Powerful men and women boxers from 23 countries will compete in the annual 41st Grand Prix Usti nad Labem which will be held in the Czech Republic from March 10 to 13. This is the first time the Czech Boxing Association is organizing a women's competition in this tournament and they will compete in the new official weight categories that will be used for the 2012 London Olympic Games.
Usti nad Labem is known as the capital of the Czech boxing and this time it will be welcoming boxers from Armenia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Belarus, China, Georgia, Germany, Hungary, India, Italy, Kazakhstan, Latvia, Lithuania, Morocco, Poland, Russia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Tunisia and Turkey.
Two-time AIBA World champion Maria Kovacs of Hungary, who was also European champion several times, will be competing for the gold medal in her new weight class - middleweight. She went down from 86kg to 75kg because of the new Olympic Games categories: 51kg, 60kg and 75kg.
Ahmet Comert Tournament winner 20-year-old Jaina Shekerbekova of Kazakhstan will face a difficult opponent in the Grand Prix's 51kg weight class, because European champion Jenny Hardingz of Sweden also entered the event.
Former AIBA World champion 29-year-old Anna Laurell (75kg) has been a member of her national Swedish squad since 1999 and is considered to be one of the most experienced female boxers in the world. Although competing in next week's competition, Laurell has her eye on the gold at the London Olympic Games because her weight class, middleweight, will be featured there.
At only 19 years old, but already three-time Czech national champion and two-time winner of the Grand Prix Usti nad Labem, Zdenek Chladek will be competing in the men's competition. He also won a bronze medal at the 2008 AIBA Youth World Championships in Guadalajara and last year he was awarded title of best boxer of the Grand Prix.
Junior World and European Union Champion Balazs Bacskai of Hungary who won the first large European tournament, the Bocskai Memorial Tournament, in February is also a titleholder of the Grand Prix Usti nad Labem from last year and will surely be defending his position next week.
AIBA Youth World Championships silver medalist 19-year-old Daniyar Yeleussinov (64kg) took the Kazakh national title in January. His coaches are expecting him to win a gold medal at the 2012 Olympic Games although the Grand Prix Usti nad Labem will be his first major international tournament among elite boxers, offering him some good experience leading him to London.
After beating AIBA World Championships quarterfinalist Rustam Svayev in the final of the Kazakhstan National Championships in January, Manat Omirzakov (69kg) proved himself to be an outstanding and talented new athlete at just 19 years old and fans will be looking out for his performance at the Grand Prix as well.
Other boxing titleholders taking part in this year's event include Olympic and AIBA World Championships medalists, European champions and several new rising stars.
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