U.S. Marine determined to keep team spirit up

His London Olympics may have only lasted nine minutes but Jamel Herring will not be getting down about it. A veteran Marine of two tours of duty in Iraq, the U.S. team boxing captain knows he has his men to think about. The 26-year-old sergeant, who served as a field electrician during the Iraq war, is just part of the military backbone of an American team led by officer Basheer Abdullah, head coach of the army's boxing programme for 15 years. Herring saw many friends die during his service but also lost his daughter to cot death shortly after his return, something that was at the forefront of his mind when went down on bended knee upon entering the ring on Tuesday. "Everybody back at home knows what I've been through, I've been through a lot of ups and downs," the circumspect light-welterweight told reporters after his 19-9 loss to Kazakhstan's Daniyar Yeleussinov. "From the first time I stepped in the ring to the last, I was thinking about her (his daughter Ariyanah), my team, my country, the Marine corps. A lot was going through my head."

A native of Long Island, just east of Manhattan, Herring was in high school when New York's World Trade Centre was destroyed on September 11, 2001. School friends lost relatives in the attacks, prompting the then 15-year-old to decide to enlist. He does not know yet whether he will re-enlist when his service ends in a few months, although a harder question to answer is whether it means more to be an Olympian or to have served for his country. "I was a proud Marine and proud to defend my country," he said. Being a New Yorker and so close to the 9/11 incident in high school, I wanted just to do something good in life. Make something out of myself. "I appreciated the both of them," he added, referring to the Olympics. "I wish I could have done better but not everyone gets to the Olympics so when you do, it's a big accomplishment on your resume. I'll always be an Olympian." With seven American male boxers and three females still chasing medals, their captain knows he still has plenty of work to do in London. "It hurts, no one likes to get beat but I've got to keep my head up, I'm team captain. If I'm down basically my team is down," he said. "I don't want nobody to feel down, I fought hard. I don't want them to feel bad for one man, one man's gone down, but we've still got out whole team."

Olympics:Boxing judges favor Brits, claims Conceicao

Brazilian lightweight Robson Conceicao claimed he was the victim of biased judging after he lost in the first round to Britain's Josh Taylor on Sunday. Conceicao, who pushed world amateur champion Vasyl Lomachenko all the way in last year's championships, lost 13-9 but was convinced he won every round. "They (the judges) were very malicious. It's not fair because I think the judges favoured him because of the crowd and that shouldn't happen in a competition like this," Conceicao told reporters. "It hurts a lot, I was fighting really well, making the points and the referees didn't give it. I'm sad." In front of a packed and giddily excited arena, Taylor became the third British boxer in a row to advance to the second round of this year's Games, handing rising boxing power Brazil its first defeat in the process. "It will be very difficult," Conceicao said when asked if it would be hard to beat a British boxer in London. Taylor, who sparred with the Brazilian in what he described a tough session in the run up to the Games, said it was amazing having the crowd behind every punch he threw, describing the experience as the best in his life.

Queen Elizabeth says that her Olympics was 'a laugh'

Britain's Queen Elizabeth thinks her Olympic Games Opening Ceremony cameo was a "bit of a laugh".  The 86-year-old royal took part in a pre-recorded segment with James Bond actor Daniel Craig before appearing to parachute into the Olympic Stadium in Stratford, east London, during Friday's (27.07.12) spectacle, and while she didn't watch her part, she admits the ceremony seemed to go "very well".  During a tour of the Olympic Park yesterday (28.07.12), she told London Mayor Boris Johnson: "It all seemed to go very well last night. But I didn't see my bit."  Boris said: "You were brilliant Ma'am."

