By Tom Degun at ExCel Arena in London 

fred evans_22-11-11November 23 - GB Boxing have named a strong group of seven male and three female fighters for the London 2012 Olympic test event here this week, although some the team's top stars, including the four 2011 AIBA World Championship medallists Andrew Selby, Luke Campbell, Tom Stalker and Anthony Joshua, are rested.


In their absence, Britain still have a number of big London 2012 prospects in action, including welterweight Fred Evans (pictured right), who secured his Olympic spot by reaching the last eight at the World Championships in Baku last month.

Light flyweight Charlie Edwards, who also went to the World Championships but was beaten in the first round, makes the test event, as does featherweight Sean McGoldrick – the 2010 Commonwealth Games champion.

Lightweight Martin Ward, the 2009 European Youth gold medallist, is next on the list, while Scotland's highly rated Josh Taylor will be in action at super lightweight.

Commonwealth Games silver medallist Callum Smith will compete at middleweight and Commonwealth heavyweight champion Simon Vallily completes the men's team.

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However, eyes at the test event may well be focused on the British women's team who have named the formidable trio of Nicola Adams (pictured), Natasha Jonas middleweight Savannah Marshall for the test event.

Adams, the 28-year-old flyweight from Leeds, underlined her status as London 2012 gold medal favourite with victory at the Women's European Championships in Rotterdam last month to become the first female British boxer ever to win gold at a major event.

She will be joined at the test event by light welterweight star Jonas and middleweight Marshall.

"We are expecting a strong international field so it should be a good work out for both our men and women and an opportunity to assess how they are progressing as we look towards selection for next year's final Olympic qualifiers," said GB performance director Rob McCracken.

The test event, which will take place from November 24 to 27, will be key preparation for both the men and women looking to compete at London 2012, with the men's second Olympic qualifier taking place in Istanbul in April and the women's only Olympic qualifier, the World Championships, taking place in China in May.

In the British team, there are still Olympic spots open at flyweight, lightweight, light heavyweight and heavyweight for men, while the spots for the three women's categories of flyweight, lightweight and middleweight for the Olympics will be decided in May.

Meanwhile, the Irish Amateur Boxing Association (IABA) has also named a strong team for the test event with six men set to line up for them led by light heavyweight Ken Egan.

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Egan (pictured), the Beijing 2008 Olympic silver medallist, will compete alongside featherweight Declan Geraghty, lightweight David Oliver Joyce, middleweight Conrad Cummings, heavyweight Tommy McCarthy and super heavyweight Con Sheehan in London under Irish head coach Billy Walsh.

"Hopefully, we'll have as many boxers as possible back in London again next year for the real thing," said Egan.

Ireland has already qualified three boxers for the 2012 Olympics with bantamweight John Joe Nevin, flyweight Michael Conlon and middleweight Darren O'Neill all set to compete in London after reaching the last eight at the World Championships.

The trio will be rested for the test event.

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