New Delhi, India – The International Boxing Association (IBA) Women’s World Boxing Championships got underway, with New Delhi giving a warm welcome to participants and spectators at the grand opening ceremony.
The show was preceded by the nations’ parade where the flag bearers from 65 participating nations were cheered by the public. An icon of women boxing in India and around the globe, six-time World Champion Mary Kom pronounced the athlete’s oath. Rich Indian culture and tradition were showcased at the podium in front of fascinated spectators. On Thursday the first athletes are going to start their campaigns in New Delhi.
Top boxers will compete across 12 weight categories at the event, which will take place from 15-26 March 2023 and offer medallists a lucrative prize fund of US $2.4m.
Fans are expected to turn out in force at the 6,000-seat K.D. Jadhav Indoor Hall to support local athletes who will come up against big-name boxers from across the globe.
Algeria’s Imane Khelif, Argentina’s Aldana Florencia Lopez, Brazil’s Beatriz Ferreira and Caroline De Almeida, Colombia’s Ingrit Lorena Valencia Victoria, Italy’s Irma Testa, Kazakhstan’s Karina Ibragimova, Mozambique’s Alcinda Helena Panguana and Rady Adosinda Gramane, Morocco’s Khadija Mardi are among the medallists from the 2022 World Championships who will be going for glory.
Additionally, India is set to be represented in the ring by the likes of Nikhat Zareen, who won the flyweight gold at last year’s World Championships, Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games minimumweight gold medal-winner Nitu Ghanghas, and Lovlina Borgohain, who won a welterweight bronze medal at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games.