Sadam Ali

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Sadam Ali (b. Brooklyn, N.Y. September 26, 1988) is an amateur boxer from the United States.

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[edit] Biography

Born in Brooklyn, New York and raised there by Muslim, Yemeni-immigrant parents, Ali began boxing at the Bed-Stuy Boxing Club in the neighborhood of Bedford-Stuyvesant at the age of eight, after being inspired by Yemeni-British boxing star "Prince" Naseem Hamed. He now represents Havoc Boxic Club.

[edit] Career

Ali is a Junior Olympic National Champion, a PAL National Champion, a U-19 National Champion, and a two-time New York City Golden Gloves champion.

In 2006, Ali won the National Golden Glove Championship in the featherweight division in 2006 at the age of 17. Ali then represented the United States at the 2006 World Junior Championships, where he won a bronze medal after losing in the semifinal round to eventual gold medalist Yordan Frometa of Cuba by a score of 41-39,[1] in a bout in which two points were deducted from Ali because he was weaving too low.

In 2007, Ali moved up to lightweight and again won the National Golden Glove Championship in his new division.[2] Ali is only the second boxer to win it in two different weight classes in consecutive years in New York. Later that year, he was upset by Jerry Belemontes of Corpus Christi, Texas 13-12 in the quarterfinal round of the U.S. Boxing Championships.[3] However, in August 2007, Ali defeated Belemontes and finished in first place in the lightweight division at the U.S. Olympic Trials in Houston, becoming the first boxer from the five boroughs of New York City to win at the trials since Riddick Bowe in 1988. While this did not immediately qualify him to represent the United States in the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, he became the sole American lightweight permitted to compete in three Olympic qualification tournaments to be held over the ensuing eight months, for one of the six berths allocated to lightweights from the Americas.

The first of the three Olympic qualification tournaments was the World Amateur Boxing Championship, which was held in Chicago in the fall of 2007. Ali was eliminated in a competitive second round match by Armenia's Hrachik Javakhyan. As only one lightweight from the Americas qualified in Chicago, five berths remained open.

[edit] Alleged Doping Controversy

Three weeks after the Chicago tournament, Ali participated in a "USA vs. China and Kazakhstan" exhibition event held in Zunyi. Ali's doping test at the exhibition returned positive for cathine, a banned stimulant found in many cold medicines. [4] The infraction carried a potential two-year suspension from amateur competition, which would have disqualified him from the 2008 Olympics.

While Ali accepted a voluntary indefinite suspension on November 22, 2007, he maintained his innocence and appealed to the International Boxing Association ("AIBA") to overturn the test results, because he had taken the cathine inadvertently after contracting a cold in China which the doctor later admitted that the medicines' he had given him could have mixed together to create cathine..[5] In February 2008, Ali agreed to drop his challenges in exchange for a three-month ban retroactive to the date on which he had originally accepted his voluntary suspension.[6] His ban therefore expired on February 22, 2008, allowing him to participate in the two remaining Olympic qualification tournaments to be held in the spring.

[edit] Olympic Qualification

Ali qualified for the 2008 Olympics by finishing in second place at the AIBA 1st Americas Olympic Qualifying Tournament held in Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago in March 2008. He defeated Jesus Cuadro of Venezuela in the quarterfinal round, and Juan Nicolas Cuellas of Argentina in the semifinal round before falling to Cuba's Yordenis Ugas by a score of 13-5 in the final round.[7]

Ali plans to turn professional after the 2008 Olympics. "As soon as I get done with the Olympics, turn pro, my father moves me the right way," Ali said. "Because I already know he knows what to do and all that. So, I'm gonna leave that all on him."[citation needed]

[edit] References

  1. ^ USA Boxing - JUNIOR WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS - SEPTEMBER 8-18 - AGADIR, MOROCCO
  2. ^ USA Boxing - NATIONAL GOLDEN GLOVES - APRIL 30-MAY 5 - CHATTANOOGA, TENN
  3. ^ USA Boxing - 2007 U.S. CHAMPIONSHIPS - COLORADO SPRINGS, COLO. - JUNE 2-8
  4. ^ ESPN - Ali's Olympic future may hinge on results of backup doping test - Olympics
  5. ^ Canarsie's Sadam Ali fights test result
  6. ^ Canarsie's Sadam Ali can qualify
  7. ^ http://www.aiba.org/documents/site1/Olympics/Qualifying%20Events/Americas%201/Scoring%20Sheets/Results%20Day%20Finals.pdf

[edit] External links