Galal Yafai and Peter McGrail are set to kick off a huge week for British boxing on March 16th as the Boxing Road to Tokyo arrives in London with Olympic qualification at stake.
GB Boxing have now announced when fans can see the 13 British prospects go for glory at the Copper Box Arena as they look to secure a quota spot at Tokyo 2020.
The schedule for the competition has been published here and means fans can identify and purchase tickets for the precise sessions in which boxers from Great Britain will have their first opportunity to seal Team GB a place in Tokyo - a rare opportunity to see Olympic qualification on home soil.
Four gold medal winners from the 2018 Commonwealth Games – including Yafai, McGrail, Frazer Clarke and Pat McCormack - will be in action, along with the 2019 women’s middleweight world champion Lauren Price and hometown favourite Caroline Dubois.
Tickets are available here from as little as £5 and, with less than 2,000 available for each session, supporters are urged to buy in advance.
Provided the British boxers make it through the preliminary rounds on March 14th and 15th, Yafai (men’s 52kg) and McGrail (men’s 57kg) will have the chance to be the first to book Olympic spots for Team GB in the evening session on Monday March 16th.
Both won gold at the 2018 Commonwealth Games and McGrail is hoping to make his Olympic bow this summer. Meanwhile, it could be a second appearance at the games for Yafai, who competed in Rio in 2016.
Light-welterweight Luke McCormack will be next to attempt to qualify the following evening (March 17th, 18:00) when qualification bouts take place in the men’s 63kg category.
The action heats up further on March 19th and 20th when up to ten British boxers could earn Olympic quota places
Dubois, the winner of the 2019 BBC Young Sports Personality of the Year award as well as a European, World and Olympic youth champion, is in line to make her senior debut in the 12:00 session on Thursday March 19th when the women’s 60kg bouts are held.
The same session also features qualification fights in the women’s 51kg category, which includes flyweight Charley Davison.
The evening session sees bouts in the weight categories of Cheavon Clarke (men’s 91kg) and world medallist Karriss Artingstall (women’s 57kg).
Two medallists from the 2019 AIBA World Boxing Championships in Russia are set to take centre stage in the 12:00 session on Friday March 20th as welterweight McCormack (men’s 69kg) and light-heavyweight Ben Whittaker (men’s 81kg) fight for their spots, along with 2019 European Championship bronze medallist Rosie Eccles (women’s 69kg).
Wales’ Sammy Lee (men’s 75kg), who has moved down a weight class to fight for a Team GB middleweight spot, is due to be in action in the 18:00 session on that day.
The men’s 91kg category, which includes two-time European gold medallist and 2018 Commonwealth Games champion Clarke, is in the same session.
Reigning middleweight world champion Price (women’s 75kg) will also have the chance to qualify a spot at Tokyo on March 20th, though which session she takes part in will not be decided until the draw is made.
In weight classes where there are six qualification places available (women’s 51kg, 57kg, 60kg and men’s 69kg, 75kg and 81kg) boxers that lose their quarter-final will get a second chance to qualify by competing in a Box-Off with the other losing quarter-finalists between March 20th and 24th.
In all, up to 350 men and women from over 40 countries will take part - to secure your tickets for the Boxing Road to Tokyo, click here.