*Undated
The decision to postpone the championships could be announced anytime this week. The tournament was tentatively planned from 4-18th December in Istanbul, Turkey.
The championships could be postponed due to the high cases of Covid-19 being registered in Turkey. "It is highly likely that the world championship would be postponed as many countries have expressed reservations about travelling to Turkey because of the COVID-19 cases there," an AIBA spokesperson said.
"There has already been a round-table on this involving AIBA President Umar Kremlev during which several countries have expressed their apprehension. A decision on this will be announced very soon this week. We don't want a depleted field because of the pandemic," the spokesperson added.
The event could be held in the first half of next year. Turkey logged 27,824 COVID-19 cases on Monday. The country also reported 187 deaths on the day because of the deadly infection that has wreaked havoc for the past two years. The surge in cases has been attributed to the delta variant of the virus.
The team to represent Kenya is set to be selected during the Jamal Cup. The eagerly awaited Jamal Cup has also faced postponement to November 17th. Among the top boxers gunning for a ticket to Turkey are Olympians and Commonwealth Games flyweight bronze medalist Christine Ongare and national welterweight champion Elizabeth Akinyi. Both boxers were members of ‘The Hit Squad’ who featured in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. Others are lightweight champion Everlyn Akinyi, bantamweight Beatrice Akoth and Veronica Mbithe of Kenya Defence Forces among others.
“We intend to perform better in order to win the hearts of the national coaches and be selected into the squad for the global championships,” said national welterweight champion Elizabeth Akinyi. “It will not be easy but we are equal to the task of getting another chance to represent the country in another senior global tournament,” said Ongare.
Kenya intends to send a full squad of 13 female boxers for the global championships according to Boxing Federation of Kenya Secretary General David Munuhe. He said they were forced to postpone the tournament to allow the men’s team who featured in the global championships in Serbia time to prepare for the competition.
A postponement of the championships would, in all likelihood, force trial bouts across weight categories. For the first time ever, the AIBA announced a prize money fund of $2.4 million for medal winners across 12 weight categories. The prize for first place has been kept at $100,000 (Ksh10 Million). The silver-medallists would receive $50,000 (Ksh5 Million)and both bronze winners in each weight category would be richer by $25,000 (Ksh2.5 Million).
The world body had also announced that the AIBA Extraordinary Congress would be held during the championships, and major reforms of the organization would be announced.
In July, AIBA increased the women's weight categories from 10 to 12. The new divisions are 48kg, 50kg, 52kg, 54kg, 57kg, 60kg, 63kg, 66kg, 70kg, 75kg, 81kg, and +81kg. The world body recently conducted the men's world championship in Belgrade and even welcomed fans into the arena.