World's Top Boxers Join up to WSB National Boxing Squads

Thursday, 24 June 2010 - Switzerland, Lausanne

Olympic bronze medalist Vijender

The World Series of Boxing teams have now finalized their national boxer squads ahead of the International Boxer Draft for the World Series of Boxing in London on 28th June. Star names on the list include world number one Vijender Singh (Delhi team) and two world number two ranked boxers, Domenico Valentino (Milan team) and Zhang Zilei (Beijing team). At the International Boxer Draft, teams will be able to select from 175 of the world's top boxers, from 64 different countries, to complete their squads with the minimum number of non-national boxers required by WSB regulations.

The Milan team features a World Champion, Domenico Valentino, and an Olympic silver medallist, Clemento Russo - both ranked in the top five of the world in their AIBA weight class. Valentino, 26, also scooped the AIBA Best Boxer Award in 2009 and has recently been appointed an Athlete Role Model for the upcoming Youth Olympic Games in Singapore. Russo, 28, is a policeman by trade and became a celebrity in Italy after appearing in the "Reality House" reality TV show, the country's version of the popular "Big Brother" format.

Indian superstar Vijender Singh tops the Delhi team list. The bronze medalist at the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games also took bronze at the 2009 Asian and World Championships and is ranked number one in the world in AIBA's 75kg class. He will also bring a touch of Bollywood glamour to the WSB, since he will be appearing - as a boxer - in a Bollywood production that is set to start filming in 2011.

The star boxer on the Beijing team is undoubtedly Zhang Zilei, who is world number two in AIBA's super heavyweight (91+kg) rankings. Zhang is also 2009 Asian Champion and took bronze at the 2009 AIBA World Championships in Milan and gold at the 2010 China Open. Zhang Jianting is the team's second Asian Champion and made the quarterfinals of the 2009 AIBA World Championships. He also topped the podium at the 2010 China Open.

The team from Baku has added youth into the mix following Azerbaijan's recent success at the 2010 AIBA Youth World Championships on home soil. The team includes Youth World Champion Shaban Shahpalangov, silver medalist Elvin Mamishzade and his namesake and bronze medalist Elvin Isayev.

Istanbul are betting on a mix of experience and youth, with two participants from the recent Youth World Championships competing alongside the likes of Bahram Muzaffer, who made the quarter finals at the 2009 AIBA World Championships in Milan and 26 year-old Abdullah Koroglu, who has over 200 victories under his belt.

The Paris team fields the only boxer who already has WSB experience, since light heavyweight Ludovic Groghue took part in the first-ever WSB test event in Baku earlier this year, easing out to victory over Sijuola Shabazz of the USA. Groghue's national team mates include Abdelkader Bouhenia, silver medalist at the 2009 AIBA President's Cup 2009 and bronze medalist at the 2009 AIBA World Championships, as well as Alexis Vastine, who took gold at the 2009 AIBA President's Cup.

Astana is fielding the maximum national boxer squad with fourteen boxers, including experienced athletes Akshalov Merey, 2007 Asian Champion and Rygebayev Rustam, who participated in the 2007 AIBA World Championships. Because of the size of its national boxer contingent, the Astana team will have to recruit six non-national boxers - the minimum number required for a squad of this size under WSB rules - to complete its squad at next week's draft in London.

Ivan Khodabakhsh, Chief Operating Officer of the World Series of Boxing, said that the announcement of the national boxer squads will make for an interesting draft. "We can see an excellent mix of squad sizes and different ages in the national boxer squads of the WSB teams. These teams consist of Olympic and World Championship medalists and the top boxers in each country. With over 175 of the world's top boxers available for selection in the International Boxer Draft next week in London, the teams have a vast reserve of boxing talent at their disposal to compose their ideal World Series of Boxing squads," he said.

The full list of national boxers in each team can be viewed here.

The teams for the Americas conference will be announced separately, since a separate selection procedure is required for the US national boxers to be distributed among the teams.