Oldham’s Will Cawley selected for The World Series of Boxing!

The squad of boxers that will compete for the British Lionhearts in the 2017 season of the World Series of Boxing (WSB) has been announced.

It is made-up of 25 boxers from GB Boxing’s Podium and Podium Potential squads and 10 overseas selections.

The contingent from GB Boxing includes three boxers that competed at Rio 2016, Galal Yafai, Muhammad Ali and Pat McCormack.

All three were part of the British Lionheart’s squad that made the final of last year’s competition and saw light-welterweight Pat McCormack named ‘Boxer of the Regular Season’.

They are joined by super-heavyweight, Frazer Clarke, who was one of the stars of last season winning all five of his contests as the Lionhearts reached the final.

Other members of the squad from Great Britain that have experience in WSB include: Harvey Horn, Peter McGrail, Jack Bateson, Luke McCormack, Dalton Smith, Cyrus Pattinson and Thomas Whittaker-Hart.

Members of GB Boxing’s Podium squad that are new to the competition include: Will Cawley, Calum French, Conor Loftus, John Docherty and Ben Whittaker.

The overseas selections include two Irish boxers Sean McComb and Dean Gardiner and two experienced campaigners who represented the Lionhearts last season in Bulgarian light-heavyweight, Radoslev Pantaleev, and Croatian heavyweight, Josip-Bepo Filipi.

Rob McCracken, GB Boxing’s Performance Director and Head Coach of the British Lionhearts, said:  “WSB is a very tough competition and the squad is a little different to the one that did so well last year so for a lot of the boxers this is going to a be a new experience and a real test of how well they are developing.

“The WSB shows are always excellent events and the quality of the boxing is very good so I am sure the boxers will enjoy being part of the Lionhearts team and competing in front of their home crowd at York Hall in London.”

The format for the 2017 season of WSB has been amended and the Lionhearts will compete in the Europe and Middle East group with a home and an away match against Morocco Atlas Lions, Italia Thunder and the France Fighting Roosters.

All the home fixtures will be at York Hall in London.  Dates are:

• Morocco Atlas Lions – Wednesday 8 March 2017
• Italia Thunder – Thursday 23 March 2017
• France Fighting Roosters – Thursday, 6 April 2017

Tickets are on sale now at http://tickets.sky.com/Boxing/World-Series-of-Boxing-VII.

Advance tickets are £20 per fixture or a season ticket for all three home matches is available priced £40.

The new season of WSB begins for the British Lionhearts on Thursday 9 February 2017 when the team takes on Italia Thunder in Rome.   This is followed by a trip to Paris to face the France Fighting Roosters on Thursday 23 February 2017.

Both matches and all future Lionhearts fixtures this season will be shown on BoxNation.

BoxNation is available on Sky 437/490HD, Virgin 525, Freeview 255, TalkTalk 415.  Subscribe at www.boxnation.com or watch online at watch.boxnation.com and via iPhone, iPad or Android and Amazon devices.

The full British Lionhearts squad is (P – denotes a member of GB Boxing’s Podium squad):

WSB is the only Global Team Boxing competition where national teams go head to head in a league format. Developed by the International Boxing Association (AIBA), this unique competition brings together the best Olympic and national boxers in an exciting team format with worldwide appeal.

Season VII will see 12 teams compete in three regionally based groups of four.  The boxers compete without vests or headguards in five three-minute rounds. There are five bouts per match and scoring is through the 10-Point-Must-System.

The 12 franchises that will compete in the 2016 season of WSB are:

The British Lionhearts franchise is supported by UK Sport.  More details on the Lionhearts and WSB are available at http://www.worldseriesboxing.com/ and by following the team on twitter at @Brit_Lionhearts.