AIBA has confirmed Taishan Sports will be the official equipment supplier for this year’s five continental competitions ©AIBA

The International Boxing Association (AIBA) has confirmed Taishan Sports will be the official equipment supplier for this year’s five continental competitions, which will serve as the only direct qualification routes for the 2017 World Championships in German city Hamburg.

Taishan, founded in 1978, will also offer its boxing equipment to all 201 AIBA National Federations (NFs) at a preferred rate.

The company became the largest single equipment supplier in the history of the Olympic Games at Rio 2016 and was announced as AIBA’s innovation partner at the end of last year.

"AIBA is delighted to continue its partnership with a company of the capacity and experience of Taishan for these important continental championships," AIBA President C K Wu.

"Such a deal provides us with the consistency and quality that these tournaments demand, and by making their equipment more accessible for all of our 201 Member Federations, the agreement brings further benefits to the AIBA family as a whole."

AIBA claims Taishan has a proven capacity to service the forthcoming continental championships.

The road to Hamburg begins in Uzbekistan's capital Tashkent, where the ASBC Asian Championships are scheduled to take place from April 30 to May 7.

This will be followed by the AFBC African Championships in the Republic of Congo's capital Brazzaville from May 27 to June 4 and the AMBC American Championships in Honduras' capital Tegucigalpa from June 10 to 18.

The penultimate qualifier is the EUBC European Championships in Ukrainian city Kharkiv from June 16 to 24.

The final one is the OCBC Oceanian Championships in Australian city Gold Coast, hosts of the 2018 Commonwealth Games, from June 26 to 29.

Taishan was announced as AIBA’s innovation partner at the end of last year ©AIBA
Taishan was announced as AIBA’s innovation partner at the end of last year ©AIBA

"With this year’s continental championships assuming even greater significance as the qualification route to the AIBA World Championships, equipping all five competitions represents an excellent opportunity for Taishan as we continue to work closely with the AIBA family for the good of boxing," Cui Gang, chairman of Taishan Sports, said.

A "Year of Africa" truck, developed in association with Taishan, will be stationed outside the AFBC African Championship.

AIBA launched the Year of Africa, a continent-wide programme that aims to bring education, empowerment and a lasting legacy for boxing in the region at the start of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic cycle, last month.

It relies on the collective spirit of the NFs in order to produce a cumulative impact on African boxing.

In a bid to bring boxing closer to people, a truck based around AIBA’s global programme HeadsUp, housing a portable ring and training equipment in conjunction with Taishan, will visit the AFBC African Championship and three other hubs.

The HeadsUp truck will also travel to Togo, the Olympic Centre of Excellence in South Africa and Zambia, and Hamburg for the 2017 World Championships from August 25 to September 3.