Rio Olympic champ Estelle Mossely among top boxers to headline IBA Women’s World Championships

New Delhi: Top female boxers including 2016 Rio Olympics Gold medalist Estelle Mossely and 2020 Tokyo Olympics silver medalist Nesthy Petecio are among the seven Olympic medalists so far registered to participate in the upcoming Women’s World Championships, which will be held from March 15 to 26 at the Indira Gandhi Sports Complex here.

Boxing Federations of India (BFI) will be hosting the Women’s World Boxing Championships for the third time, most ever by any country since the tournament’s inception and a total of 350 plus boxers from 74 countries have registered so far for this biennial event.

On the opportunity for them to host the championships, BFI president Ajay Singh said: “It is an honour for India and the BFI to host the prestigious IBA Women’s World Boxing Championships. We are hosting it for the third time but this time the tournament will touch an unprecedented high mark. We have already received registration from 74 countries so far, bigger than any previous editions. The BFI is all set to conduct an event of such magnitude and we are certain that the world will witness the best ever congregation of boxers.”

Three Tokyo Olympics silver medallists are also participating in the upcoming Championships and will look to produce fireworks in the ring as the boxing fans assemble in the Capital.

Detailing on the immensity of the event, Ajay Singh added: “The last World Championship saw participation of 310 boxers. In this edition, we already have more than 350 registrations from boxers around the world. The registration is still open as the closing date is February 25. With more than a week remaining, I am confident that some more nations and boxers will look to come to this edition of the Championship.”

Nesthy Petecio won a silver medal in the Tokyo Olympics and she became the first ever boxer from the Philippines to win a medal at the Olympics. The 2019 World Champion will compete in the Featherweight (57kg) category. Beatriz Iasmin Ferreira (60kg) of Brazil and Qian Li (75kg) of China are also silver medalists in the Tokyo Olympics.

Japanese Tsukimi Namiki and Colombian Ingrit Lorena Valencia in the Flyweight (51kg) category too will be eager to maintain their performance at the World Boxing Championships.

Irma Testa, a bronze medal winner from the Tokyo Olympics, is also a strong medal contender in the Featherweight (57kg) category. The Italian boxer has plenty of experience coming into the World meet.

–IANS