TOKYO Olympic Games silver medalist Carlo Paalam banners a compact seven-man national boxing team that will see action in the inaugural World Boxing Championships for Elite Men and Women opening at the M&S Bank Arena in Liverpool, England, tomorrow.
Fighting in the men’s 55-kilogram or junior featherweight division, Paalam, 27, will be among the Pinoy boxers making their debut in the first world competition organized by World Boxing, the new global amateur boxing body recognized by the International Olympic Committee that has drawn over 500 boxers from 60 countries.
Association of Boxing Alliances in the Philippines secretary general Marcus Manalo said that the other PH team members are Jay Bryan Baricuatro (50kg), Junmilardo Ogayre (60kg), Mark Ashley Fajardo (65kg) and Ronald Chavez Jr. (70kg) in the men’s division.
Fighting in the women’s division are Cambodia Southeast Asian Games silver medalist Riza Pasuit (60kg) and Ofelia Magno, who saw action in last month’s Asian Under-22 Boxing Championships in Bangkok, Thailand.
The draw was scheduled to be held today, with Paalam and Fajardo, who bagged a bronze medal in the Asian U-22 meet in the Thai capital, set to compete on the opening day at the M&S Bank Arena, the site of the 51st FIG Artistic Gymnastics World Championships.
The World Boxing meet will be given a “professional touch” after the global boxing body partnered with Queensberry Promotions, owned by veteran English promoter Frank Warren, to back “the sport at every level from the grassroots amateur scene to the highest echelons of professional boxing.”
“Having such a prestigious tournament as the World Boxing Championships taking place in Liverpool makes it a landmark event that I am delighted Queensberry is providing backing for,” Warren said in a statement posted on the WB website.
“Competitions like this are the bedrock of boxing and it is where the public can identify the future stars of the sport. I am thrilled to have Queensberry associated with the pinnacle of amateur boxing,” said the pro boxing impresario.
“It is great to have the support of Queensberry Promotions as we head into our inaugural World Boxing Championships. Queensberry’s decision to partner with World Boxing is a great endorsement of our work and the confidence they have in World Boxing as the International Federation for the sport,” said WB chief operating officer Simon Toulson.
