Great Silk Road Int'l Boxing Tournament kicks off in Baku

International Boxing Tournament "Great Silk Road" has kicked off in Baku, AzerNEWS reports.

The event began with a parade of the participating teams. Samir Huseynov, advisor to the President of the Azerbaijan Boxing Federation, spoke about the significance of the competition, noting that strong teams from various countries are taking part.

Following the performance of the Azerbaijan National Anthem, the tournament was officially declared open.

The tournament, which is taking place at Boxing Center, will run until April 7. National teams from Azerbaijan, Australia, Algeria, Bulgaria, Georgia, Hungary, Kazakhstan, Moldova, Turkiye, and Uzbekistan are participating in the competition.

Male boxers will compete across 10 weight categories, while female athletes will contest 4 divisions.

A total of 126 athletes are participating, with bouts scheduled to begin each day at 15:00.

Boxing is known as one of the oldest sports in the history of humankind.

The earliest evidence of boxing dates back to Egypt around 3,000 BC.

This sport was introduced to the ancient Olympic Games by the Greeks in the late 7th century BC.

In 1924, the International Amateur Boxing Federation (FIBA) was established.

Since 1946, it has been referred to as the International Boxing Association (AIBA). Boxing made its Olympic debut at the 1904 Games in St. Louis.

In 1926, the boxing championship was held for the first time in Azerbaijan, where national boxers took first place.

Since 1992, the Azerbaijani Boxing Federation has become a full member of the International Boxing Association (AIBA).

Azerbaijani boxers have won many prestigious awards at many international championships.

Aghasi Mammadov has entered Azerbaijan's history of boxing as the first national boxer, as a gold medallist at the world championship.

Another Azerbaijani boxer, Fuad Asadov, was among the medallists at the 2004 Summer Olympic Games.

Many times, Azerbaijan has been chosen as the host country for major boxing championships.

The AIBA Youth World Championships were held in Baku in 2019. This world championship was the first licensed youth tournament to qualify for the 2010 Olympic Games held in Singapore.

The country also hosted the 2011 AIBA World Boxing Championships, which was the first major qualifying event for the London 2012 Olympic Games.