By Xinhua
Chicago : World’s top amateur boxers from 121 countries and regions are here for the largest ever world boxing championships starting Tuesday afternoon.
The international boxing association AIBA’s premier qualifying event for the 2008 Olympics Games has attracted some 693 pugilists with the top eight fighters in each of the 11 weight categories booking their tickets for Beijing.
“They have done a wonderful job,” said AIBA president Wu Ching-Kuo after touring facilities that Chicago prepared for the event.
“Chicago, I’m sure, will offer a wonderful opportunity to the world because of the proof of the capability to organise such a big event in such a short period of time.”
The US got the amateur boxing event after boxing officials said the federation in Russia would not be able to host the championships.
As the highly competitive field, including several Olympic medallists, storming the two rings at UIC Pavilion on the University of Illinois-Chicago campus in the 11 weight classes from 48 kg light flyweight to over 91 kg super heavyweight is winnowed to the Nov 3 finals, there could be as many as 80 bouts a day in the early competition.
The bouts, scored by five judges, will consist of four rounds of two minutes each, with a one-minute interval between rounds. The referee can halt a bout and declare a winner if he deems one of the competitors is unable to continue.