Thiam's purse withheld

BOXING:TO SOME dissatisfied boxing fans it may have appeared as though Mamadou Thiam was just there to collect a paycheck for the six minutes he spent in the ring against Andy Lee last Saturday at the University of Limerick Arena.

Now it turns out he might not collect one after all.

The Boxing Union of Ireland ordered payment of Thiam’s scheduled purse withheld pending the results of a hearing to be conducted next Tuesday.

BUI president Mel Christle will hear testimony from several interested parties, including referee Emile Tiedt, the ringside physician, and the Senegal-born former European champion himself before deciding whether to release Thiam’s purse.

Thiam, who quit after two rounds in which he offered little more resistance than Lee might have encountered from a punching bag, claimed to have been hampered by a back injury incurred when a Lee punch knocked him backwards and into a ring-post in the first round.

But Christle revealed when the French opponent was examined by the chief ringside physician afterward, the doctor found nothing consistent with the injury the boxer described.

In the absence of confirmation, the BUI determined the matter warranted further investigation.

Meanwhile, world amateur boxing chiefs AIBA yesterday confirmed the only qualifying event for female boxers for the 2012 London Olympics will be the 2012 World Women’s Championships.

Ireland’s Katie Taylor, who will be aiming for her third title on the trot at the 2010 World Championships in Barbados in September, is being tipped to win a medal at the London Olympiad. The 2011 World Senior Championships in Busan, Korea, will act as one of the Olympics qualifiers for male boxers. One qualifying event per continent has also been allocated.

The Irish Amateur Boxing Association, which celebrate its 100th birthday in 2011, will apply to host that European qualifier in Dublin.

AIBA have announced the champions at the revolutionary new World Series of Boxing (WSB) event, which begins in November, will obtain a place at the London Games. WSB boxers will compete without headguards or vests over five three-minute rounds in team competitions and seven three-minutes rounds in individual competition, as opposed to three three-minute rounds in amateur boxing.

The WSB will also use the “10 points must” scoring system favoured in pro boxing. Crucially, however, boxers competing in the WSB will retain their amateur status, and can, if they qualify, compete at the Olympics.

The 2012 Women’s World Championships will take place in May of that year at a venue to be announced.