ENGLAND, Wales and the United States are among the countries that are set to boycott the IBA World Men’s Championship.
The International Boxing Association have announced the event will be held in Dubai between December 2 and 13.
Total prize money on offer totals $8 million, with the winner of each weight category awarded $300,000.
Silver medalists get $150,0000 and prize money will be divided between the boxer (50 %), coaches (25 %) and National Federation (25 %).
The IBA World Championships follow the men’s and women’s World Championships that went ahead in Liverpool last month.
World Boxing was set up to keep boxing in the Olympic Games after the International Olympic Committee banned IBA from organising the games in 2023.
IBA have continued to run events, including the Women’s World Championship in Serbia in March that attracted 239 boxers from 50 countries, including Cuba, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan.
Boxers from those three countries were in Liverpool, with Uzbekistan finishing top of the men’s table after claiming six golds and one silver from the 10 men’s weight categories in Liverpool.
Cuba are likely to be in Dubai.
They have maintained links with IBA by taking part in their IBA Pro Champions’ nights and should Julio Cesar la Cruz go, he will get the chance to win a sixth world championship.
He was a quarter-finalist at super heavyweight in Liverpool, where Cuba left empty-handed from the World Championship for the first time since the tournament was launched in Havana in 1974.
England, USA and Wales won’t be sending boxers to a championship that is described as being part of a “two-week Festival of Boxing.”
England and USA were among the founder members of World Boxing and Wales gave up their membership of IBA this summer.
They voted to leave after the IBA declared itself the governing body for bareknuckle boxing.
Other countries have not made their decision public, but by law, World Boxing are unable to ban member countries from competing.
