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April 24, 2015

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New series to dig out talents

A NEW boxing series is expected to pave the way for Chinese boxers to move on to the international stage early.

The first stop of Fist Fight series will be held at the Capital Indoor Stadium in Beijing today afternoon, followed by Fist of Power III in the evening.

The Fist Fight will feature eight 4-round and one 6-round bouts between professional Chinese boxers, most of whom fall under super featherweight, lightweight and super lightweight categories. Most of the Chinese participants are new to professional boxing and come from all over the country including Shanghai, Fujian, Liaoning, Shandong, Hubei and Xinjiang.

鈥淲e created the new series especially for young Chinese boxers,鈥 said Li Sheng, CEO of sports promotion company SECA, which organized the event together with Top Rank, Manny Pacquiao鈥檚 promoters.

According to Li, Fist Fight series will give the boxers WBO points which will help them to qualify for international bouts. Early plans for the series is to have 10 stops around China in cities like Shenyang, Dalian, Dali, Haikou, Shenzhen.

鈥淭his is the first step to bigger plans,鈥 Li said. Being the promoters of Olympic champion Zou Shiming, the organizers hope that they would be able to unearth future talents at home through the series, introduce them on the international stage, and eventually cultivate some fans and a 鈥渂oxing culture鈥 in Chinese mainland.

Apart from the 33-year-old Zou, or perhaps Dalian boxer Yang Lianhui (Ik Yang), there are very few who can give the sport a boost in China.

Fist of Power III in Beijing will feature seven fights, including a 12-round WBA World Junior Flyweight Interim Title bout between Dalian boxer Ma Yiming (12-5, 7KOs) and Randy Petalcorin (22-1-1, 17KOs) of the Philippines; and a 6-round WBO China Light Heavyweight Title bout between Qu Peng (6-1-1, 4KOs), another Dalian native, and Australian boxer Dane Cambell (3-2, 2KOs).


 

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