Following the success of the Road to Sofia Program in April which took place before the AIBA Youth World Championships, the Road to Jeju program was held between November 2nd and November 25th 2014, ahead of and during the 2014 AIBA Women’s World Championships in Korea.

With 30 boxers and 12 coaches representing 23 countries, Road to Jeju continued the excellent precedent set by former editions of the Road to Dream Program.

Head Coach Nino Fracasso of Italy, together with Assistant Coaches Christy Halbert of USA, and Korea’s Inho Cheon helped the boxers at the training venue of the Halla Gymnasium, which is the competition venue for the World Championships.

The “Road to Dream” development program created by the International Boxing Association (AIBA) is one of the most innovative and rewarding sporting initiatives in the world, and offers athletes and coaches from underprivileged and developing countries the opportunity to participate in major AIBA events as well as Olympic Games and to attend intensive training camps in the build-up to competitions.

AIBA provides each participant with airline tickets, accommodation, food and drinks, full training facilities with equipment, training kits, gloves and headgear, full medical and massage services as well as covering insurance, visa expenses and local transportation.

The greatest success story of the Program was Panama’s Atheyna Bylon, who became the first women’s boxer who had taken part in an AIBA development program to win a gold medal in a worldwide competition, and Bylon and her coaches made the decision to move down to Welterweight (69 kg) during the Road to Jeju program.

More information on Bylon can be found by clicking here, and the video report for Road to Jeju can be found below.

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