The ASBC Board approved its calendar for 2023 at a meeting in Bangkok ©ASBC

The Asian Boxing Confederation (ASBC) has approved its calendar for 2023, including the addition of a new Asian Club Elite Boxing Championships and a planned return of the Asian Elite Grand Slam Boxing Championships in China.

This event has been scheduled for July 2023 in between the International Boxing Association (IBA) World Championships and the delayed Hangzhou 2022 Asian Games.

The IBA's Men's World Championships are due to be held in May next year in Uzbekistan's capital Tashkent, while the Women's World Championships are scheduled for May and June with a host still to be determined.

The ASCB Board of Directors met in Thailand's capital Bangkok to finalise the schedule for next year's continental events, beginning with the Asian Under-22 Boxing Championships in January for athletes born between 2001 and 2004.

Tashkent held the first edition of the Asian Under-22 Boxing Championships this year.

The Asian Youth and Junior Boxing Championships are due to be held from August 1 to 14, with boxers born in 2005 and 2006 eligible for the youth competitions and 2007 and 2008 for the junior events.

Saudi Arabia has been awarded the 2023 Asian Schoolboys and Schoolgirls Boxing Championships, with dates of October 1 to 7 confirmed for the event open to athletes born in 2009 and 2010.

The Hangzhou 2022 Asian Games featured prominently in next year's ASBC calendar, and is serving as a qualifier for Paris 2024 ©Getty Images
The Hangzhou 2022 Asian Games featured prominently in next year's ASBC calendar, and is serving as a qualifier for Paris 2024 ©Getty Images

To conclude the calendar year, the ASBC is due to hold the second edition of its Asian Elite Grand Slam Boxing Championships in China in December.

Xiamen held the inaugural edition in 2019.

Since then, only a limited number of major sporting events - notably the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics and Paralympics - have been held in China due to the country's hardline stance on the COVID-19 pandemic.

The ASBC's calendar for next year has been heavily dictated by the Asian Games in Hangzhou from September 23 to October 8, which were pushed back by a year due to COVID-19 concerns and serve as the first qualification event for the Paris 2024 Olympics.

ABSC President Pichai Chunhavajira also signed a long-term agreement with Green Hill managing director Abid Jahangir in Bangkok.

The continental governing body's Board meeting came at a crucial time for boxing, with the IBA due to hold its Extraordinary Congress in Yerevan tomorrow, where a vote is set to be held on whether to allow a fresh Presidential election in which Dutch candidate Boris van der Vorst would challenge Russian incumbent Umar Kremlev.

Thai official Pichai Chunhavajira serves on the IBA Board of Directors by virtue of holding the ASBC Presidency.