XXVIII Olympic Games in Athens, Greece-Boxing: Julie wants to better past performances |13 August 2004

"I want to progress further than any other Seychellois boxer before me at the Olympics", said Kitson Julie as response to the question as to what is his target for the Athens Games.

The fact that both his uncle Roland Raforme in Barcelona, Spain, in 1992, and Rival Payet (Formerly Cadeau) in Atlanta, USA, in 1996, reached the quarterfinal, it is certain that Julie is aiming for at least a place in the semifinal.

If the light welterweight (64-kg) boxer makes it to the last-four stage, it means that Seychelles will win its first Olympic Games medal ever in six participations.

Julie, the only Seychellois boxer in the 2004 Athens Olympics, added:
"I know it is going to be a tall order, but I’ve been training hard over the past months. 

I’m ready to compete. Although it’s my first Olympics, I want to do it well like everyone competing in these Games. I want to give the best performance I can and take each bout as it comes as they will all be like finals for me," said Julie, one of Seychelles' two qualifiers competing in Athens.

The Olympic draw on Friday at the Peristeri Boxing Hall will be critical to the medal prospect of Julie, gold medallist of the 15th African Boxing Championship in Bagsron Botswana, in March this year to become the first Seychellois to qualify for the Olympics since 1996.

It will be a hard blow psychologically for Julie if he is drawn to fight against a Cuban, Russian or American strongman in the first bout of the tournament.

But coach Jerry Legras, himself an Olympian in 1996, at the Atlanta Olympics, believes that Julie has improved a lot after having trained in Cuba and other parts of the world for the past four months.

"Kitson's fitness level is very good.  His punching techniques have improved and even his defence. We did pad work today (Wednesday) and you could just feel the sting in his punches. I expect him to go a long way in the tournament, but he has to remain concentrated," said coach Legras.

Twenty-eight boxers have qualified in the light welterweight category and the favourites for the gold medal are Russian Alexander Malezi, American Rock Allen, Cuban Yudel Johnson Cedeno and Greek Spyridon Ioannidis.

Russian Maletin, one of the heaviest hitters in the world, is a three-time European champion and won the bronze medal of the 60-kg division at the Sydney Games in 2000.

Nicknamed 'Russian Tanker', Maletin is the 2003 light welterweight World Championship silver medallist.

American Allen comes from a boxing family but he was beaten in the final of the Rio de Janeiro qualifying tournament by Cuban Jhonson Cedeno, who also triumphed in the Olympic Test Event in Athens in May by defeating Greek boxer Ioannidis in the final.

It is to be noted that Cuba, the best amateur boxing team in the world, is targeting gold in all 11 weight categories in Athens.

Cuba has won 47 Olympic medals in boxing (27 gold, 13 silver and seven bronze).