Dubai gears up for World Arab Boxing Championship

The postponed World Arab Boxing Championships is to be held at the Dubai Tennis Stadium in Aviation Club on on March 31 and April 1.

Organised by the Dubai Sports Council (DSC) in league with the International Arab Boxing Federation (FIBA) and Golden Star Media, the two-day event will be a combination of sports and entertainment as some of the top boxers from the region landing in Dubai.

Boxers from as many as 15 countries have confirmed for the championship including Surinam, USA, France, Switzerland, Albania, Holland, Russia, Iraq, Egypt, Tunisia, Morocco, Mauritania, Columbia and Turkey.

There will be a range of top singers on both the days including Lebanese Miriam Fares, the UAE’s Ibrahim Al Hammadi, Pakistani Atif Aslam, Iranian Mansour and the Filipino group Free Style Philippines Band. Ticket-holders will be entitled to attend the boxing and the post-match entertainment.

There will be live performances, fireworks, dances and laser shows at the opening ceremony before the bouts on March 31.

Held under the patronage of Sheikh Mansoor bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, one of the highlights at this championship will be presence of the former heavyweight boxing champion Danny Williams, also known as the 'Brixton Bomber'. Williams famously knocked out Mike Tyson in the boxing legend's official final bout of his career.

The championship which was earlier scheduled to be held in January had to be put off after Tyson, who was billed to make a guest appearance withdrew.

Muad Al Merri, general manager of Golden Star told a press conference on Thursday that the boxing great had apologised for his inability to attend the event. He had recommended former triple heavyweight champion Evander Holyfied in his place but they had been unsuccessful to get him.

Nevertheless, the organisers are looking at this event as an opportunity to reach millions of home worldwide through television, radio and print media.

A total of 24 boxers, including six amateurs will be featuring in 12 main bouts throughout the two days.

Among them will be two UAE Arab boxing champions Khadoom Al Kaabi and Ahmed Darmaki. Al Kaabi will take on Mauritania’s Saiduo Daillo in the 66kg semi-middleweight class, while Ahmed Darmaki will be up against Morocco’s Nabil Mustapha in the 64kg Super Lightweight category.

Unbeaten Al Kaabi, 27, from Ajman has two wins under his belt and has been preparing hard for this competition.

Arab boxing is somewhat similar to Muay Thai but has some technical differences.

"In Muay Thai you can wrestle your opponent to the ground but in Arab boxing it is not allowed. The use of knees and elbows to score points is allowed in Arab Boxing which has a history of 40 years," explained Hedi Al Sediri, president of FIBA.

Al Sediri said the boxers have been selected according to their rankings and most of them are among the top 20 in the world and champions in their home countries. The Arab boxing contests will be of 10 rounds each.

The first day of the championship has been dedicated to men’s boxing with seven main bouts along with another five supplementary fights involving boxers from the region.

On the second day of the competition, the five professional women’s bouts will be backed by another five fights involving amateur boxers from the Arab world.

Tickets have been priced at Dh200, 300 and 500 with boxing action commencing on both days at 6.30pm.