Boxing: Stage set for World Boxing Championships

Indian boxing stars Rohit Mor and Akash will kickstart the Indian challenge at the AIBA Men’s World Boxing Championships in Belgrade, Serbia, on Monday (October 25).

Rohit, who stunned Mohammad Hussamuddin to win the gold medal at the Elite Men’s Boxing Nationals last month, will be up against Ecuadorian boxing star Jean Caicedo. It would be a tough task for Rohit to put it past Caicedo considering the latter is rich in experience having competed in the recently concluded Tokyo Olympics.

Akash, meanwhile, has been drawn to open his campaign against Adem Fukran in the 67kg category.

Two Indian boxing stars - reigning Asian champion Sanjeet (92kg) and Sachin Kumar (80) - were awarded first-round byes in their respective categories.

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Read: Men’s World Boxing Championships: AIBA to award champions with belt and solid gold medals

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Deepak Bhoria (51kg) is touted to face a difficult challenge in his opening round match. He will start off against two-time Asian champion Azat Usenaliev of Kyrgyzstan on Tuesday (October 26).

In-form boxing star Bhoria caught eyeballs earlier this year after defeating Olympic champion Shakhobidin Zoirov of Uzbekistan at the Strandja Memorial Boxing Tournament. He also won the Senior Nationals Boxing Championships title last month.

2015 World Championships bronze medallist Shiva Thapa (63.5kg), Govind Kumar Sahani (48kg), Varinder Singh (60kg), Nishant Dev (71kg), Sumit (75kg), Lakshya Chahar (86kg) and Narender (+92kg) are the other boxers of the 13-member Indian contingent. They will all compete at the 21st edition of the prestigious event which will go on until November 6.

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Several top stars to contest World Boxing Championships

The event will witness competitions between 650 top boxers from more than 100 participating countries from across the world. It is also the first time in history that the championships will be played in 13 weight categories as per AIBA's newly-introduced weight divisions.

The gold medalists of each category will receive $100,000 while silver and bronze medallists will be given $50,000 and $25,000, respectively.

Alongside an enormous prize pool of $2.6 million, AIBA will also award the winners with beautifully designed medals, made of solid gold and silver respectively, and belts to commemorate their accomplishments.

In the last edition of the Men’s World Boxing Championships, held in 2019, the Indian contingent concluded its campaign with two medals. Amit Panghal won a silver medal while Manish Kaushik won a bronze.

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