want to make a big impact at the ExCeL London when the competition gets underway on 28 July.
World Military Games winner and Panamerican Games silver medallist Robinelson De Jesus Vieira has been preparing for his second Olympic Games and will be representing his country in the Bantamweight (56kg) category. The team's Flyweight (52kg) boxer will be former Panamerican Champion Juliao Miranda Henriques Neto who secured his place at the Olympic Games after some quality performances at the AIBA American Olympic Qualifying Event on his home turf.
With such an array of talented boxers in this Brazilian squad, the future sure looks bright and in the present, the nations expects this team to really come to the fore during these much anticipated London 2012 Olympic Games.
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