January 3 - Britain is set to withdraw the London franchise from the revolutionary new World Series of Boxing, which is due to launch later this year, because of a shortfall in money the sport is receiving in public funding.



The inter-city tournament, which is due to start in September across three continents, which offers up to £250,000 for boxers signing three-year deals, will prevent the loss of leading amateurs to professionalism in the lead-up to the 2012 London Olympics, officials claim.

London had been set to be one of the European venues, alongside Milan and Moscow, and an unnamed city in Germany or Turkey, part of three continental conferences with four teams of boxers in a series based on professional rules, including no head-guards or vests, designed to offer young amateur boxers an alternative to the pro ring by awarding substantial six-figure  prize money

But according to today's edition of The Independent on Sunday, each city involved in the Series, backed by the International Boxing Association (AIBA), the sport’s international governing body,  had required a non-refundable $75,000 (£50,000) deposit by Christmas and the British Amateur Boxing Association (BABA) feel they cannot afford this in the current economic climate and that entering the series would be too great a financial risk.

When amateur boxing received only half the anticipated £1.8 million from UK Sport last month it claimed was needed to prepare properly for an Olympics which now includes women boxers, BABA chairman Derek Mapp said they would need to undertake "exhaustive cuts". 

The women's programme could be the most affected with plans to hire an overseas coach now abandoned, The Independent on Sunday claimed.

Mapp is concerned that a London team competing in the Series would lose a money, putting a further strain on the BABA's resources.

An AIBA spokesman declined to comment but BABA’s non-participation will be a major blow to the high-profile event, especially with London staging the 2012 Olympics.


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