Dubai Ahmad Al Hosani, Ahmad Darmaki and Khadoum Ka'abi will lead the UAE challenge at the World Arab Boxing Championships to be held this Saturday and Sunday at the Dubai Tennis Stadium.
Organised by the Dubai Sports Council (DSC) in coordination with international boxing body FIBA and Golden Star Media, the two-day boxing event will be a combination of sports and entertainment as some of the top boxers from the region are up for action in Al Garhoud.
Held under the patronage of Shaikh Mansour Bin Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, the first day of the championship has been dedicated to men's boxing, with four main bouts along with another four supplementary fights involving boxers from the region.
The World Arab Boxing Championships will have legendary British boxer Danny Williams as the star spectator on both days. Williams was the main guest at yesterday's press conference.
With the fight cards being finalized by organizers, Al Hosani has been pitted against Mohamed Bikai of Palestine in the 64 kgs category, while Darmaki will be up against another Palestinian fighter Bilal Sarieh in the 66 kgs division.
Kaabi will fight Dahbi Molay Hassan from Mauritania in the 65 kgs category and the fight card in the amateur men's will be complete with Mohammed Fayed of Egypt facing Rateb Hatahet of Syria in the 87 kgs category. All fights will be held over three rounds of 1.30 minutes each.
Some of the best professional boxers will also be in action with Rosario Presti of Italy opening the night with an eight-round contest against Arjan Vatniksj of Albania in the 71 kgs division.
Eduardo Martinez of the USA will take on Ilman Arskahanov of Russia in the 75 kgs and Loiay Nader of Iraq will be up against the challenge put up by Jean Claude Delar of France in the 86 kgs division. In the final fight for the professional men, Portugal's Jose Da Fonseca will take on Dinitri Bosson of France in the 66 kgs category. All these fights will be held over eight rounds of two minutes each.
The glamour quotient of the night will be staged when the women professional fighters take to the ring with Haifa Ouersighni of Tunisia taking on Nora Ali of Egypt in the 61 kgs category. Natalie Maurel of France will then face Khadija Aldabali of Morocco in the 50 kgs and Dolly McBean of Surinam will fight Lorena Klinj of Holland in the 55 kgs.
In the final two contests, Hatice Ozyurt of Turkey will be up against Ghizlan El Aazri of Morocco in the 63 kgs division and Raquel Adamus of Holland will take on Kiel Holtz of Colombia in the 66 kgs category. All women's bouts will be contested over eight rounds of two minutes each.
All participating boxers will be backing the Dubai Police campaign against the use of drugs. The boxers are scheduled to wear T-shirts with the letters "No To Drugs" embossed on them during the competition.
In addition to the bouts, there will be a range of top singers to entertain the spectators on both days with Lebanese Miriam Fares, the UAE's Ibrahim Al Hammadi, Pakistani Atif Aslam, Iranian Mansour and the Filipino group Free Style Philippines Band leading the way.
Ticket-holders will be entitled to attend the boxing and the post-match entertainment on both days. Tickets have been priced at AED 200, 300 and 500 with boxing action commencing on both days at 6.30 pm.
