By Paul Jones
Rosie Eccles will join Lauren Price, Muhammad Ali, Floyd Mayweather and Lennox Lewis as boxers who have appeared at the Olympics, with a new generation of fighters eager to follow in their footsteps in Paris.
Eccles, 28, has finally made it to the Games after overcoming illness and injuries that scuppered her bid to be alongside fellow Welsh fighter Price in Tokyo three years ago.
Women’s boxing made its Olympic debut at London 2012 across three weight categories but there will be six weight divisions in Paris, reflecting the growth of the sport.
Olympic boxing will take place at the North Paris Arena on the outskirts of the city and at Roland-Garros, better known as the home of the French Open tennis.
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Among those to watch in the women’s competition will be Caldicot’s Eccles, who won gold at the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham.
Eccles begins her campaign for gold in the women’s 66kg on Sunday, 28 July.
“I thought: ‘How am I going to come back from this?’ It just felt like it was all falling apart,” Eccles recalled of missing out on the last Games.
“It does also make you realise how much you really, really want something and it was worth me staying on another three years and digging in and hoping I could change the tide.”
She’s had further setbacks, contracting Covid left her in severe pain and without function in her arm and neck – obviously a major issue for an elite boxer.
“I actually thought it was going to be career ending because I just couldn’t see it getting better and the pain was excruciating,” she revealed.
“The first time I woke up with quite a small pain in my neck after being quite unwell, obviously with Covid and within a week that had spread into my arm, I was in agony and I started to lose function in my arm.
“I also lose function in my neck so it actually becomes too dangerous for me to spar.”
“We’d hoped that what happened in 2020 was a one-off, a freak thing where the virus attacked my nervous system and the nerves of my body.
“Obviously we’ve learned for some reason that’s not a freak thing with me and Covid just likes to attack my nerves. We’ve had three more bouts of that since which has been really difficult.
“I’ve won Commonwealth gold for Wales despite that and went on and qualified for the Olympic despite that.
“I’ve had experience where I’ve had real bad hardship and I’ve come back and I’ve performed and pulled out the goods when it matters.
“That gives me a nice sense of confidence that anything can happen going into the Olympics but I feel like no matter what, I can deal with it.
“There’s no point doing something by halves, if you’re going to turn up, show up and train hard. I am relentless in training and similar to what people would say, I’m relentless in the ring. I couldn’t forgive myself if I didn’t give my all all the way through.”
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But there are serious questions over whether the sport will even remain on the Olympic programme.
Boxing made its debut at the modern Olympics in 1904 and has been contested at every Summer Games since, apart from the 1912 Olympics in Stockholm as Swedish law banned the sport at the time.
But it only went ahead at the Covid-delayed Tokyo Games three years ago after the International Olympic Committee stepped in to oversee the competition.
The IOC suspended its recognition of the International Boxing Association in 2019 because of concerns over governance, financial and ethical issues and last year it withdrew its recognition of the governing body.
The IOC will once again organise the boxing in the French capital and has given the sport until 2025 to get its house in order, otherwise it risks being excluded from the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.
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Against this uncertain backdrop, nearly 250 boxers — evenly split for the first time between men and women — will do battle between July 27 and August 10, the penultimate day of the Games.
Also in the women’s event is Cindy Ngamba, who was born in Cameroon but moved to Britain aged 11 and will represent the Refugee Olympic Team.
There are several plotlines in the men’s competition, which will similarly feature reigning Olympic champions, some boxers with professional experience and also emerging talents.
Led in the past by boxers such as Ali, Mayweather, George Foreman, Roy Jones Jr and Evander Holyfield, the United States is the most successful nation in the history of Olympic boxing.
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But its men have failed to take home gold since Andre Ward — another who went on to become a world champion — in 2004.
Their hopes of ending that drought are led by the 21-year-old featherweight Jahmal Harvey.
Cuba are another traditional heavyweight and in Arlen Lopez and Julio Cesar La Cruz they have two highly accomplished fighters who are looking to win gold for a third time.
Only three boxers have ever done that in the history of the Games.
Britain are another powerhouse, both in women’s and men’s boxing.
Anthony Joshua won gold for the hosts at London 2012 before turning pro and becoming heavyweight world champion.
Britain have high hopes for 27-year-old super-heavyweight Delicious Orie, who has been mentioned as the next possible Joshua and is a reigning Commonwealth Games champion.
A sparring partner of Joshua’s, Orie once said: “Some say I’m the new Anthony Joshua, but one day I aim to be even better and dominate.”
Waseem Abu Sal will be the first Palestinian boxer to compete at the Olympics after earning a wildcard spot.
“This has been my dream since I was 10,” he told AFP at his gym in the occupied West Bank city of Ramallah.
“Every day I woke up wondering how to get to the Olympics.”
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