Lionhearts take aim at World Series
A BRITISH team featuring London 2012 Olympic silver medallist Fred Evans will take part in the fledgling World Series of Boxing.
The British Lionhearts, who were officially announced yesterday with a photocall on Millennium Bridge in central London, include 15 other fighters also part of GB Boxing’s Olympic programme.
Middleweight Evans is joined by bantamweight Andrew Selby, who also competed at this year’s Games, but neither Anthony Joshua nor Luke Campbell, both gold medallists in the summer, have signed up.
The World Series of Boxing, which is entering its third year, allows fighters to take part in professional-style competition while retaining Olympic eligibility. It pits squads from around the planet in two leagues of six, with teams facing each other in five fights at different weights, home and away, before a grand final.
The British Lionhearts will be led by Rob McCracken, performance director of GB Boxing and a key figure in the sport’s successful Olympics. They have been placed in a group with teams from Germany, Kazakhstan, Italy, Ukraine and the United States.
Irish lightweight John Joe Nevin, who lost to Campbell in the Olympic final, has been included after reversing his decision to turn professional following the Games.