Lausanne – The inaugural World Series of Boxing (WSB) bouts will take place on the 31st of October at 7 pm at the Sport Palace Almaty, Kazakhstan as part of an exhibition match linked to the AIBA Congress.

The Astana Arlans and the Istanbulls – two of the twelve franchises from across the globe – will compete across five weight-ranges in the first ever World Series of Boxing bouts.  Fighters from Turkey and Kazakhstan as well as Ghana, Serbia and Morocco will represent the two squads on a high-quality fight card, sharing the honour of being part of the first WSB contest.

Dr C. K. Wu, President of the International Boxing Association (AIBA) and Chairman of WSB commented: “The exhibition match in Almaty will give us the first real taste for what the exciting, new WSB concept can deliver for the world of boxing and especially for the fans.  The fight marks a landmark moment.  After all our development and preparations, we will see some action in the ring ahead of the full launch on the weekend of November 19, 2010.”

The exhibition aims to showcase the unique format of the World Series of Boxing to both the general public and some of the most influential boxing administrators, with over 100 AIBA national federations planning to attend. The World Series of Boxing (WSB), initiated by the International Boxing Association (AIBA), will be the only professional series in which boxers will retain their Olympic eligibility and federations will receive a return on their investments in boxers.

The first WSB fight card for the exhibition features the following contests:

ASTANA ARLANS vs. ISTANBULLS

54kg

Bagdad Alimbekov (KAZ) (22) vs. Abdullah Dursun (TUR) (22)

61kg

Yerzhan Mussafirov (KAZ) (25) vs. Mehmet Topçakan (TUR) (18)

73kg

Bakhyt Sarsekbayev (KAZ) (28) vs. Onur Şipal (TUR) (21)

85kg

Maxwell Amponsah (GHA) (24) vs. Önder Özgül (TUR) (22)

91+kg

Milutin Stankovic (SRB) (20) vs. Mohamad Arjaoui (MOR) (23)

The card contains some seasoned fighters, along with some outstanding prospects, including the reigning Olympic Boxing Welterweight gold medallist, Bakhyt Sarsekbayev (KAZ) and Olympic Games quarter-finalist, Mohamad Arjaoui (MOR).

Ahead of the Exhibition, the Istanbulls continue to raise their training levels.  Head Coach, Tunçay Varol comments on the anticipation amongst their camp: "WSB does not only facilitate a higher level of boxing, but also will give momentum and excitement to the spirit of the sport".

One of the most important figures of the team, bronze medallist at the 2009 Mediterranean Games Önder Özgül sees a bright future ahead of them: "The sun is shining like it never did before for me," he said.  Likewise, Onur Şipal, 2008 Beijing Olympics participant, who recently took the silver medal at 4th World University Championships is confident about good results at both team and individual level: "This chain has no weak link at all. All we must do is keep training and believe," he said. "WSB is simply the competition I was dreaming of."