… Podium finish will guarantee her between E455 250 and E1.8 million
BY SABELO GWEBU
SIKHUPHE– The country’s junior lady boxer Veliswa Magaya has jetted out of the country through the King Mswati III International Airport to New Delhi, India for the IBA Women’s World Championships.
Organised by the International Boxing Association (IBA), the 2023 Women’s World Boxing Championship will be the 13th edition of the championships from 16 to 26 March 2023.
Magaya, who won a bronze medal at the 2021 Africa Union Sports Council (AUSC) Region 5 Youth Games, stands to strike it reach if she makes a podium finish in New Delhi.
IBA has confirmed a lucrative prize fund of US$2.4m (approximately E43.7 million) for the World Championships. The current United States Dollar and Lilangeni rate is 18.21.
Gold medal-winners in each of the 12 weight categories will receive US$100,000 (about E1.8 million), ensuring a bumper reward for finishing top of the podium. Boxers who finish as runners-up in their categories will collect US$50,000 (approximately E910 500), while athletes who claim bronze will receive US$25,000 (approximately E455 250).
Eswatini Boxing Association (EBA) President Webster Lukhele said Veliswa was one of their top boxers.
“She is outstanding and we got funding from IBA and we are reaping the fruits of having Pearl Dlamini on the IBA Board of Directors and me on the AfBC Board. Also, the biggest thanks goes to the Eswatini Olympic and Commonwealth Games Association for catering for the athlete’s allowance and uniform which amounted to E17 000,” he said.
AfBC is the acronym for Africa Boxing Commission.
The women’s boxing showpiece will take place at the 6 000-seat K.D. Jadhav Indoor Hall with the sport’s brightest stars and biggest talents from 77 countries, including Eswatini having confirmed their participation at the event.
Several medal-winners from the 2022 IBA Women’s World Boxing Championships in Istanbul will be in action, including Algeria’s Imane Khelif, Argentina’s Aldana Florencia Lopez, Brazil’s Beatriz Ferreira and Caroline De Almeida, Chinese Taipei’s Lin Yu-Ting and Colombia’s Ingrid Lorena Valencia Victoria.
Among other athletes who finished on the podium last year, including Italy’s Irma Testa, Kazakhstan’s Karina Ibragimova, Turkiye’s Elif Guneri, Mozambique’s Alcinda Helena Panguana and Rady Adosinde Gramane, Morocco’s Khadija Mardi, Bulgarian Sevda Asenova will also compete.
The Championships will feature a comeback of World and Olympic champion Estelle Mossely from France, who turned professional in 2018.
