Only three days left until the start of the upcoming ASBC Asian Men’s & Women’s Elite Boxing Championships which has been relocated to Dubai, United Arab Emirates. The strongest boxing countries of the Asian continent, such as Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, India, Thailand, Philippines, Mongolia, South Korea, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan send their formidable line-ups to the forthcoming ASBC Asian Elite Boxing Championships.

Uzbekistan arrived to Dubai with a huge delegation

Uzbekistan arrived to the venue of the ASBC Asian Men’s & Women’s Elite Boxing Championships with a huge delegation and the country is expecting to top the medal table. Among the defending AIBA Men’s Elite World Champions, Uzbekistan’s trio as Shakhobiddin Zoirov (52kg), Mirazizbek Mirzakhalilov (57kg) and Bakhodir Jalolov (+91kg) will be competing in Dubai.

Their medallists and champions from big events such as Nodirjon Mirzakhmedov (49kg), Abdumalik Khalakov (60kg), Elnur Abduraimov (64kg), Bobo-Usmon Baturov (69kg), Dilshodbek Ruzmetov (81kg) and Sanjar Tursunov (91kg) are also strengthening the team. Their younger girls impressed in the AIBA Youth World Boxing Championships in Kielce last month, and the Uzbek elite female boxers have also made great progress since 2019. The Uzbeks claimed four gold medals in the previous event in Bangkok two years ago but their management is expecting more in Dubai.

Kazakhstan selected a powerful team to Dubai

Kazakhstan claimed six medals in the Ekaterinburg 2019 AIBA World Boxing Championships, the heroes of the tournament Saken Bibossynov (52kg), Ablaikhan Zhussupov (69kg), Bekzad Nurdauletov (81kg), Vasiliy Levit (91kg) and Kamshybek Kunkabayev (+91kg) are now on their list once again. The head coach of the Kazakh national team Mr. Galymbek Kenzhebayev decided to move their new young star, 20-year-old Makhmud Sabyrkhan to the bantamweight (56kg).

Their four AIBA Women’s World Champions Nazym Kyzaibay (51kg), Dina Zholaman (54kg), Valentina Khalzova (69kg) and Lazzat Kungeibayeva (+81kg) all will be competing at the ASBC Asian Elite Boxing Championships. As usual, the Kazakhs are the long-standing rivals of the Uzbeks in the men’s part of the ASBC Asian Elite Boxing Championships.

India has high expectations in Dubai

The Indian coaches and officials have worked hard in the recent years to build up a strong team, and after their amazing performance at the AIBA Youth World Boxing Championships in Kielce, the country is ready to challenge Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan in Dubai.

India’s boxing icon Chungneijang Mary Kom Hmangte is six-times AIBA Women’s World Champion, five-times ASBC Asian Women’s Champion, Asian Games winner and Commonwealth Games gold medallist. She will be competing in the flyweight (51kg) in Dubai where almost all of the Indian women boxers are among the favourites in their categories. Their male boxers, Amit Panghal (52kg), Shiva Thapa (64kg) and Vikas Krishan Yadav (69kg) were already medallists in previous AIBA World Boxing Championships.

Mongolia’s Erdenebat Tsendbaatar sets out to defend his title

The Mongolians achieved titles at the last ASBC Asian Elite Boxing Championships and Asian Games, and their strong team is a combination of experienced stars and young talents. The team showed an excellent performance in the Grand Prix Usti nad Labem in the Czech Republic and after that their boxers trained in Germany where they challenged the host nation’s squad and Cuban stars. Erdenebat Tsendbaatar’s main aspiration is to defend his title in Dubai and beat all of his continental rivals once again. Asian Games silver medallist Chinzorig Baatarsukh (64kg) and powerful Enkhmandakh Kharkhuu (52kg) are also in their squad in Dubai.

Philippines’ stars could be Josie Gabuco and Eumir Felix Marcial

The Filipino boxers trained in their homeland and in Thailand in the previous weeks to prepare well for the upcoming major championships. Their team comprises a defending champion Josie Gabuco (48kg) who claimed the gold medal at the 2012 AIBA Women’s World Boxing Championships. Philippines’ top male boxer Eumir Felix Marcial (75kg) was silver medallist at the Ekaterinburg 2019 AIBA World Boxing Championships and has 10 years of international experience.

Tajikistan’s defending champion Bakhodur Usmonov set to get his second gold medal

Tajikistan confirmed their final line-ups for the ASBC Asian Elite Men’s and Women’s Boxing Championships which contains eleven boxers including four talented girls. Their defending ASBC Asian Champion Bakhodur Usmonov (64kg), FISU University World Champion Shabbos Negmatulloev (81kg) and their female No.1 Shoira Zulkaynarova (60kg) are part of the squad. The team arrived in Dubai with four experienced coaches and has strong medal claims in several weight categories.

Kyrgyzstan’s former champion Azat Usenaliev aims to return to the top

The Kyrgyz boxers earned two bronze medals at the previous ASBC Asian Elite Boxing Championships in Bangkok. The Kyrgyz boxers competed at the Bosphorus International Boxing Tournament, the Governor Cup and also at the Belgrade Winner Tournament this year to prepare well for the ASBC Asian Elite Boxing Championships.

Kyrgyzstan’s experienced boxers and medallists from the previous championships Mirlan Turkbay Uulu (49kg), Azat Usenaliev (52kg) and Erkin Adylbek Uulu (81kg) all have been selected for the event along with the next generation of Kyrgyz talents such as ASBC Asian Youth Champion Nuradin Rustambek Uulu (69kg).

The Asian Boxing Championships has 58 years of history

The first Asian Boxing Championships for elite male boxers was held in Thailand’s capital, Bangkok in 1963. South Korea, Sri Lanka, Philippines, Iran, Thailand, Japan, Indonesia, Kuwait, China, Uzbekistan, Malaysia, Vietnam, Mongolia and Jordan are the National Federations which have hosted the 30 Asian Boxing Championships between 1963 and 2019. Bangkok was the most popular venue of the Asian Boxing Championships; the city has hosted the competition seven times.

Japan and Pakistan were the best nations in the Bangkok 1963 Asian Boxing Championships, yet South Korea topped the medal table in 1965, 1967 and also in 1970. Iran topped the table in the 1971 Asian Boxing Championships where they had five finalists and three won the gold medals.

Thailand, Japan, Kazakhstan, China and Uzbekistan were also among the team champions in the later championships. The strength of the Asian Boxing Championships dramatically increased in 1994 when the ex-Soviet Central Asian countries such as Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan and Turkmenistan joined the competition.

Asia’s biggest boxing stars such as China’s two-time Olympic Games winner Zou Shiming, South Korea’s Kim Kwang Sun, Uzbekistan’s Makhammatkodir Abdullaev, Kazakhstan’s Yermakhan Ibraimov, Thailand’s Somluck Kamsing and Uzbekistan’s Hasanboy Dusmatov all won the Asian Boxing Championships in the past.

Women boxers competed in the previous ASBC Asian Elite Boxing Championships along with men for the very first time. The event was held in 10 female and 10 male weight categories at the Huamark Indoor Stadium in Bangkok, Thailand on April 2019. Fourteen nations were represented in the finals in the seven-day long competition and among them a record number of 10 countries claimed gold medals in Bangkok.

Participating nations in the 2021 ASBC Asian Elite Boxing Championships

Afghanistan, Bahrain, India, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Jordan, Kazakhstan, South Korea, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan, Laos, Mongolia, Nepal, Pakistan, Philippines, Qatar, Sri Lanka, Syria, Tajikistan, host United Arab Emirates, Uzbekistan and Yemen.

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