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Former titleholder Hassan N’Dam squeaks by in Olympic qualifier

Fighters Network
05
Jul

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Former middleweight titleholder Hassan N’Dam avoided embarrassment on Tuesday by edging U.S. amateur Jonathan Esquivel at the final Olympic qualifier in Vargas, Venezuela in a light heavyweight quarterfinal contest.

Despite the difference in experience, the 21-year-old Californian won the third round on two of the three judge’s scorecards before losing a unanimous decision by a score of 29-28 to N’Dam, currently ranked eighth in THE RING’s middleweight rankings. The win against Esquivel was N’Dam’s tournament debut, and it eliminated Team USA’s final boxer from Olympic contention.

N’Dam, a French-Cameroonian boxer who fought in the 2004 Olympics, is one of the few professionals to take advantage of AIBA’s recent decision to allow pros to compete for an Olympic berth in the 2016 Olympics in Rio. The former professional flyweight champion Amnat Ruenroeng of Thailand is the other prominent pro to try to qualify.



Most professionals and promoters have ridiculed the ruling by AIBA as unsafe for amateurs. The IBF and WBC sanctioning bodies announced they will ban fighters who participate in the Rio Games, though it’s not clear if the punishment extends to qualifying tournaments. The hostility toward AIBA’s decision apparently fell on deaf ears when it came to N’Dam, who is representing Cameroon in this go-around, just as he did in 2004, when he lost in the quarterfinals and failed to medal.

Perhaps the allure of facing amateurs appealed to N’Dam, who was knocked to the canvas four times in a decision loss to David Lemieux in June of 2015; he was also dropped six times in a 2012 loss to Peter Quillin that cost him his WBO middleweight title.

N’Dam (33-2, 19 knockouts) has won two straight, however, most recently stopping Robert Swierzbinski in the second round in Paris. He is still highly regarded enough to be ranked eighth by THE RING, right behind No. 7 Quillin and No. 6 Chris Eubank Jr., who is finalizing a deal to face unified champion Gennady Gloving later this year. N’Dam is currently ranked No. 5 in the IBF, No. 6 in the WBC and No. 8 in the WBO.

The 2016 U.S. Olympic Boxing Team is now set with light flyweight Nico Hernandez, flyweight Antonio Vargas, bantamweight Shakur Stevenson, lightweight Carlos Balderas, light welterweight Gary Antuanne Russell and middleweight Charles Conwell. The female lightweight Mikaela Mayer and woman’s middleweight Claressa Shields will also represent the U.S in Rio and are all scheduled to depart on July 19.

 

Mitch Abramson is a former reporter for the New York Daily News and can be reached on Twitter at: @Mabramson13.

 

 

 

 

 

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