The draft pick for Season VII of the World Series of Boxing has been held in Lausanne, giving the franchises a chance to recruit some additional talent in their pursuit of glory ©WSB

The draft pick for Season VII of the World Series of Boxing (WSB) has been held in Lausanne, giving the franchises a chance to recruit some additional talent in their pursuit of glory.

Beginning in February, the new season will see 12 teams competing across three zonal groups for the prestigious trophy that was won for the second time last year by Cuba Domadores, and several of the sides seized the opportunity to reinforce their teams.

Among the high-profile names drafted were Spanish light flyweight Samuel Carmona, who comes in to the new-look France Boxing Team along with compatriot Damian Bolequia at middleweight.

Irish light welterweight Sean McComb, a European Games bronze medallist, and Swedish heavyweight Gabriel Richards were two of 11 new names recruited by British Lionhearts as they look to build on their runners-up finish in the 2016 campaign.

Among the others brought on board are Hungarian flyweight Nándor Csóka, Bulgarian light welterweight Ayrin Ismetov, Hungarian middleweight Zoltan Harcsa, Croatian middleweight Luka Plantic and Croatian light heavyweight Bojan Miskovic.

Completing the list are Bulgarian light heavyweight Radoslav Pantaleev, Croatian heavyweight Josip-Bepo Filipi, Bulgarian super heavyweight Peta Belberov and Irish super heavyweight Dean Gardiner. 

Spanish light flyweight Samuel Carmona has been recruited by France Fighting Roosters ©WSB
Spanish light flyweight Samuel Carmona has been recruited by France Fighting Roosters ©WSB

Morocco Atlas Lions have drafted in six foreign boxers, including Ukrainian middleweight Dmytro Mytrofanov, who boasts an impressive 10-3 WSB record to date.

He is joined by Egyptian light heavyweight Abdelrahman Salah Orabi, Ghanaian heavyweight David Akankolim, Ukrainian heavyweight Dmytro Bulgakov, Hungarian super heavyweight Istvan Bernath and Tunisian super heavyweight Aymen Trabelsi.  

Venezuela Caciques were also active during the draft pick, bringing in Brazilian super heavyweight Cosme Dos Santos Nascimento and Irish heavyweight Darren O’Neill.

The two new franchises for Season VII are France and Italy, while Colombia will replace the Mexico Guerreros.

The first matches are due to take place on February 3.

Five fights are scheduled at each contest, with boxers competing across five rounds.

The top two teams from each group and the two strongest third-placed sides will qualify for the play-offs, which assume the format of four quarter-finals, two semi-finals and the grand final in June.