Selby of Wales and Yafai of England secured Britain a flyweight category berth at the Olympics after both made it through to the quarter final at the 2011 International Boxing Association (AIBA) World Boxing Championships in Baku last month.

The European champion Selby made it right through to the final before the 22-year-old from Barry narrowly lost 13-12 to the world number one, Misha Aloyan, from Russia and was forced to settle for the silver medal.

Meanwhile Yafai was beaten by American star Rau'Shee Warren at the quarter-final stage as the 22-year-old from Birmingham went down 14-9 to the 2007 world champion.

Due to the fact that both boxers made the last eight but neither won the gold, which would have secured them the London 2012 Olympic spot automatically, they will face each other to determine the one British flyweight Olympic spot at York Hall in London on November 11 and 12.

The box-off, which has been sanctioned by AIBA, will be the main event of the 2011 GB Amateur Boxing Championships, with the two set to fight once on November 11 and once on November 12.

The boxer that wins the two fights will get the Olympic spot but if each wins one, a third and deciding bout will take place during the 2012 Olympic test event at the ExCel Arena from November 23 until 27, 2011.

Selby will head into the match-up as slight favourite following his superb medal winning performance at the World Championships but Yafai is the more experienced of the two at the top level having competed at the Beijing 2008 Olympics.


The event at York Hall will include other top GB boxers in action as they hope to make London 2012 including the lightweight 2010 European Silver medallist, Iain Weaver, the bantamweight 2010 Commonwealth Games champion, Sean McGoldrick, and the highly-rated light flyweight star Charlie Edwards who will be looking to defend the GB Amateur Boxing Championship crown he won last year.

"This will be a high quality tournament and reflects the huge depth of talent we have in amateur boxing in Great Britain at the present time," said the British Amateur Boxing Association (BABA) Performance Director Rob McCracken.

"It will influence the make-up of the GB boxing squad as we head into 2012 and is an opportunity for the competitors to put themselves in the frame for possible selection at next year's Olympic qualifiers."

Britain already have boxers qualified in five of the weight categories for London 2012 following a stellar performance in Baku that ensured the team claimed three World Championship silver medals in addition to a bronze.

While either Selby or Yafai will take the flyweight spot, World Championship silver medallist Luke Campbell will take bantamweight spot while Anthony Joshua, who also won silver in Baku, will take the super-heavyweight spot.

Tom Stalker will take the light-welterweight place after winning World Championship bronze while the welterweight Fred Evans secured his 2012 berth by reaching the last eight in Azerbaijan before losing to Egidijus Kavaliauskas of Lithuania.

The only Olympic qualifying event for women, with the sport set to make its Olympic debut at London 2012, will be at the 2012 AIBA Women's World Boxing Championships next May in Qinhuangdao, China.

Britain have a major medal prospect in the female ranks in the 28-year-old flyweight Nicola Adams who secured gold at the 2011 AIBA Women's European Championships in Rotterdam last month to become the first female British boxer ever to win gold at a major event.

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