The official weigh-ins for this evening’s highly anticipated Royal Rumble III took place last night, setting the stage for the kingdom’s biggest and highly anticipated charity boxing event.
Eight exciting bouts are scheduled between fighters representing Bahrain’s Royal Guard and the British Army’s Royal Engineers.
Yesterday’s public weigh-ins were held at The British Club in Adliya, with former British world champion Amir ‘King’ Khan in attendance. Khan interacted with the participating boxers and gave them some encouragement ahead of their bouts.
“You fighters are at such a great age, where it is time for you to learn and to push yourselves,” Khan said during last night’s event.
“This is the time you can make it to the next level. You win, you lose, it is what it is – it’s boxing – but you gain experience, so learn as much as you can, and just go for it.”
Khan took the time to take pictures and sign autographs for fans during the weigh-ins, which was also attended by Bahrain Boxing Federation head coach and technical manager Tony Davis and the British Army’s Royal Engineers boxing team head coach Dave Pearson.
This evening’s prestigious black-tie affair, set to take place at Crowne Plaza Bahrain’s newly renovated ballroom, is to be held under the patronage of Supreme Council for Youth and Sport first deputy chairman, General Sports Authority chairman, and Bahrain Olympic Committee president Shaikh Khalid bin Hamad Al Khalifa.
It is scheduled for a 6pm start, with the bouts being held from 8.30pm.
All proceeds generated from the night, which includes an auction offering various valuable items, will be donated to the Royal Humanitarian Foundation (RHF).
Bahrain’s Royal Guard boxers are coming off a hugely successful appearance in the second edition of International Boxing Night in the UK, held two weeks ago at the Infantry Training Centre in Catterick Garrison, North Yorkshire. The kingdom’s fighters won six of the eight bouts that evening against the British Army boxing team. They are now hoping to build on that success.
“Our preparations have gone very well – the last three weeks have been hard, managing weight and coming from our last competition, but now we are ready to do it inshaallah tomorrow,” Maryam Khamis, who will be trading jabs with Marnie Phillips in tonight’s lone women’s bout in the Bantamweight division, told the GDN yesterday.
“I look forward to my fight. As I always say, I will leave everything in the ring, I will leave it all in the moment. With all respect to my opponent, it doesn’t matter who I face, I will always do my best.”
Ali Asad, who will be in the ring against Ryley Mortimore in one of two light middleweight bouts, is thrilled to be making his Royal Rumble debut, especially after missing an opportunity to compete at International Boxing Night.
“My opponent had to pull out then and I was quite disappointed, but I still continued to train while we were in the UK,” Asad told the GDN. “We then went to Riyadh for another camp at Mike Tyson Boxing Club, where we faced more athletes with whom we sparred with.
“We learned a lot from their trainers as well, and now we’re here, we’re ready, we’re on weight, and we’re looking forward to boxing tomorrow.”
Ali Saeed, the Royal Guard’s other light middleweight who will be facing the Royal Engineers’ Cameron Williams, said there is some pressure for the home team to maintain their winning record from the past two editions of Royal Rumble.
In the inaugural event in 2022, which Saeed was a part of, Bahrain’s Royal Guard took on the British Army’s Royal Regiment of Fusiliers and won eight of the nine bouts. Last year, Saeed had to watch from ringside as the Royal Guard boxers defeated the British Army’s Parachute Regiment in six of the nine contests.
“There is a pressure to maintain the standard and maintain our victories,” Saeed told the GDN. “But our leaders, including His Highness Shaikh Khalid, always tell us to not be afraid, don’t be stressed. Hearing that from His Highness Shaikh Khalid makes us more relaxed for our fights.
“The previous years have also been great successes, and now this one seems to be even more promising. We have Amir Khan here as a guest, we have a chance to interact with him and have his perspective of the sport, and learn how we can progress ourselves as boxers moving forward.”
patrick@gdnmedia.bh
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