Indian Boxing Federation (IBF) today inaugurated the 5th Commonwealth Boxing Championship 2010 at a gala opening ceremony held at the Talkatora Stadium. The 5th Commonwealth Boxing Championship (CBC) presented by XXX Energy Drink, was officially opened by Hon’ble Dr. M.S. Gill, Minister of Youth Affairs and Sports, GoI. The opening ceremony was also attended by Suresh Kalmadi (President, IOA), Abhay Singh Chautala, President, IBF and Col PK Muralidharan Raja, Secretary General, IBF. A highly prestigious boxing championship of such an international stature is being hosted by India for the first time. Supported by the marketing and promotional blitz created by IBF’s exclusive marketing partner Percept Limited, the CBC is expected to witness tremendous amount of excitement and extravaganza. The opening ceremony witnessed international frenzy and had bag pipers leading the posse as various participating teams paraded inside the stadium. Eminent singer Mansi Scott gave scintillating performance and enthralled the audience. Through out the day there were various entertainment programmes like Live singing performances and there were even Cheerleaders to support and cheer the boxers.
The 5th CBC will witness over 100 boxers from 14 countries in over 100 bouts from 12th -17th March, 2010 at Talkatora Stadium fighting for this prestigious title. All major commonwealth boxing nations including India, Sri Lanka, Malaysia, Singapore (ASIA), England, Wales, Scotland (EUROPE), New Zealand, Samoa, Sierra Lione (OCEANIA) Kenya, Tanzania, Mauritius, Botswana, (AFRICA), and Bahamas (AMERICA) will participate. The boxers are segregated in 10 following weight categories 49 kgs, 52 kgs, 56 kgs, 60 kgs, 64 kgs, 69 kgs, 75kgs, 81 kgs, 91 kgs, + 91 kgs.
Indian boxing heroes such as Vijender Singh, Akhil Kumar, Dinesh Kumar, Suranjay Singh etc will be contending for India in their respective weight categories and will be seen in action in front of the home crowd. And with our current boxing talents IBF expects to win more medals this year.
Since last couple of years boxing as a sport has taken a center stage in India, with boxers such as Vijender Singh, Akhil Kumar, Dinesh Kumar, Suranjoy Singh, Nanao Singh & Mary Kom winning accolades for the country. Boxing is the 5th most watched televised sport in the world and reflects youth, aggression and glamour which are the most important element of sport entertainment.
* XXX Energy Drink is the Title Sponsor for this championship
* Siyarams & DLF are the associate sponsors
* Cash Prize of Rs. 25,000 to all Indian Gold medalists by Percept Ltd
* Popular Singer Mansi Scott enthralled the audience by her performance
* 100 boxers from 14 countries and over 100 bouts can be watched LIVE on Doordarshan from 2 pm – 7 pm
It might be recalled that IBF has appointed leading sports marketing firm, Percept Ltd as its exclusive marketing partner for IBF for 4 years i.e. till 2014. As a marketing partner Percept Ltd will work alongside IBF to promote domestic and international boxing events to India and Indian Boxing talents.
IBF and Percept along with XXX Energy Drink who have graciously come on board as the Title Sponsor have worked towards making the Commonwealth Boxing Championship a week long extravaganza by providing spectators a never before experience of sports entertainment in Boxing.
This is also the first time a boxing event will be preceded by a high decibel media campaign. Radio Mirchi, Indiatimes, Sportzpower.com are the media partners and Doordarshan is the Telecast partner. Movie screens all over will have on-screen advertising. An official website has already been launched exclusively for this championship where one can visit and get latest updates and schedule on www.perceptboxing.com. They have even tied up with Bookmyshow.com for tickets to watch the championship.
CBC is also supported by associate sponsors DLF and Siyarams. Along with the cash prize the gold medal winning boxers will also be presented with a premium suit length by Siyarams. On this occasion Percept Ltd, who had earlier roped in the Title Sponsor XXX Energy Drink, also announced the cash prize of INR 25,000 for every Indian gold medal winner.
The Opening Ceremony as well as all the days of the CBC will have various entertainment elements to keep the audiences engaged and entertained. The CBC is open for general public viewing and tickets are nominally charged at Rs 100 per day.
Abhay Singh Chautala, President, Indian Boxing Federation said, “Commonwealth Boxing Championship is a very prestigious event to be held first time in our country. We are extremely confident that our new crop of boxers will shine in this championship by winning at least 4 out of 10 gold medals”
IBF Secretary General, Col PK Muralidharan Raja said, “We as a federation promise to make this an event to remember and hope that the participating countries will cherish this experience”
Shailendra Singh, Joint Managing Director, Percept Ltd, said “Percept is absolutely passionate about the sports and feels that India has the potential of being a prominent boxing nation. This is just a beginning of the Percept’s partnership with IBF and together we will have many more exciting boxing properties to offer”
Sachiin Joshi, Vice Chairman, GT&T Pvt. Ltd said, “We are indeed very excited to associate ourselves with an International Event of this stature. We strongly believe that India can be a great sporting nation if it is given the right support and encouragement and we are here to support boxing in the long run.”
Common Wealth Boxing Championship is being supported by Ministry of Youth Affairs & Sports, Organizing Committee of Commonwealth Games and Sports Authority of India.
