NEW DELHI: The inaugural $100,000 Indian Open of Boxing will kick off January 28 at the Thyagraj Stadium here. The richest boxing tournament ever in the country, which will run through to February 1, will see the participation of pugilists from 25 nations.
Addressing mediapersons, Boxing Federation of India (BFI) president Ajay Singh said the tournament will also feature boxers from traditional powerhouses such as Cuba and Russia.
He informed that India will be fielding four teams in the event, which will have both men and women pugilists and it will be a preparatory tournament for the Asian Games, Commonwealth and other championships, scheduled to be held later in the year.
Singh made his comments to reporters here during the launch event of the Indian Open of Boxing along with the cast of upcoming boxing themed Hindi film ‘Mukkabaaz’.
Singh also praised the Union Sports Ministry for supporting the sports federations with all facilities and called on fellow sports administrators to reciprocate the trust shown by the ministry, by working for the betterment of the athletes.
Singh said: “All the leading boxing nations like Cuba, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Russia will be participating. There will be four Indian teams taking part in the tournament to be held at the Thyagaraj Stadium here.”
Gold medallists at the Indian Open will win a purse of $2,500 while the Silver medallists will earn $1,000. The two Bronze medallists in each category will get richer by $500 each.
Singh also announced the dates for the home ties of the World Series of Boxing (WSB), adding that the team will be announced shortly.
“We also have the World Series of Boxing (WSB) where India will be participating after a long gap. The home matches will be held on March 23 while the away matches will be in early February. We will be announcing the team very soon,” he said.
“We are also going to host the Elite women World Championships in November this year. Before that, we will have the Asian Games and the Commonwealth Games,” he added.
“Recently, for the first time in our history, India conducted the Youth Women World Championship in Guwahati where our girls impressed with five gold and two bronze medals. Before this, India had just one bronze in the previous Women Youth Worlds.
“The world body AIBA said this was the best ever conducted championship, which was an incredible experience for us,” he asserted.