And the monarch replied: "It was a bit of a laugh."  The queen is said to have immediately accepted the invitation to film the cameo for the ceremony, and she shot the piece in just one take.  An official is quoted by the Sunday Mirror newspaper as saying: "It was not a case of having to persuade the queen to take part.  "Her Majesty said 'yes' to it straight away. She thought it was such brilliant fun. And when the idea for the format was explained to her she was happy with that, too. When we came to filming it the queen was a natural. Did it take long? No. Let's just say we only had to film it once."  The segment saw Bond arrive at Buckingham Palace in an iconic black London taxi and he then walked down the hallway flanked by the monarch's corgis - played by her own pooches Monty, Willow and Holly - before being taken to the queen.  She greeted him with the words: "Good evening, Mr. Bond." He replied: "Good evening, Your Majesty."  The pair then retired to a waiting Union Jack-decorated helicopter where they travelled from the palace to the Olympic Stadium and then appeared to parachute out much to the surprise of fans inside the stadium and the one billion people watching on TV sets worldwide.  But the joke was revealed when she arrived with her husband Prince Philip walking down the steps into their seats.  The queen's cameo was the idea of the Opening Ceremony curator Danny Boyle, who admitted the monarch is a "good actor" and revealed she got on "very well" with Daniel during filming.

Team GB Boxer Anthony Ogogo keeps Olympic dream alive

The brave quest for Olympic glory of Anthony Ogogo, whose mother recently suffered a brain haemorrhage, continues. The Lowestoft middleweight overcame Junior Castillo of the Dominican Republic on a 13-6 count in the preliminary round after the sudden illness of his mum, Teresa, caused him to consider withdrawing from the Games.  Competing in an Olympics is Ogogo's "dream", he said after this easy win, so this pushed him on. That, and his four sisters "ordering" him to fulfil his ambition. On a memorable day for the middleweight one of those sisters, Leanne, went into labour and is just "down the corridor" in the James Paget hospital, near Great Yarmouth, from Teresa, who is in a stable condition.  Ogogo said: "About six weeks ago my mum had a brain haemorrhage so she's been in hospital – in the critical care unit for a good month and she's been looked after. She's doing so well. Hopefully I've given her a boost and it will help in her recovery. For what she's doing and what's she's going through and how good she's done I'm so proud of her. Winning a medal at the Olympics is nothing in comparison.

"My eldest sister Leanne went into labour so I'll phone her and hope I have a little nephew or niece. She's just down the corridor from my Mum. It has been a really good day for the family. I've kept my focus. It makes me want it even more. My world has been incentivised by what's gone on, I'm working hard, and hopefully I will get what I feel like I deserve."  How had he negotiated these past six weeks? "Just with the help of my family, and friends and girlfriend – they've kind of got me through," Ogogo said. "There was a stage where I didn't think I was going to be boxing at the Olympic Games because it just didn't seem important with all that was going on at home with the family and stuff. But my sisters kind of ordered me back to Sheffield [where Team GB are based] to train with the squad. The team have been really good with me to: they've given me time off to go and see members of my family.  "I've just worked hard and focused on the goal because it was my dream. But you kind of put into perspective what's important or not – it just testament to my family and friends who kind of got me here and hopefully I'll do them even more proud and make my mum proud by wining a medal."  Cheered on by the sold-out arena at the ExCel and "Team Ogogo" – who consisted of three sisters, his girlfriend and friends all wearing T-shirts sporting the logo – the 23-year-old admitted to nerves during the opening round.

"It was amazing," he said. "Just the people in the crowd supporting me – it's quite emotional really. I walked to the ring and thought: 'lip don't quiver, don't quiver.' I was a bit tense in the opening round, to perform in front of that crowd, it was a bit nerve-racking. But I settled down, got into my rhythm."  Ogogo closed the opening three minutes just 3-2 ahead but he was about to pull away. His cleaner punches and greater work kept Castillo at range and after a fast flurry from the Dominican following the opening bell of round two, Ogogo's better work took his advantage to 8-3.  By ducking inside whenever Castillo advanced during the final round Ogogo stayed away from danger, preventing his opponent from adding to his tally. Now, he faces Levgen Khytrov, the Ukrainian world champion and No1 seed, who will provide a big step up in class.  Ogogo said: "It's going to be really hard, the draw was unkind was to me. My girlfriend said to me: 'If the wind won't get in your sails, use your oars.' So I'll have to row against the tide. He's world champion but with that crowd and my coaches, the team I've got, I feel I can rise to the occasion: the better my opponent, the better I usually perform.  "I wouldn't be here if I didn't think I can beat him. It's going to be a much harder fight but I can't wait. It's the Olympic Games, you don't become Olympic champion without beating the best. It's about bringing the best of the best together. I'm going to rest up, get the tactics sorted out and crack on."

