The Ghanaian Amateur Boxing squad, the Black Bombers will be among 700 amateur boxers slated to participate in the Association Internationale de Boxe Amateur,AIBA, world boxing championship in Chicago from October 21 2007 to November 3 2007.
The International Boxing Association (AIBA) is a non-profit making international organization, which was founded under the name Fédération Internationale de Boxe Amateur (FIBA) in 1920. In 1946 a new start was given with the launch of AIBA to replace the dissolved FIBA .
The AIBA Boxing Tournament in Chicago will also serve as an Olympic qualifier for the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing China.
The eleven day boxing tournament is scheduled to take place at the University of Illinois, Chicago Pavilion and will feature nearly 700 boxers from more than 120 countries. The total number of boxers and countries, which has the potential to increase due to extensions allocated by AIBA prior to the deadline, will make the AIBA World Boxing Championships Chicago 2007 the biggest World Championships in AIBA history, surpassing the previous mark for AIBA’s premier event of 412 boxers from 74 countries in 2005.
The boxing sessions are as follows:
Session 1 2pm-10pm Tuesday (10/23)
Session 2-6 11am-10pm Wed.-Sun (10/24-10/28)
Round of 16 Session 7-8 2pm-10pm Tues.-Wed. (10/30-10/31)
Quarter Finals Session 9 2pm-5pm Thursday (11/01)
Quarter Finals Session 10 7pm-10pm Thursday (11/01)
Semi-Finals Session 11 2pm-5pm Friday (11/2)
Semi-Finals Session 12 7pm-10pm Friday (11/2)
Finals Session 13 2pm-6pm Saturday (11/3)
Registered country entry list includes:
Africa (27) - Algeria, Angola, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Egypt, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Ivory Coast, Madagascar, Mali, Mauritius, Morocco, Namibia, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone, South Africa, United Republic of Tanzania, Togo, Tunisia, Uganda, Zambia
Americas (23) - Argentina, Aruba, Bahamas, Barbados, Bolivia, Brazil, Canada, Costa Rica, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Grenada, Guyana, Haiti, Jamaica, Mexico, Nicaragua, Puerto Rico, Trinidad and Tobago, U.S. Virgin Islands, United States of America, Venezuela
Asia (22) - Cambodia, China, Chinese Taipei, India, Islamic Republic of Iran, Japan, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Korea, Democratic People's Republic of Korea, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan, Lebanon, Mongolia, Philippines, Sri Lanka, Tajikistan, Thailand, Turkmenistan, United Arab Emirates, Uzbekistan, Vietnam
Europe (39) - Albania, Armenia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, England, Estonia, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Macedonia, Moldova, Montenegro, Netherlands, Poland, Romania, Russia, Scotland, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Turkey, Ukraine, Wales
Oceania (3) - Australia, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea .
Tickets for all the boxing sessions are free; call 312-746-9305 and leave your name phone number and the number of tickets and dates you would like to attend.
Ghanaian groups who wish to attend the historical event and also cheer the Black Bombers should contact anomantu@msn.com.
