There was a presentation today, at the National Centre of Boxing of Santa Maria degli Angeli in Assisi, for Italian Olympic boxing team, who will leave for Brazil and the 31stedition of the Olympic Games, which will take place from the 5th tothe 21st August. Manuel Cappai (49kg), Carmine Tommasone (60kg),Vincenzo Mangiacapre (69kg), Valentino Manfredonia (81kg), Clemente Russo (91kg), Guido Vianello (+ 91kg) and Irma Testa (60kg): these are the fighterswho will be trying their best to land podium places, alongside the Team Leaderand Technical Manager for the AOB Elite men and WSB teams, Raffaele Bergamasco, APB Head Coach Francesco Damiani, the Technical Manager for the Elite women, Youth and Junior teams, Emanuele Renzini, and national team Physiotherapist Fabio Morbidini.

The bell for the first round of boxing at the Olympics will sound on the 6thAugust and the competition will continue until 21st August, withstaggered finals for the 10 men’s and 3 women’s weight categories. The 286 competingmale and female athletes will be on show at the Riocentro Pavilion 6, for atotal of 273 meetings. Hopes are high for this tournament, the team picking upfrom where it left off in London, with 7 athletes having qualified. This wasachieved, as underlined by FPI President Alberto Brasca, “with some historicfirsts, starting with Irma Testa, the first female Italian boxer to qualify forthe Olympic arena and the youngest among the participants at this edition; thenwe have Carmine Tommasone, the first professional Italian boxer to pass throughto the Olympics, and Clemente Russo, the first Italian boxer in history toparticipate in four Olympics”.

“It’s the delivery ofthese records” continued Italian Boxing’s head chief, “that shows areinforcement of this continuity. We hoped until the last to have our championRoberto Cammarelle, who has left a great legacy, and we will not forgeteverything that he has achieved. I feel sorry for Valentino and Picardi,athletes who have made the history of Italian boxing, for Arecchia, Maietta,Cavallaro. I want to thank everybody, especially the first and second line techniciansand the whole national team, the state bodies and the Military Sports Groups,and all of the administration of Assisi and Umbria for the hospitality. Weleave from here, taking with us the work of more than eight hundredassociations who rely on volunteers and passion, and whatever happens we willhave achieved a great result”.