Delhi loses World Series of Boxing

impotent helvetica,sans-serif;”>The International Boxing Association (AIBA) has terminated the World Series Boxing (WSB) franchise rights of the Delhi team and named Incheon in South Korea as a replacement on Thursday. The Delhi franchise faced an uncertain future after the main sponsor Videocon pulled out in September.

Its cash cow and star, Beijing Olympics bronze medalist Vijender Singh, had earlier this week distanced himself from the WSB. Vijender made it clear he didn’t want to turn professional, an inevitable career move once a boxer signed up for the WSB.

The Indian Boxing Federation (IBF) has been searching for a sponsor since Videocon pulled out but failed to find a new one by the end of last week by which time the deadline set by AIBA expired.

Teams including Mexico, Milan and Moscow had not only announced their squads but also named the home stadiums, while Delhi had only named the boxers, who ultimately were reluctant to sign on the dotted line. It is learnt that Vijender and Dinesh were not ready to sign on the contracts as it would have meant a conflict of interest with their promoters Percept Sports.