CHENNAI: After a gap of almost two years, the Boxing Federation of India (BFI), in association with Karnataka Amateur Boxing Association and Inspire Institute of Sports (IIS), will be conducting the men's national championship from September 15 to 22. With boxers' safety in mind ahead of the upcoming World Championships, the event will witness the return of protective headgear.
This is also the first senior-level boxing meet in the country since the start of the pandemic. The event will be held at IIS in Vijayanagar, Bellary. The prospectus for the same is out and the draw is scheduled to be held on September 14.
One of the talking points is the use of headgear, which was first introduced in 1984 before AIBA — the world body — removed it in 2013 from all forms of men's senior boxing. "We don't have much time for the World Championships. If an injury occurs, then it will be a major setback ahead of the marquee event. So headgears will be used," Hemanta Kalita, BFI secretary general, told this daily.
The men's World Championships is due to be held from October 24 to November 6 in Belgrade, Serbia. The nationals, which will feature bouts in 13 weight categories, will be a platform for the boxers to make a name for themselves and try and earn a spot in the marquee event.
According to the BFI, the gold and silver medallists will get direct entry into the national camp, which will be conducted soon after the championships. A two-day trial will be conducted to pick the rest. "The bronze medallists will have to battle it out with the boxers from No 1, No 2 and No 3 — Services, Haryana and Railways — teams (last nationals). They'll have an alternate team, so the bronze medallists will fight with those boxers.
"We'll have a ranking system (No 1, No 2 and No 3) for that (trials) as well. We shall put up a proposal to SAI to include as many as five boxers in the camp. If they allow, we'll follow accordingly. Otherwise, we'll just have the winners from the trial."
A trial will be held during the camp to pick a team for the aforementioned World Championships. The previous men's national meet was held in October 2019.
Foreign coaches to work at least till Worlds
The contracts of high-performance directors of both the men's and women's teams are also due to end on September 30. The BFI said that both Santiago Nieva and Raffaele Bergamasco will continue at least till the World Championships. "The federation has decided that the coaches will be there at least till the World Championships for now. During that period, we'll conduct a review meeting and we'll finalise their future," Kalita informed.
Some of the elite boxers, including Amit Panghal, are expected to feature in the nationals. Ashish Kumar (75kg), who was part of the Tokyo Olympics, won't be part of the event as he's nursing an injury and is yet to attain 100 per cent fitness.
Meanwhile, the women's national championship is expected to be held in the second week of October.