Anthony Ogogo must start on the front foot - John Cremin
ANTHONY OGOGO must start of the front foot in his Olympic middleweight semi-final on Saturday, according to his coach at Triple A Boxing Club, John Cremin.
However Cremin, who has nurtured the 23-year-old for 12 years, believes the Lowestoft boxer’s class could see him emerge from any sticky situation he may find himself in against Brazil’s Esquiva Florentino.
Florentino got the upper hand over an injured Ogogo at last year’s World Championships but Cremin insists his man, who defeated Germany’s Stefan Hartel in the quarter-finals, is the better boxer.
“Anthony does not want to be playing catch-up and the statistics produced by the British team show that 88 per cent of boxers who win the first round go on to win the fight,” said Cremin.
“It is important Anthony is in front at the end of the first round but, saying that, he was 12-6 down at the end of the second round in his Olympic qualifying quarter final and he still won the bout.
“Some boxers would just give up in that situation but that fight against the Georgian proved his class. Anthony is constantly finding ways to win.”
Should Ogogo progress in front of his home crowd, he will face either Japan’s Ryota Murata or Uzbekistan’s Abbos Atoev for the gold medal.
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Atoev was knocked out in the first round against Murata in last year’s World Championships – a tournament in which the Japanese boxer finished runner-up.
Murata also saw off Hartel in that competition but the 18-15 scoreline, as opposed to Ogogo’s 15-10 triumph over the German, suggests there is not much between the boxers.
“The champion (Murata) is a monster but people have got to remember that Hartel did not lose to him because he got bowled over,” said Cremin.
“Anthony made a very strong boxer in Hartel look very basic.
“But he (Ogogo) has got to get past the Brazilian first having lost to him last year with a dislocated shoulder in which the ligaments were hanging off.
“He can go all the way, he has just got to stay focused and switched on to his game plan.
