(SEPT 11) Team USA Boxing suffered two 'shock' defeats on the opening day of the prestigious Feliks Stamm Memorial tournament in Warsaw late Wednesday.

AIBA World no.1 Marlen Esparza exited the tournament in the preliminary round at the hands of the unranked Irish woman, Ceire Smith from Cavan BC 1:2 on a split decision.

Worse was to follow as at 75kg Olympic weight, Raquel Miller lost 3:0 to Sweden's evergreen Anna Laurell Nash who took her first AIBA Gold back in 2001 at the inaugural World Championships in Scranton.

"My first World championship gold in 2001 changed my way of looking at life and a number of international medals later I am still passionate about my sport. I really only stopped boxing because of injuries or my thyroid disease. After the 2012 London Olympics I have decided to move on from boxer to a trainer at my club IF Linnéa.

Outside of boxing, I have an education in chemistry from the University of Lund. After a quick stop in the industry, I went back to university, the Royal Institute of Technology for a PhD. Having two careers is both exhausting and rewarding. It is reassuring to have an education to fall back on and it’s fun and stimulating''.

That was in 2014 and now she is back in action and 'Going for Gold' once more. Truly an inspiration to one and all.

Marlen Esparza's defeat came at the hands of Irish Elite boxer, Ceire Smith who herself has missed several tournaments due illness/injury and her studies at Dublin City University. She boxes out of the Cavan club where among her earlier sparring partners was London 2012 Silver medallist (and now a successful Pro) John Joe Nevin.

Intriguingly in Warsaw she is coached by Ireland's much coveted - by USA Boxing - HPU supremo Billy Walsh. Yesterday he was in Smith's corner but come 2016 Olympic qualifiers will he still be there ? They say that a week is a long time in politics but certainly the Irish Amateur Boxing Association have left both Walsh and their own funding authority Irish Sports Council, entirely in the dark as to their intentions.

Smith of course has been a regular in the team since the 2010 World Championships in Barbados but surprisingly does not feature in the AIBA top 20 ranked boxers.She is highly rated at home though she will face stiff opposition for a place in Ireland's team in future with the rise of Michaela Walsh, a silver medallist at the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow and whose brother Aidan took Gold in today's Commonwealth Youth Games on the Pacific Island of Samoa.

USA Boxing's only remaining competitor Mikaela Mayer will be in action against Russia's Tatiana Bondereva and hoping to collect her country's first win of this tournament.

She will undoubtedly wish to show the Irish coach - if he is watching - just how good she is and deserving of a more permanent place in the team.

Bout of the day yesterday undoubtedly involved England's Savannah Marshall who reversed a recent defeat in the European Games at the hands of Poland's Lidia Fidura. Esparza's defeat apart there were other shocks on day one with World silver medallist in Jeju 2014 at 60kg, Yana Alekseevna going out at hands of the Ukraines's Julia Tsyplakova O:3 . One to watch at the 60kg weight is England's Sandy Ryan tipped by many to be the GB representative in forthcoming World and Olympic qualifiers. She took silver at the 2014 World's and is now boxing at 60kg.

Results: 9 September:

Kategoria 48-51kg
JURANOVA Jana (CZE) vs HOLZKEN Alicja (NED) PKT 0:3
ESPARZA Marlen (USA) vs CEIRE Smith (IRL) PKT 1:2
ENVALL Helena (SWE) vs SNIZHANA Kholodkova (UKR) PKT 2:1
SAVELEVA Elena (RUS) vs YUAN Chang (CHN) PKT 1:2
STEPHANIE Kernachan (SCO) vs SEVARA Tajikulowa (KAZ) PKT 0:3

Kategoria 57-60kg
BONDAREVA Tatiana (RUS) vs LU Qiong (CHN) PKT 3:0
RYAN Sandy (ENG) vs CALDER Lynn (SCO) PKT 3:0
STAMKOVA Alice (CZE) vs TGOLOYEVA Zarina (KAZ) PKT 0:3
ALEKSEEVNA Yana (AZE) vs TSYPLAKOVA Juliia (UKR) PKT 0:3
JONES Charlene (WAL) vs YARSHEVICH Ala (BLR) PKT 0(remis):2

Kategoria 69-75kg
FIDURA Lidia (POL) vs MARSHALL Savannah (ENG) PKT 1:2 [37:39, 39:37, 37:39]
NASH Anna Laurell (SWE) vs MILLER Raquel (USA) PKT 3:0
YUAN Maiging (CHN) vs BOVA Mariia (UKR) PKT 3:0

Draw 10th September:

Kategoria (48-51kg)
ALIMANRDANOVA Anna (AZE) vs GROŃSKA Angelika (POL)
Sandra DRABIK (POL) vs ALICJA Holzken (NED)
Ceire SMITH (IRL) vs ENVALL Helena (SWE)
YUAN Chang (CHN) vs SEVARA Tajikulowa (KAZ)

Kategoria (57-60kg)
POTKONEN Mira (FIN) vs ALEXIUSSON Agnes (SWE)
MAYER Mikaela (USA) vs BONDAREVA Tatiana (RUS)
RYAN Sandy (ENG) vs TGOLOYEVA Zarina (KAZ)
TSYPLAKOVA Juliia (UKR) vs YARSHEVICH Ala (BLR)

Kategoria (69-75kg)
WÓJCIK Elżbieta (POL) vs ABDULAEVA Saadat (RUS)
FONTIJN Noushka (NED) vs PRICE Lauren (WAL)
KHALZOVA Valentina (KAZ) vs MARSHALL Savannah (ENG)
NASH Anna Laurell (SWE) vs YUAN Maiging (CHN)