Lausanne, Nov 9: Following detailed discussions between World Series of Boxing (WSB), the Indian Boxing Federation (IABF) and TransStadia, it was agreed by all stakeholders that the India-based Franchise would sit-out WSB Season III in order to maximize its long-term impact on the boxing world both technically and commercially.
“Like all Indian boxing fans and media, over the past few years AIBA has witnessed the impressive rise of Indian Boxing and its performance on the global stage”, stated Dr Ching Kuo-Wu, AIBA President and Chairman of the WSB Board. “With the laws of the game changing from the classic amateur to the professional style of boxing, we want to ensure that India is in a position to do well in all the three AIBA platforms: Olympic Boxing, WSB and the soon to be launched AIBA Professional Boxing (APB). AIBA will be working with the IABF towards helping them make this transition as smoothly, efficiently and quickly as possible. India needs time to devise a development programme to educate and prepare its boxers for professional style boxing so they can compete competitively at the highest level. We look forward to seeing the India Fighters achieve success in WSB
“WSB and its innovative style of boxing is not only exciting to watch but also the future of our sport”, declared Brig PK Murlidharan Raja, Senior Vice President of the IABF. “TransStadia have impressively played their part in this initiative in their first season despite the short period of time they had to pull it off. While India has improved its performance in Olympic boxing, there is a need to create a development programme which provides our boxers with a smooth transition to the pro level, which is the way forward. This will happen under the guidance of AIBA and with the involvement of the WSB Indian Franchise. We will make sure our joint initiatives get the support from the Sports Ministry, the National Olympic Committee and all stakeholders within the Federation to guarantee the WSB Indian Franchise can come back as a stronger unit.”
“Our commitment to the sport of boxing in India remains intact”, affirmed Mr. Udit Sheth, TransStadia Chief Executive Officer and India Fighters Principal. “We are seeking a robust support structure from both AIBA and IABF. While the support received last season was tremendous, going forward we need more development programs which will act as a stepping stone towards pro boxing. IABF and AIBA have promised to ensure that these initiatives will be implemented. We are looking forward to coming back as a team and to working towards the objective of continuing on the memorable journey we started last year.”
The IABF and WSB’s Indian franchise will now work in tandem towards the same goal with AIBA’s guidance. —- WSB
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