Mumbai, Jan. 31: The World Series of Boxing (WSB) took on a tangible form as the cities of New Delhi, Astana, Baku and Beijing emerged as the franchise holders for the four teams in the tournament’s Asian conference this week. The cities signed their final franchise agreements at the first-ever joint meeting between the AIBA Executive Committee and all AIBA Commissions.
The agreements pave the way for the franchises to start recruiting their top national boxers, developing their brands and structuring their operations ready for the start of the first regular season of the WSB, which starts in November this year. Delhi’s franchise owner Videocon Industries was the first organisation to commit to the WSB by signing the heads of agreement. The $2.5 billion conglomerate was represented at the signing ceremony by its chief marketing officer Sunil Tandon, who said, “Videocon looks forward to developing boxing on a global scale, since we are present all over the world. The vision of Colonel Raja, the president of the Indian Boxing Federation, made the decision to commit to World Series of Boxing easy.”AIBA president Dr Ching-Kuo Wu said, “Kazakhstan was one of the first cities to agree to take a WSB franchise. The country has a very high standard of boxing and I am therefore happy that it will have a team in the tournament.”Jambulat Sarsenov, vice-president of the Kazakhstan Boxing Association thanked Dr Wu for leading the efforts of this important project. “For us this is a new challenge and a new opportunity for our boxers,” he said. Representing the Baku franchise in Azerbaijan, Suleyman Mikaylov, vice-president of the Azerbaijan Boxing Federation said, “All boxers, coaches and national federations will benefit from this project because it is future-oriented. I would like to congratulate the whole AIBA family on this project.”China Boxing Industry Group (CBIG) is behind the Beijing franchise, Its chairman, Li Hou Qiang, a former heavyweight boxer, formalised the WSB agreement. Speaking on behalf of Li Hou Qiang, Harris James, president of CBIG said, “CBIG is very proud to assist endeavours to develop boxing in China. Our chairman has a passionate focus on developing the sport to bring personal satisfaction to boxers. There is a long and challenging road ahead but under the guidance of AIBA and the WSB I am sure that the tournament will be a great success.”Dr Wu said, “The fact that we are signing a Chinese franchise at a meeting being held in China is significant. Boxing is growing very fast in China and the Beijing WSB franchise will undoubtedly help the sport to develop even further.”
Age Correspondent