Cuba, Russia to take part in India Open boxing

NEW DELHI: The best of international boxing, including traditional powerhouses such as Cuba and Russia, will be in action at the richest boxing tournament ever in the country -- the $100,000 India Open starting January 28.
"The India Open is an international Championship that is being held in Delhi. It will have participation from 25 countries such as Cuba, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Russia," the Boxing Federation of India President Ajay Singh said.
India will be fielding four teams in the event, which will have both men and women pugilists fighting it out at the Thyagaraj Stadium in New Delhi.
Every gold-medallist will be richer by $2500, while the silver and bronze winners in each weight category will be presented $1000 and $500 respectively.
"India will be fielding four teams - so a lot of our players will get experience competing against the best in the world," Singh told PTI at the sidelines of a promotional event for the movie Mukkabaaz.
"It is a great preparatory tournament for the Asian Games, Commonwealth and other Championships that are going to take place in the year," he added.
India will also be back in the International Boxing Association's semi-professional World Series of Boxing come February.
The country will return to the franchise-based event after the BFI reclaimed a team. The country had lost the franchise in 2011 after the then team owners cited paucity of funds.