Kathmandu, May 20

Three boxers from Dancing Yak and two from Max Boxing Promotion advanced to the second round of the Champ of Champions, the first-ever professional boxing tournament, here at the National Sports Council covered hall today.

In the first round of the tournament which features competition in lightweight 61kg, Yadav Thapa of Dancing Yak defeated Urendra Budha Magar of Max Boxing Promotion, while his teammate Sabin Gurung outplayed Akash Subedi. Dancing Yak took the edge over Max Boxing Promotion when Manish Dangol beat Saroj Sewal.

Ganesh Thapa and Surendra Karki were victorious for Max Boxing Promotion. Thapa defeated Jenish Rai, while Karki outplayed Anuj Bhandari to make it to the quarter-finals. All the results were decided on the basis of points earned by the boxers in their six-round bouts.

A total of 16 players were selected for the first round of the competition by national boxing champion Manohar Basnet. According to Basnet, six boxers withdrew from the tournament, while 10 others — divided into two groups of five each — were introduced on the opening day before the boxers picked up their opponents.

The first-ever professional boxing tournament of the country — organised jointly by Max Boxing Promotion and Dancing Yak — is recognised by World Boxing Council and WBC Asia.

The second round of the competition will be held after one and half months later. The four semi-finalists will be selected for WBC license, while the champion boxer will get an opportunity to take part in the WBC championship.

The winner of the competition will get Rs 200,000, while the second and third placed players will get Rs 30,000 and Rs 10,000 respectively.