Three SA boxers – Nthetelelo “Baby G” Nkosi, Bhekiziwe “Dr Sleep” Maitse and Keaton Gomes – landed safe in Saudi Arabia on Sunday night.
They are inSaudi to participate in the quarter finals of the inaugural WBC Riyadh Season Boxing Grand Prix Series this week.
The three fighters – who have been in the competition from the start of this ground-breaking tournament in April – are accompanied by their trainers.
Nkosi, who campaigns in the junior welterweight division, is there with accomplished trainers Damien Durandt and Andson Kazembe while Maitse is accompanied by former two-weight world boxing champ Zolani “Last Born” Tete who assisted the boxer with preparations.
Former heavyweight professional boxer, Peter “Sniper” Smith – who has established himself as a top trainer – is accompanying Gomes.
Nkosi, Maitse and Gomes will be in action on Wednesday. Nkosi will face Fiorenzo Priolo from Italy while Maitse will be up against Iman Lee from the US in the featherweight division.
Gomes will fight against Lee’s homeboy, Devon Young, in the heavyweight class. All bouts are contested over six rounds and there is no draw.
The Riyadh Season Boxing Grand Prix’s primary objective is to highlight emerging boxing talent, providing a crucial platform for these athletes to gain exposure worldwide.
The series features four weight divisions – featherweight, junior welterweight, middleweight and heavyweights.
Winners in the finals of each of the four weight divisions will walk away with $200,000 (R3,5m) and will be presented with the Jose Sulaimán Trophy, named after the late WBC president.
They will also earn the right to become mandatory challengers for the WBC Silver title, strategically positioning themselves on the path to world title contention.
The series that began in April is organised by WBC president Mauricio Sulaiman and Turki Al-Sheikh who is an adviser at the Royal Court under the rank of minister and chairman of the General Entertainment Authority in Saudi Arabia.
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