Beijing Beckons For Jeffries

Tony Jeffries produced arguably the best performance of his career to move within one more win of Olympic qualification at the World Amateur Championships in Chicago.

The Sunderland light-heavyweight defied a partisan home crowd to pick off the highly fancied American team captain Chris Downs 18-9 and complete a relatively successful first week for the home nations.

Jeffries now faces another tough test in the shape of elusive Belorussian Ramazan Magomedov but head coach Terry Edwards said: "The boy listens and he has brought home a tremendous win for the team."

England's Jeffries beats Downs in World Boxing Championships

England's Tony Jeffries outclassed U.S. light heavyweight Christopher Downs to advance to the final 16 as the first week of competition in the World Boxing Championships concluded Sunday.

Jeffries took control in the second round and Downs couldn't make up the difference in a 19-8 decision.

"He wanted to counter a lot today, and that was my game plan," Downs said. "So one of us had to go for it. He got the early lead and forced me to go for it. I had to be more aggressive and it cost me in the end."

After a rest day Monday, the championships will resume Tuesday at the UIC Pavilion with the round of 16. The quarterfinals will be Thursday, the semifinals on Friday and the championship round on Saturday.

British Boxers Qualify for Beijing

British amateur boxing's emergence as a force to be reckoned with on the world stage continued at the Olympic qualification tournament in Pescara, Italy last week.

Flyweight (51kg) Khalid Yafai, middleweight (75kg) James Degale and Billy Joe Saunders in the 69kg category all secured the required victories to gain automatic qualification to compete for Team GB in Beijing next year, subject to official nomination to the British Olympic Association by the British Amateur Boxing Association.

The addition of Yafai, Degale and Saunders brings the number of British boxers currently confirmed for Beijing to seven. They join Frankie Gavin, Joe Murray, Bradley Saunders and Tony Jeffries, who achieved Olympic qualification via the World Championships in Chicago to form Team GB's largest boxing contingent since the Barcelona 1992 Olympic Games