Boxers to fight with ‘clean hands’ in London meet

LONDON: Olympic boxing hopefuls from all over Europe are preparing to punch their tickets to Tokyo at a qualifying tournament starting in London this weekend, with an emphasis on clean hands and hygiene in a time of coronavirus.

The Road to Tokyo event features some 350 fighters from 50 countries including Italy, the European country worst hit by the outbreak and now in lockdown as it combats the spread of the disease.

Event director John Timms told Reuters on Thursday there had been no withdrawals from the March 14-24 tournament, other than some officials from the worst affected areas who had stayed at home.

“We’ve been blessed with some really sensible teams travelling here, who when this story started to break and unfold actually put plans in place to be in the UK a lot earlier,” he said.

“Many teams have been here for over two or three weeks in preparation camps and have been here well beyond the quarantine periods. We’re in good shape in that respect.”

The ticketed event at the Copper Box will see 50 men and 27 women secure their places for the Tokyo Games.

It is being organised by an International Olympic Committee (IOC) taskforce following the suspension of international federation AIBA last June because of issues concerning governance and finance.

“(The Italians) have been over here for a significant period of time and that was good preparation on their part,” said Timms.

Women’s middleweight world champion Lauren Price told

Reuters: “I know the Italian team have been over here for a few weeks so I’m more than confident that they are completely fine.”

“They have as much right to be here as us. They’ve worked hard and it’s their dream as well to get to the Olympics.”

“We’ve sat down with the medical team and gone through all the procedures; cleaning, washing your hands, not shaking hands with other countries. I’m more than confident and happy that everything’s fine and put into place.”