Stalker became the first British boxer to book his place at London 2012 as the 27-year-old from Liverpool beat Russia's Alexander Solyanikov 17-9 in the light welterweight category, displaying the class that saw him win gold at the Delhi 2010 Commonwealth Games.

Meanwhile, the highly-rated Campbell took his spot at the Olympics as the 24-year-old bantamweight from Hull defeated Algerian Mohamed Ouadahi 11-9 to reach the last eight.

It was soon after that Evans confidently defeated Patrick Wojcicki of Germany 12-6, as the 20-year-old welterweight from Cardiff became the first Welsh boxer to qualify for London 2012.

It is fantastic achievement from all three boxers, particularly Stalker and Campbell who both narrowly missed out on a place at the Beijing 2008 Olympics.

"Tom and I had a chat four years ago when we were devastated at missing out on Beijing," said Campbell.

"The two of us just sat there and vowed to put our heads down and train hard and make it to London.

"It's an incredible feeling that we've both made it.

"The hard work and dedication has finally paid off.

"It was never straightforward and there were times I thought I might not make it.

"But I kept my discipline and trained hard."

Stalker, Campbell and Evans will now be focused on winning a medal at the event in Baku, which would almost certainly ensure them a crucial seeded position at London 2012.


There was also double success for Britain in the flyweight as Khalid Yafai of England and Andrew Selby (pictured) of Wales both progressed to the quarter-final.

Yafai progressed to the next stage by beating Mexico's Elias Emigdio, while Selby saw off Chatchai Butdee of Thailand 25-12.

Due to the fact that both British stars reached the last eight, the duo will have to box off at some point unless one of them wins the World Championships, in which case he will qualify for the Olympics.

Anthony Joshua also made it to the quarter=finals as the 21-year-old super heavyweight from London defeated Mohammed Arjaqui of Morocco 16-7, but he will need to reach the last four or be defeated by the eventual winner to meet the qualifying standard for London.

However, there was not such good news for Britain's other boxers as middleweight Anthony Ogogo went down 17-12 to Brazilian Esquiva Falcao and heavyweight Simon Vallily lost 16-10 to Chaoualb Bouloudinats of Algeria.

However, all is not lost for Ogogo, as under the qualification rules, if Falcao subsequently goes on to claim a place in the final, Ogogo will also qualify as Falcao's vanquished quarte-final opponent.

Alternatively, the boxers who do not qualify for London 2012 in Baku will be given a last chance to qualify for the Olympics in an AIBA sanctioned competition early next year.

"To get six boxers into the quarterfinals of the World Championships and qualify for the Olympics in four categories is an excellent performance but the job is far from done," said GB Boxing's performance director Rob McCracken.

"It has been a good day for British boxing but the challenge now is to secure another qualifier and for those boxers that have booked their place in London to go on and win a medal."

There was also good news for the Irish as they qualified a trio of boxers for the Olympics, with bantamweight John Joe Nevin, flyweight Michael Conlon and middleweight Darren O'Neill all securing a spot at London 2012 by reaching the quarterfinals.

Nevin scrapped through on count back when his contest with Mongolian Otgondalai Dorjnyambuu ended 18-18.

But O'Neill made far easier work of his qualification as he beat Bulgarian Mladen Manev 19-12 and Conlon soon followed as he defeated France's Nordine Oubaali 20-17.


The day also saw history made in Baku as 24-year-old flyweight Rau'shee Warren (pictured right) became the first US boxer to qualify for three Olympic Games, as he reached the quarter final with a dominant 22-12 over Rey Saludar of the Philippines.

After competing at Athens 2004 and Beijing 2008 but failing to win a medal, Warren is aiming to make the podium in London before turning professional, and the 2007 world champion faces a mouth-watering clash with England's Yafai in the next round.

Two other US boxers qualified for London 2012 in Baku by reaching the last eight, with bantamweight Joseph Diaz claiming a hard-fought 22-21 victory over Mexico's Oscar Valdez and welterweight Errol Spence beating the number one ranked boxer at the event Imre Backsai of Hungary 26-16 in a superb display.

Contact the writer of this story at [email protected]


Related stories
September 2011: UK Sport praises GB Boxing and predicts more medal success in 2012
September 2011: GB Boxing selects team for World Championships with Olympic spots on line