TheSportsCampus

The evening session of the fifth day of competition at the London 2012 Olympic Games saw the Bantam (56kg), Heavy (91kg) and Super Heavyweights (91+kg) once again take to the ring at the ExCeL arena where the atmosphere was absolutely electric.

With the great Lennox Lewis, gold medallist at the 1988 Seoul Olympic Games, and Evander Holyfield in the crowd, Great Britain's third seeded Bantamweight (56kg) Luke Campbell, the AIBA World Boxing Championships Baku 2011 silver medallist, opened up proceedings against the experienced 28-year-old Jahyn Vittorio Parrinello. There was a huge expectation from the crowd that the home boxer would be able to impose his style but the Italian was proving more than a match for him. The 25-year-old British southpaw was looking to make his height advantage count in the opening round but could not get that breakthrough and the points were shared in that one. Once the nerves of the Brit had settled, he composed himself to land some good shots to edge the second round by two points. Parrinello came back strong but Campbell stood firm to close out the contest and win 11:9.

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) today announced that Uzbek athlete Luiza Galiulina (artistic gymnastics) has been excluded from the Games of the XXX Olympiad in London.

Galiulina provided a urine sample on 25 July that tested positive for the prohibited substance furosemide. The analysis of the B sample confirmed the results of the A sample.

As a result, the IOC Disciplinary Commission, composed for this case of Thomas Bach (Chairman), Frank Fredericks and Göran Petersson, decided:

Three weight categories took to the canvas on day five of the boxing competition at the London 2012 Olympic Games with four Bantam (56kg), three Heavy (91kg) and four Super Heavyweight (91+kg) boutsin the afternoon session at the ExCeL Arena.

An absolute firecracker got the action underway in the second round of preliminaries in the Bantamweight (56kg) category as top seed and reigning AIBA World Champion Lazaro Alvarez Estrada from Cuba faced teenage American prodigy Joseph Diaz Jr. The Cuban's superior technique was a joy to watch as he edged the high scoring first round by a single point, but the endeavour of the US southpaw could not be faulted as he continued to move forward in the second round. Even though he connected with a couple of sweet lefts, Diaz Jr was leaving himself open to the counterpunch, which suited the style of the 21-year-old Alvarez, who took the final two rounds to win 21:15 and confirm his status as the title favourite. There was huge respect between the two boxers after the bout with Alvarez embracing the hugely talented American who has a real bright future ahead of him.

Day 5 of the London Olympics witnessed the top seed and Wimbledon champion, Roger Federer overcoming his opponent, Denis Istomin in a tight straight sets affair to book his place in the quarterfinals. Joining him in the last 8 is the second seed and 2008 Olympic Bronze medalist, Novak Djokovic who was given much more of a workout by the spirited Australian Lleyton Hewitt before scraping past the veteran in 3 sets. Other seeds who also advanced to the quarters include the 8th seed Argentine Juan Martin Del Potro and the 11th seeded Spaniard, Nicolas Almagro both of whom experienced their fair share of problems before seeing past their respective opponents.

First up on court no.1 was the Olympic favourite Roger Federer who managed to keep his quest for that last missing piece in his trophy cabinet alive by dismissing his opponent, Denis Istomin in straight sets, 7-5, 6-3. Nevertheless, it was far from a routine affair for the Maestro who found himself in several spots of bother before working past his opponent.