Bruno Julie

(Louis Richard) Bruno Julie (born July 11, 1978) is a bantamweight boxer from Mauritius who won a number of medals in international tournaments, and competed in the 2008 Olympics.

Career

In his first major tournament, at the Commonwealth Games 2002 in Manchester, Julie reached the quarter-finals. Four years later, in 2006 he reached the final by defeating Mmoloki Nogeng, losing only to Indian Akhil Kumar. He finished second in the African Championships the same year.

In 2007 Julie won bronze at the All-Africa Games in Algeria, where he was beaten in the semi-final by local hero and eventual winner Abdelhalim Ouradi. At the 2007 World Championships he beat Orzubek Shayimov but lost to Englishman Joseph Murray. Also in 2007, Julie won gold medals at the Commonwealth Championships in Liverpool and at the African Championships in Tana. He won a further gold medal at the African Cup of Nations in his native country and clinched his second gold medal at the Indian Ocean Games in Madagascar, four years after his first one in Mauritius.

Julie qualified for the 2008 Olympics in the second qualifier by defeating Emilian Polino, despite losing the final to Issa Samir. On August 18, 2008, Bruno Julie made history by winning his quarter-final in the 54kg bantamweight class, therefore guaranteeing himself at least a bronze medal. This means that Julie became the first ever Olympic medalist for Mauritius. He was narrowly defeated by Yankiel León of Cuba 5-7 on the semi-final bout.

After winning the first ever olympic medal for the island of Mauritius, Bruno Julie got propositions from France and the United States. He confirmed this after his return to Mauritius. He also said that he won this medal for all Mauritians. He even said that he heard shouting 'Bruno Bruno' everytime he was on the ring at Beijing. Mauritian fans have nicknamed Julie as the Mauritian Magician and the Creol Crusher.

Olympic results

2008 (as a bantamweight)
*Defeated Emanuel Thabiso Nketu (Lesotho) 17-8
*Defeated Khurshid Tadjibayev (India) 16-4
*Defeated Héctor Manzanilla (Venezuela) 13-9
*Lost to Yankiel León (Cuba) 5-7"This was the first medal Mauritius had ever won in the history of the olympics."

World amateur championship results

2007 (as bantamweight)
*Defeated Francisco Castillejo (Spain) RSCO 3
*Defeated Orzubek Shayimov (Uzbekistan) 34-13
*Lost to Joe Murray (England) 19-26

External links

* [http://www.melbourne2006.com.au/Participants/Participants?ID=107215 Bio]
* [http://amateur-boxing.strefa.pl/Championships/AllAfricaGames2007.html Africa Games]