Today the World Series of Boxing draft was held during the rest day of the AIBA World Championships, which has already seen 12 WSB boxers qualify for the 2012 London Olympic Games through the competition. The following 25 boxers were chosen by each Franchise for the 2011-2012 season:
WSB took this opportunity to welcome two new franchises, the Mumbai Fighters from India and the Leipzig Leopards from Germany. AIBA President and WSB Chairman, Dr. Ching-Kuo Wu, signed a Declaration of Cooperation with Mr. Jürgen Kyas from the German Boxing Federation and Mr. Marco Schulze, General Manager of the Leipzig Leopards. “It is a great opportunity for us to be part of this fantastic product, WSB is the dawn of something special in the sport of boxing and we want to be part of it”, stated Mr. Schulze.
Fifteen months after the first international draft was held in London, where 87 international boxers were chosen to fill the required quota of non-national squad members, 25 more were again drafted from a list of 67 available athletes representing almost 30 countries from all five continents.
The teams satisfied with the current level of their respective squads only chose to make minor adjustments to their team rosters.
Amongst the 25 boxers drafted, there were World Champions, Youth Olympic Games Champions, World Youth Champions, World Junior Champions, Continental Champions and many National Champions.
The draft was presided by Dr. Ching-Kuo Wu, AIBA President and WSB Chairman, in front of the National Federations and the international press.
First round
Mumbai Fighters – Abbos Atoyev (UZB – Middleweight 73kg)
Leipzig Leopards – Balazs Backsai (HUN – Middleweight 73kg)
Pohang Poseidons – Victar Zuyeu (BLR – Heavyweight 91kg)
Beijing Dragons – Joseph Parker (NZL – Heavyweight 91kg)
Dynamo Moscow – Anvar Yusunov (TJK – Bantamweight 54kg)
Istanbulls – decided to pass
Mexico City Guerreros – Tervel Pulev (HUN – Heavyweight 91kg)
Dolce & Gabbana Milano Thunder – Veaceslav Gojan (MDA – Bantamweight 54kg)
Los Angeles Matadors – Siarhei Karneyev (BLR – Light Heavyweight 85kg)
Baku Fires – Madadi Nagzibekov (TJK – Lightweight 61 kg)
Astana Arlans – Joe Ward (IRL – Light Heavyweight 85kg)
Paris United – Ljubomir Marjanovic (SRB – Lightweight 61kg)
Second round
Mumbai Fighters – Damian Hooper (AUS – Middleweight 73kg)
Leipzig Leopards – Aleksandr Riscan (MDA – Bantamweight 54kg)
Pohang Poseidons – decided to pass
Beijing Dragons – Mirzokit Abdullayev (UZB – Light Heavyweight 85kg)
Dynamo Moscow – decided to pass
Istanbulls – decided to pass
Mexico City Guerreros – Hurshid Tajibaev (UZB – Lightweight 61kg)
Dolce & Gabbana Milano Thunder – Romaric Ngoulla Tangoum (CMR – Heavyweight 91kg)
Los Angeles Matadors – Zaal Kvachatadze (GEO – Middleweight 73kg)
Baku Fires – decided to pass
Astana Arlans – decided to pass
Paris United – Luke Boyd (AUS – Bantamweight 54kg)
Third round
Mumbai Fighters – Patrick Gallagher (IRL – Middleweight 73kg)
Leipzig – decided to pass
Pohang Poseidons – decided to pass
Beijing Dragons – decided to pass
Dynamo Moscow – decided to pass
Mexico City Guerreros – decided to pass
Milano Thunder – decided to pass
Los Angeles Matadors – decided to pass
Baku Fires – decided to pass
Astana Arlans – decided to pass
Paris United – decided to pass
Fourth round
Mumbai Fighters – Sardor Begaliyev (UZB – Light Heavyweight 85kg)
Leipzig Leopards – decided to pass
Dolce & Gabbana Milano Thunder – decided to pass
Los Angeles Matadors – Levan Guledani (GEO – Light Heavyweight 85kg)
Fifth round
Mumbai Fighters – Raymond Moylett (IRL – Lightweight 61kg)
Los Angeles Matadors – decided to pass
Draft procedure
The draft begins with a draw between the new franchises to determine the order of picks. The remaining draft order is then based on the previous season’s ranking.
The first round of the draft starts with each franchise having the opportunity to choose a boxer from the ‘Boxer Draft List’. Each taking turns, the franchises have a strict maximum of five minutes to choose an athlete per round. Franchises are allowed to pass their turn. Once the franchise representative announces the drafted boxer, the next team repeats the process. Surpassing the allocated time means a forfeit of the round.
The draft ends once all franchises have passed their turn twice.
