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COLORADO SPRINGS, COLO. - Team USA will face off with Russia on their home turf on the opening day of the 2005 AIBA World Cup in Moscow, Russia. Competition will begin on Tuesday, July 12. Twelve members of USA Boxing’s Elite Team traveled to Moscow on Friday, July 8 for the 2005 AIBA Boxing World Cup, July 12-17. Twelve countries from four continents will compete in the prestigious event which is held once every two years. In addition to the United States, Russia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Ukraine, Kazakhstan, Thailand, Korea, Cuba, Mexico, Algeria and Australia have been invited to the competition.
Only 11 boxers per team will be permitted to compete with the additional two athletes serving as wild cards in case of injury. Two athletes in both the lightweight and middleweight divisions will travel to Moscow and the decision on who competes in the event will be made by the coaching staff in Russia. The thirteen boxers traveling to Russia for the event are: 2005 U.S. Championships light flyweight (106 lbs) silver medalist Vincent Montoya (Cheyenne, Wyo.); 2004 Olympian, flyweight (112 lbs) Rau’shee Warren (Cincinnati, Ohio); 2005 U.S. Championships bantamweight (119 lbs) gold medalist and National Golden Gloves champion Gary Russell, Jr. (Capitol Heights, Md.); U.S. Championships featherweight (125 lbs) gold medalist Mark Davis (Cleveland, Ohio); 2005 U.S. Championships lightweight (132 lbs) bronze medalist Stan Martyniouk (Sacramento, Calif.); 2005 U.S. Championships bronze medalist Ray Robinson (Philadelphia, Pa./NMU); 2005 U.S. Championships light welterweight (141 lbs) gold medalist Karl Dargan (Philadelphia, Pa.); 2005 U.S. Championships welterweight (152 lbs) champion Demetrius Andrade (Providence, R.I.); 2005 U.S. Championships middleweight (165 lbs) bronze medalist Shawn Estrada (Lynwood, Calif.); 2005 National Golden Gloves middleweight champion Daniel Jacobs (Brooklyn, N.Y.); 2005 U.S. Championships light heavyweight (178 lbs) champion William Rosinsky (Brooklyn, N.Y.) and 2005 U.S. Championships heavyweight (201 lbs) bronze medalist Marcus Henry (Baltimore, Md.). 2005 U.S. Championships super heavyweight (201+ lbs) silver medalist Travis Kauffman (Reading, Pa.) was scheduled to compete in the event but had to pull out due to an injury.
The event will be the first major international competition for all of the athletes other than 2004 Olympian Warren and will give all of the athletes a chance to face the best in the world three years out of the Olympic Games in Beijing. The team in addition to eight training partners spent over three weeks at a preparatory training camp at the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colo., June 13-July 6.
The team will be led by 1996 Olympic Head Coach Al Mitchell (Marquette, Mich.) and assistant coaches Ted Palac (Hamtramck, Mich.) and Jose Rosario (Jersey City, N.J.). 2003 Pan American Games Team Manager Tracy O’Rourke (Rome, N.Y.) will serve as Team Manager with Don DeVerges (Los Angeles, Calif.) and Richard Neves (Pleasanton, Calif.) traveling to Russia as AIBA officials for the event. Dr. Ruben Tenorio (San Antonio, Texas) will serve as the Team Physician for the event.
The twelve participating teams will be divided into three groups with the teams in each group being from different continents and the initial competition will be on a league basis between teams with the countries with the highest point totals advancing to the semifinal round. Each winning boxer will earn two points for their team, a boxer losing by anything other than disqualification will accrue one point and disqualified boxers will receive zero points.
The 2005 World Cup is the first major international competition since the 2005 Olympic Games and features all of top amateur boxing nations.
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