Four cities bid to host world amateur boxing academy

Four cities are on the shortlist to host the first world boxing academy, the sport's governing body announced Monday.

The candidates are Becancour, Canada; Sanya, China; Almaty, Kazakhstan; and Podolsk, Russia.

The academy will train the best young amateur boxers, plus coaches, referees and judges from the 195 national federations that make up the International Boxing Association, or AIBA.

Ching-Kuo Wu from Taiwan was elected AIBA president in 2006 on a mandate to modernize and clean up the sport.

"The academy is one of his ideas for reform," AIBA spokesman Richard Baker said. "Boxers, coaches and officials will go there to learn the vision of the new AIBA."

Around 750 fighters aged from 17 to 34 will be trained each year and educated in fitness, nutrition and anti-doping classes.

"We want to take more responsibility for the athletes and help look after them when they have finished boxing," Baker said.

"We hope to use the first academy as an example and set up another one on each of the continents."

The academy would have an annual budget of more than US$5 million (euro3.2 million) and be managed by the AIBA and the host country's Olympic committee.

The winning city will be chosen by the AIBA executive at a meeting during the Beijing Olympics in August.