Prized featherweight, Keevin ‘Lightning’ Allicock springs into action today at the International Boxing Association (IBA) Men’s World Boxing Championships which gets underway at the Humo Arena in the Uzbekistan capital, Tashkent.
The Tokyo2020 Olympian, is set to face Yhlas Gylychjanov of Turkmenistan in the round-of-64 stage on the opening day of the championships which will conclude on May 14.
The fight is scheduled for 08:00hrs local time.
Guyana’s other representative at the event, light heavyweight, ‘Dynamite’ Desmond Amsterdam, will begin his quest for glory later in the week.
When contacted yesterday, coach of the sojourn Terrence Poole, stated that his charges have been well prepared locally and during the training camp in Uzbekistan to give good accounts of themselves. He added it is now up to the pair to transfer the results in the ring.
Big stakes and big bucks are on the line.
According to IBA, 104 countries have registered to take part in the championships. More than 640 boxers are currently registered to participate in 13 men’s weight categories.
Seven defending world champions are among those who will fight for glory in Tashkent, including Sofiane Oumiha from France, Tomoya Tsuboi and Sewonrets Okazawa from Japan, Loren Alfonso from Azerbaijan, Saken Bibossinov from Kazakhstan, Yoenlis Hernandez Martinez and Julio La Cruz from Cuba to shine in the ring again.
Many more medallists from various world championships editions are going to be in action where strong newcomers at the international stage and experienced participants are going to challenge the titleholders.
Doubled prize money fund of US$5.2 million is at stake, with gold medallists receiving US$200,000. For runners-up, the prize is US$100,000, and each of the third place is awarded with US$50,000. (Emmerson Campbell)
