The fencing program was exhausted and with the foil between men and women, between singles and teams, brought a good share of medals to the blue carnet; the Italian hopes of reaching the podium in athletics competitions are rarefied and almost nil, our London 2012 expedition looks to the boxing ring as the main possible source of other satisfactions. There will no longer be the Benvenuti (gold in Rome 1960) or the Olivas (gold in Moscow 1980), but the blues of boxing at the London Games form a respectable team, with an athlete, Robert Cammarelle, who has been one of the strongest fighters in the “+ 91” category for years; gold medal in Beijing after taking silver in Athens.
And the boxer from Cinisello Balsamo, born in 1980, is expected today on the ExCel square against the Moroccan Arjaoui to hit the entry into the semifinal which would already guarantee him the medal zone. AND at least bronze is already a certainty for Clemente Russo who in the quarterfinals beat the strong Cuban Larduet Gomez 12-10 after a very balanced match (4-4, 5-3, 3-3 the partials of the three rounds) which often risked degenerating into a wrestling match. Russian (category up to 91 kg), silver in Beijing and gold at the 2007 World Championships in Chicago, will meet Azerbaijani Mammadov in the semifinal on Friday. Opponent's strength aside, there is also to be feared the strangeness of the referees' judgments which are creating quite a few controversies and discontent in the London tournament.
However, for the thirty-year-old athlete from Marcianise it is already a sure medal: in fact, two bronze medals are awarded to the losers in the semifinals. And today, in addition to Cammarelle, another blue boxer is playing for entry into the semifinals, Dominic Valentine, 60 kg, who will face the Lithuanian Petrauskas in the evening. Wednesday will be the turn of Vincenzo Mangiacapre in the 64 kg, engaged in the quarterfinals against the Kazakh Yeleussinov. Curiously Russo, Valentino and Mangiacapre are three boxers all born in Marcianise and raised in the Excelsior and Gold Medal schools in the center of Caserta.
