The 13th Men’s World Amateur Boxing Championships got under way yesterday in China. The Championships are the most competitive worldwide tournament with over 80 countries participating. Preliminaries began yesterday and run throughout the week, with the semifinals and finals taking place on November 19-20.
For the first time ever, a Chinese city will host amateur boxing’s biggest stage; the city of Mianyang which is in the Sichuan province of southeast China. Mianyang boasts a brand new Sports Gymnasium for the event and looks to set the precedent of boxing hospitality for the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing. In just another 120 days, the Commonwealth Games in Melbourne, Australia will host the world’s best amateur boxers as well.
Canada’s seven boxers have all been given their first assignments for the tournament and two of them have already entered the ring. In the 60kg division, Ontario’s Ibrahim Kamal outdueled Javakhyan Hrachik of Armenia 29-18 on Day 1 of the competition. Quebec’s Adonis Stevenson fell to Emilio Correa Bayeux of Cuba. The remaining five canucks will see their first action over the next three days, as follows:
Nov. 14
57kg – Arash Usmanee (AB) vs. Eric Donovan (IRL)
64kg – Kevin Bizier (QC) vs. Som Baha Dur Pun (IND)
91kg – Gino Nardari (AB) vs. Darmos Jozsef (HUN)
Nov. 15
69kg – Adam Trupish (ON) vs. Mongolia
Nov. 16
54kg – Tyson Cave (NS) vs. Hong Kong
The official website for the World Championships is www.aiba.net. For all the latest news and information on Ontario’s competitors, visit www.boxingontario.com
Boxing Ontario is the governing body for amateur boxing in Ontario. We are a voluntary association committed to promoting the lifestyle benefits of amateur boxing to children, youth and adults throughout the province. We provide safe competitive and recreational programs to our athletes, coaches and officials, and support our clubs in delivering quality programs and events. For more information on our association please visit www.boxingontario.com
