By IANS,
Mumbai : Mumbai Fighters Friday named a 17-member team for the World Series Boxing (WSB) series which also includes four foreigners.
The team comprises the likes of Akhil Kumar, Balbir Singh, Jitender Kumar, Diwakar Prasad, Paul Koon (US) and Trent Rawlins (Australia) and Patrick Gallagher (Ireland), to name a few.
The team was formed after a pre-selection of Indian boxers observed by an eminent panel of judges and exhaustive training sessions by international boxing coach Joe Clough and S.K. Pal.
All the boxers in 12 WSB teams will be given their own nicknames, making them connect with different target groups and giving them the encouragement to go out and perform in style.
The boxers will take the ring without headgear and vests in a competition that will take place from Nov 11 onwards.
Twelve city-based franchise teams from across the world will be divided into two groups. Mumbai Fighters will compete against five opponents on a home-and-away basis in Group A, which includes Dolce & Gabbana Milano Thunder of Italy, Pohang Poseidons of Korea, Los Angeles Matadors of USA, Dynamo Moscow of Russia and Astana Arlans of Kazakhstan.
The top four in each group will go through to the play-offs. The quarterfinals and semifinals stage will start from March 2 with the final being played at the end of April.
The team:
Bantamweight: Jitender Kumar, Balbir Singh, Gaurav Bidhuri, Vipin Kumar
Lightweight: Akhil Kumar, Diwakar Prasad, Siddharth Varma
Middleweight: Patrick Gallagher, (Ireland), Mandeep Jangra, Vijay Hooda
Light Heavyweight: Marko Calic (Croatia), Jasveer Singh, Rahul Kumar
Heavyweight: Paul Koon (US), Trent Rawlins (Australia), Krishan Kumar, Sumit Rangi