UAE Boxing Federation president Anas Al Otaiba has said November's world title bout between Dmitry Bivol and Gilberto “Zurdo” Ramirez will help put Abu Dhabi on the world fight map.
The light heavyweight clash between WBA champion Bivol and Ramirez on November 7 at the Etihad Arena on Yas Island will add to the expanding list of combat sports such as mixed martial arts, jiu-jitsu, muaythai and kick boxing to make a lasting impression in the UAE.
“This fight for the light world title indeed is a huge advertisement to put Abu Dhabi on the boxing world map,” Al Otaiba told The National.
“Saudi Arabia took the lead by staging two world heavyweight title contests and the Bivol-Ramirez fight will further strengthen the sport’s presence in the region.”
The kingdom hosted the Oleksandr Usyk's win over Anthony Joshua in their rematch last month, while the Briton avenged his defeat against Andy Ruiz Jr in 2019.
“We aren’t involved in professional boxing but develop the sport at the amateur level by organising competitions which obviously is a platform for the boxers to turn professionals,” Al Otaiba said.
“We may not be involved in the staging of the title fight but we believe it’s an important step forward in many ways to create awareness of the sport, particularly among the locals.”
Meanwhile, the UAE federation broke new ground by signing a deal with their Serbian counterparts that will see reciprocal competitions between the national teams of the two countries, as well as various exchange programmes.
“This is the first ever MoU [memorandum of understanding] we have signed with any country and our work begins immediately with the first high performance training for the UAE team schedule for November,” Nenad Borovcanin, president of the Serbian Boxing Federation said.
“We are excited about this partnership and have a lot of plans to improve the level of boxing by organising home and away competitions between the two national teams, exchange programmes as well as training for technical staff.”
Al Otaiba is completing 10 years as the head of the UAE federation and is confident they are on the right path to take amateur boxing in the country to the next level.
“We have grown a lot with the best of our federation’s efforts,” he said of the progress during his time. “It’s not that we don’t have challenges, but we have achieved encouraging results every passing year.”
The UAE’s boxing reached a new level when Hanan Al Zeyoudi created history by becoming the first Emirati female to win a medal [bronze] at the 2021 Asian Boxing Championships in Dubai.
“In the last few years, we have seen a good number of Emirati boxers growing within the federation,” Al Otaiba said.
“We worked very hard to equip them with the technical skills and opportunities for them to compete at international levels.
“We have domestic competitions every month and competitions for the national team to participate in the regional, continental and international championships regularly.”
The signing of the MoU with the Serbian federation, according to Al Otaiba, was another step forward to provide local boxers with more opportunities and elevate their levels by providing more time to work with professional coaches.
Al Otaiba has also made many contributions at the continental level as the head of Asian Boxing for four years, highlighted by the introduction of prize money for amateur boxers, the founding of the Boxing Grand Slam first held in China and the U22 Asian Championships.
“We did as much as possible to build a solid platform for Asian boxing and it was achieved as a team,” he said.
“We established a committee to help national federations that didn’t have the resources to participate at the continental competitions.”
Al Otaiba strongly believes boxing will continue to be enjoyed as an Olympic medal sport.
“There are a lot of martial art sports that are becoming increasingly popular in the region and as well as around the world, but I believe boxing will have its own place in the world of combat sports.”
RESULT
Esperance de Tunis 1 Guadalajara 1
(Esperance won 6-5 on penalties)
Esperance: Belaili 38’
Guadalajara: Sandoval 5’
Omar Yabroudi's factfile
Born: October 20, 1989, Sharjah
Education: Bachelor of Science and Football, Liverpool John Moores University
2010: Accrington Stanley FC, internship
2010-2012: Crystal Palace, performance analyst with U-18 academy
2012-2015: Barnet FC, first-team performance analyst/head of recruitment
2015-2017: Nottingham Forest, head of recruitment
2018-present: Crystal Palace, player recruitment manager
ESSENTIALS
The flights
Emirates flies from Dubai to Phnom Penh via Yangon from Dh2,700 return including taxes. Cambodia Bayon Airlines and Cambodia Angkor Air offer return flights from Phnom Penh to Siem Reap from Dh250 return including taxes. The flight takes about 45 minutes.
The hotels
Rooms at the Raffles Le Royal in Phnom Penh cost from $225 (Dh826) per night including taxes. Rooms at the Grand Hotel d'Angkor cost from $261 (Dh960) per night including taxes.
The tours
A cyclo architecture tour of Phnom Penh costs from $20 (Dh75) per person for about three hours, with Khmer Architecture Tours. Tailor-made tours of all of Cambodia, or sites like Angkor alone, can be arranged by About Asia Travel. Emirates Holidays also offers packages.
The 12
England
Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United, Tottenham Hotspur
Italy
AC Milan, Inter Milan, Juventus
Spain
Atletico Madrid, Barcelona, Real Madrid
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Company%20profile
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BEETLEJUICE BEETLEJUICE
Starring: Winona Ryder, Michael Keaton, Jenny Ortega
Director: Tim Burton
Rating: 3/5
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
more from Janine di Giovanni
Benefits of first-time home buyers' scheme
- Priority access to new homes from participating developers
- Discounts on sales price of off-plan units
- Flexible payment plans from developers
- Mortgages with better interest rates, faster approval times and reduced fees
- DLD registration fee can be paid through banks or credit cards at zero interest rates
Citizenship-by-investment programmes
United Kingdom
The UK offers three programmes for residency. The UK Overseas Business Representative Visa lets you open an overseas branch office of your existing company in the country at no extra investment. For the UK Tier 1 Innovator Visa, you are required to invest £50,000 (Dh238,000) into a business. You can also get a UK Tier 1 Investor Visa if you invest £2 million, £5m or £10m (the higher the investment, the sooner you obtain your permanent residency).
