Running from October 5 to 15 at the state-of-the-art Ali Bin Hamad Al Attiyah Arena, the Championships will comprise 10 days of action with 258 boxers from 74 countries competing in the historic event.

Boxers have had to earn their spots through continental qualifications for the first time, rather than the Championships being an open tournament.

Additionally, this year’s Championships serve as a qualifying event for the Olympic Games with 23 qualification places for Rio 2016 up for grabs; bringing another new dimension. 

"This will be an historic and special occasion for boxing not only in Qatar, but throughout the entire Middle East," said Yousuf Ali Al Kazim, President of the Qatar Boxing Federation, and executive director of Doha 2015.

"The fact that only the best boxers are qualified for the World Championships here in Doha is testament to the huge importance of this event, and through these exhilarating 10 days of sporting action, we hope to inspire a new generation of boxing heroes across the world.

"With tickets on sale from last Wednesday (September 30), we call on local sports fans to come to the arena for what is truly a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to witness world champions across the different weight categories try to protect their titles in the ring.

"We feel confident that Doha 2015 will be special, and we promise to deliver a fun and unforgettable experience for all the family."

Cuba is expected to provide formidable competition at the Championships with 10 of its boxers qualifying across the varying weight classes.

The country, which hosted the inaugural World Championships in Havana in 1974, has produced some of the world’s best boxers in the amateur ranks, including heavyweights Félix Savon and Teófilo Stevenson, who are two of only three boxers to win a trio of Olympic gold medals alongside Hungary’s László Papp.

Russia also have a good track-record at the World Championships, and will bring a delegation comprising seven of their elite boxers.

The boxing tradition of both the Russians and Cuba make the two nations favourites going into the competition with most Arab States represented by a smaller number of boxers.

This is with the exception of Morocco, whose seven boxers will aim to solidify their place on the world stage.

Ranked 10th in terms of its number of World Championship appearances, Morocco’s starlets will no doubt take inspiration from their country’s past Olympic medallists; featherweight Abdelhak Achik and bantamweight Mohammed Achik, who won bronze at Seoul 1988 and Barcelona 1992 respectively, and featherweight Tahar Tamsamani, a third-place finisher at Sydney 2000.

Light flyweight Imad Ahyoun was among a quintet of Moroccan gold medallists at August’s AFBC African Confederation Boxing Championships in Casablanca, as well as bantamweight Mohamed Hamout, welterweight Rabii Mohammed, heavyweight Abdeljalil Abouhamda and super heavyweight Mohammed Arjaoui. 

Algeria’s Mohamed Flissi, Reda Benbaziz, Abdelkader Chadi and Abdelhafid Benchabla triumphed in the 52 kilogram, 60kg, 64kg and 81kg classes respectively, and will also be worth looking out for along with Egypt’s Hosam Hussein Bakr Abdin, winner of the middleweight crown.

"Everything in this arena is perfect to push me to do my best," said Flissi, who won a silver medal at the 2013 World Championships in Almaty, Kazakhstan.

"It’s probably the best facilities that I’ve ever come across.

"When I walk around here I get goosebumps, and I try to imagine the feeling of winning the title and seeing the Algerian flag raised on the podium.

"I know there are a lot of Algerians living in Doha, so I hope they will come and support us.”

AIBA President C K Wu arrived in Doha today and managed to catch a glimpse of rehearsals for the Opening Ceremony, which will get the Championships under way tomorrow.

Together with AIBA executive director Karim Bouzidi, he met Al Kazim and the secretary general of Qatar Olympic Committee, Thani Abdulrahman Al-Kuwari. 

The Championships will be broadcast live in key markets on free-to-air channels, including BBC, Fox Africa and RAI Italy.

To view the list of officially confirmed boxers for the 2015 World Championships, click here.

The latest schedule for the event can be found here.

insidethegames will be running a live blog on each day's action, starting with tomorrow's Opening Ceremony.



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July 2013: Doha wins hosting rights for 2015 Boxing World Championships