Manama: After the global success of Brave Combat Federation, Khalid bin Hamad Al Khalifa Sports (KHK Sports) has announced the launch of KHK Boxing.

Supreme Council for Youth and Sports first deputy chairman and Bahrain Athletics Association president Shaikh Khalid bin Hamad Al Khalifa officially launched KHK Boxing to promote combat sports in the kingdom. KHK Boxing will support athletes and aspiring boxers in Bahrain a platform to train and compete professionally.

The inaugural event for KHK Boxing will be held on December 9 at Gimno Desportivo arena in Praia, Cape Verde with two professional contenders vying for the African heavyweight championship. Faisal Arrami from KHK Boxing will face Junior Maximus for the title.

The launch was announced by Shaikh Khalid at a press conference at Sofitel Hotel. Present were KHK MMA CEO Mohammed Shahed and KHK Boxing team manager Fabian Bu-Nasser.

On the occasion, Shaikh Khalid said, “The success that we achieved in the sport of mixed martial arts pushed us to support boxing. This step comes in line with our strategy to promote combat sports. We all saw what happened in the fourth edition of the World Amateur Championship hosted by the kingdom, where Bahrain achieved an historic achievement by gaining second place in the overall team rankings. Today, we aim to develop and improve boxing in order to gain achievements in the near future.

“We drew the plan, where we began by launching the team aimed at participating in foreign tournaments and confirm the presence of Bahrain on the continental and international arenas. We will start with the participation of our boxer Faisal Arami in the Africa Open Boxing Championship next month. We will then work according to this plan by holding local competitions in which we will enhance the culture of this sport and support the young Bahrainis pursuing the game.”

Shaikh Khalid explained that the aim is to place Bahrain in the forefront of the sport, especially at the global level. He also wished Arami success in his first mission to represent the team in the African Open Championship.