All UK residency visas get approved in 90 to 120 days and are valid for 3 years. After 3 years, the applicant can apply for extension of another 2 years. Once they have lived in the UK for a minimum of 6 months every year, they are eligible to apply for permanent residency (called Indefinite Leave to Remain). After one year of ILR, the applicant can apply for UK passport.
The Caribbean
Depending on the country, the investment amount starts from $100,000 (Dh367,250) and can go up to $400,000 in real estate. From the date of purchase, it will take between four to five months to receive a passport.
Portugal
The investment amount ranges from €350,000 to €500,000 (Dh1.5m to Dh2.16m) in real estate. From the date of purchase, it will take a maximum of six months to receive a Golden Visa. Applicants can apply for permanent residency after five years and Portuguese citizenship after six years.
“Among European countries with residency programmes, Portugal has been the most popular because it offers the most cost-effective programme to eventually acquire citizenship of the European Union without ever residing in Portugal,” states Veronica Cotdemiey of Citizenship Invest.
Greece
The real estate investment threshold to acquire residency for Greece is €250,000, making it the cheapest real estate residency visa scheme in Europe. You can apply for residency in four months and citizenship after seven years.
Spain
The real estate investment threshold to acquire residency for Spain is €500,000. You can apply for permanent residency after five years and citizenship after 10 years. It is not necessary to live in Spain to retain and renew the residency visa permit.
Cyprus
Cyprus offers the quickest route to citizenship of a European country in only six months. An investment of €2m in real estate is required, making it the highest priced programme in Europe.
Malta
The Malta citizenship by investment programme is lengthy and investors are required to contribute sums as donations to the Maltese government. The applicant must either contribute at least €650,000 to the National Development & Social Fund. Spouses and children are required to contribute €25,000; unmarried children between 18 and 25 and dependent parents must contribute €50,000 each.
The second step is to make an investment in property of at least €350,000 or enter a property rental contract for at least €16,000 per annum for five years. The third step is to invest at least €150,000 in bonds or shares approved by the Maltese government to be kept for at least five years.
Candidates must commit to a minimum physical presence in Malta before citizenship is granted. While you get residency in two months, you can apply for citizenship after a year.
Egypt
A one-year residency permit can be bought if you purchase property in Egypt worth $100,000. A three-year residency is available for those who invest $200,000 in property, and five years for those who purchase property worth $400,000.
Source: Citizenship Invest and Aqua Properties
The%20Kitchen
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How it works
Booklava works on a subscription model. On signing up you receive a free book as part of a 30-day-trial period, after which you pay US$9.99 (Dh36.70) per month to gain access to a library of books and discounts of up to 30 per cent on selected titles. You can cancel your subscription at any time. For more details go to www.booklava.com
Lexus LX700h specs
Engine: 3.4-litre twin-turbo V6 plus supplementary electric motor
Power: 464hp at 5,200rpm
Torque: 790Nm from 2,000-3,600rpm
Transmission: 10-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 11.7L/100km
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh590,000
COMPANY%20PROFILE
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Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Predictions
Predicted winners for final round of games before play-offs:
- Friday: Delhi v Chennai - Chennai
- Saturday: Rajasthan v Bangalore - Bangalore
- Saturday: Hyderabad v Kolkata - Hyderabad
- Sunday: Delhi v Mumbai - Mumbai
- Sunday - Chennai v Punjab - Chennai
Final top-four (who will make play-offs): Chennai, Hyderabad, Mumbai and Bangalore
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Qyubic
Started: October 2023
Founder: Namrata Raina
Based: Dubai
Sector: E-commerce
Current number of staff: 10
Investment stage: Pre-seed
Initial investment: Undisclosed
What are the influencer academy modules?
- Mastery of audio-visual content creation.
- Cinematography, shots and movement.
- All aspects of post-production.
- Emerging technologies and VFX with AI and CGI.
- Understanding of marketing objectives and audience engagement.
- Tourism industry knowledge.
- Professional ethics.
Heather, the Totality
Matthew Weiner,
Canongate
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
MATCH INFO
Tottenham Hotspur 3 (Son 1', Kane 8' & 16') West Ham United 3 (Balbuena 82', Sanchez og 85', Lanzini 90' 4)
Man of the match Harry Kane
Our family matters legal consultant
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
Surianah's top five jazz artists
Billie Holliday: for the burn and also the way she told stories.
Thelonius Monk: for his earnestness.
Duke Ellington: for his edge and spirituality.
Louis Armstrong: his legacy is undeniable. He is considered as one of the most revolutionary and influential musicians.
Terence Blanchard: very political - a lot of jazz musicians are making protest music right now.
MATCH INFO
New Zealand 176-8 (20 ovs)
England 155 (19.5 ovs)
New Zealand win by 21 runs
ESSENTIALS
The flights
Fly Etihad or Emirates from the UAE to Moscow from 2,763 return per person return including taxes.
Where to stay
Trips on the Golden Eagle Trans-Siberian cost from US$16,995 (Dh62,414) per person, based on two sharing.