Even as boxing fans across the globe are gearing up for the historic Superfight between Conor McGregor and Floyd Mayweather, amateur boxing fraternity is all set for the biggest tournament of the year -- AIBA World Boxing Championships 2017 in Hamburg, starting Friday, August 25.
A strong Indian contingent, comprising eight boxers, have travelled to the German city, a few days ahead of the start of the event to get accustomed to the conditions, according to coach Santiago Nieva, the Times of India reported.
Notably, Indian men have won three Bronze medals -- one each at 2009, 2011 and 2015 editions.
The Indian boxers have warmed up well to the world meet, winning two Silver and two Bronze at the Asian Championships in May. The pugilists then were on a training-cum-competition tour to Czech Republic, winning eight medals (5 Gold, 2 Silver, 1 Bronze) at the 48th Grand Prix Usti Nad Labem last month.
Focus on Shiva
The 2015 bronze medallist, Shiva Thapa, was in fine form in the fortnight-long tournament as he led the show with a Gold.
In Hamburg, Shiva has got a first-round bye and he will open his campaign against the winner of the first-round match between Adilet Kurmetov of Kazakhstan and Otar Eranosyan of Georgia.
Shiva, who will be competing in the Lightweight category, has to ward off threats from the likes of three-time world champion Lazaro Alvarez and Rio Games silver medallist Sofiane Oumiha.
Can Vikas make an impact?
Vikas Krishan, who won a Bronze in the 2009 event, has also travelled to Hamburg to compete in the Middle Weight (75kg) category. Notably, the 25-year-old did not travel to France (training camp) and Czech Republic, but instead chose to train in Pune.
Vikas will open his campaign on Sunday, August 27, against the winner of the clash between Kenya's John Kyalo and England's Benjamin Whittaker. He might face an early test (pre-quarters) against Olympic bronze-medallist Kamran Shaksuvarly.
Live streaming of the matches will be available on the AIBA FACEBOOK PAGE
Indian squad
Amit Phangal (49kg), Kavinder Bisht (52kg), Gaurav Bidhuri (56kg), Shiva Thapa (60kg), Manoj Kumar (69kg), Vikas Krishan (75kg), Sumit Sangwan (91kg) and Satish Kumar (+91kg).
Meanwhile, two-time Olympian Manoj Kumar will be hoping to make use of his good form in the lead-up to the world meet. Notably, the 31-year-old finished the Czech Republic tournament with a Gold in the 69kg category.
"Our build-up has been fantastic. We had a good Asian Championship where the boys won two silver and two bronze medals and finished third overall," coach Nieva said, as quoted by the Press Trust of India.
He added: "Then we went to France and Czech Republic for training-cum-competition trips and the results were excellent there. So, I am hopeful of a strong performance but I don't want to make any predictions about the medals."
With the Asian Games and Commonwealth Games coming up in 2018, a good show in Hamburg will help Indian boxing, which has got a lift after the long-standing turmoil in the boxing administration came to an end in September last year.
Indian boxers in action on Friday, August 25 [For daily schedule, click here]
- Men's Bantam (56kg)
Bidhuri Gaurav (Ind) vs Goodman Sam (Aus)
Start time: Not before 7pm local time/10:30pm IST
- Men's Light Fly (49kg)
Amit Phangal (Ind) vs Serra Federico (Ita)
Start time: Not before 7pm local time/10:30pm IST