Wlad: Door still open to Haye

Wladimir Klitschko has told Sky Sports that he hopes talks will remain open with David Haye regarding a fight with he or his brother.  "I think that David became a better person and I hope that he is more reliable than he used to be. "  Wladimir Klitschko Quotes of the week Haye 'retired' after receiving a 12-round bashing at the hands of Wladimir last summer, but unsurprisingly came back less than a year later to beat Dereck Chisora at Upton Park earlier this month.  That impressive stoppage victory once again sparked speculation that the 'Hayemaker' could be in a position to get it on with WBC champion Vitali Klitschko, or even face Wladimir in a rematch.  The Klitschkos' manager Bernd Boente told Ringside that the door did indeed remain open to Haye despite previous talks ending in stalemate.

Boente had offered Haye a date with Vitali on September 8, only for the Briton to agree to a fight with Chisora in the meantime.  And while Team Haye were apparently happy to accept the September clash as well, Klitschko was not in agreement and signed to defend his title against the unknown Manuel Charr.  But with any Haye vs Klitschko fight certain to generate interest around the globe, Wladimir confirmed that talks will remain ongoing.  "It's very difficult to follow what David Haye wants - retirement, not retirement - fighting or not fighting Vitali or me, fighting someone else," the IBF, WBO and WBA champion said.  "Eventually he was fighting me which was great following all the talk, and I think the chances are there (for another Klitschko fight).  "And as I said, I think that David became a better person and I hope that he is more reliable than he used to be.  "We'll see the next step. The next step is for Vitali to fight. It's very important for him to win the fight and then we'll continue to talk."

Does Alexander Povetkin have a chance against Wladimir Klitschko?

n terms of world championship belts, only two fighters have any logical claim on challenging heavyweight top dog Wladimir Klitschko: his big brother Vitali, the WBC champ; and Alexander Povetkin, the WBA "regular" (read "fake") beltholder. Since Vitali and Wladimir have long and loudly proclaimed they will never fight each other, that makes Povetkin the sole, rightful challenger to Wladimir's place as boxing's biggest, baddest man. Yet is the Russian Vityaz ready to duke it out with Dr. Steelhammer?

Boxers to look out for at the London 2012 Olympic Games

London, Great Britain, 24 July 2012 – With just a few days to go until the biggest show on Earth gets underway in the British capital, we look at the men and women in each of the weight categories who can have a real impact at the London 2012 Olympic Games. In the second of this four part series, we examine the Light (60kg), Light Welter (64kg) and Welterweight (69kg) men.

Men Lightweight (60kg) 2008 Olympic Title holder: Alexey Tishchenko (RUS) 2011 AIBA World Champion: Vasyl Lomachenko (UKR)  It is hard to look beyond arguably the world’s best Olympic pound for pound boxer, Ukrainian superstar Vasyl Lomachenko (photo), for this one. After taking the Featherweight (57kg) gold in 2008, the last four years have geared up towards the London 2012 Olympic Games for the powerful 24-year-old. He was the leading light in Beijing where he took the Val Barker Trophy, awarded to the outstanding fighter in the whole tournament. Last year, he was crowned AIBA World Champion for a second time so many expect him to once again take centre stage. Cuba’s Yasnier Toledo Lopez will be the main challenger, along with Italy’s 2009 AIBA World Champion Domenico Valentino and Brazilian Robson Conceicao, who pushed Lomachenko all the way in the Round of 16 in Baku. Road to London II participant Evaldas Petrauskas from Lithuania created the sensation in 2011 when he took bronze in the Azeri capital and could have a major say in what happens in this weight category. Belarus’s elegant southpaw Vazgen Safaryants is a clever operator and can surprise a fair few. So if Lomachenko wants to take gold, he will not have it easy, guaranteed.