The United States will open 2010 international dual action with an event on home soil, March 27 in Harvey, Ill. Team USA will take on Italy in both international boxing duals in a familiar locale as international boxing action returns to the Harvey Boxing Club..
The first of two USA vs. Italy duals will take place at the Harvey Boxing Club in Harvey, Ill., on March 27th with a strong roster of reigning national champions and national team members competing for an international victory. Three 2009 USA Boxing National Champions will box in Harvey with light flyweight Miguel Cartagena (Philadelphia, Pa.), middleweight Terrell Gausha (Cleveland, Ohio) and heavyweight Jordan Shimmell (Hudsonville, Mich.) all competing in the event. The trio will be joined by flyweight Adan Ortiz (Sterling, Ill.), bantamweight Luis Rosa (East Haven, Conn.), featherweight Ernesto Garza (Saginaw, Mich.), lightweight Duran Caferro (Helena, Mont.), light welterweight Zeddie Adams (Cleveland, Ohio), welterweight Alexander Martin (Joilet, Ill.), light heavyweight Siju Shabazz (Las Cruces, N.M.), super heavyweight Javier Torres (Commerce, Calif.) and female lightweight Tiarra Brown (Columbus, Ga.).
The U.S. team competing in Harvey will be led by coaches Jesse Ravelo (Killeen, Texas), Rick Fornuto (Palos Park, Ill.) and Oscar Hernandez (Caldwell, Idaho). Robert Lee (Lubbock, Texas) will serve as team leader for both USA vs. Italy Duals with Angel Villarreal (Milwaukee, Wis.) and Joe Sanchez (Darien, Ill.) working as the officials and LaNett Humphrey (Columbus, Ohio) joining the delegation as the computer technician in Harvey.
Italy will be bringing an extremely strong and experienced squad to the U.S. headlined by 2008 Olympic gold medalist Roberto Cammarelle. Yet Cammarelle isn’t the only Olympian on the Italian squad. 2008 Olympic heavyweight silver medalist and 2007 World Champion Clemente Russo and 2008 Olympic flyweight bronze medalist Vincenzo Picardi will both compete in the USA vs. Italy Dual in Reno. The Olympic medalist trio will be joined by flyweight Alex Ferramosca, bantamweight Vittorio Parrinello, featherweight Alessio Di Savino, lightweight Domenico Valentino, light welterweight Davide Cenciarelli, welterweight Diego Di Luisa, middleweight Luca Podda, light heavyweight Fiori Simone, and female lightweight Romina Marenda.
The United States participates in international dual events throughout the year both in the United States and abroad in an effort to provide consistent international competition for the athletes. The USA vs. Italy Dual will serve as a fundraising event for the Harvey Restoration Ministries, an important charity in the Chicago area.
USA Boxing, as the national governing body for Olympic-style boxing, is the United States’ member organization of the International Amateur Boxing Association (AIBA) and a member of the United States Olympic Committee (USOC). It is responsible for the selection and management of the United States Olympic Boxing Team, and for the governance and oversight of USA Boxing’s national organization of 38,000 members, 1,400 individual boxing clubs, and 1,600 sanctioned events annually.