The boxing event Copa Independencia held in Dominican Republic has attracted seven other nations, said Bienvenido Solano, head of the Republic's boxing federation on Sunday.

 

The seven nations are Brazil, Ecuador, Venezuela, Colombia, Puerto Rico, Haiti and Cuba, and the event will run from February 14 to 18 in Santiago de los Caballeros, a city in Dominican Republic, Solano said.

 

For most competitors, the Copa will be a warm up for the qualifying meet held from the March 10 to 18 in Port of Spain, capital of Caribbean island nation Trinidad and Tobago, in which the boxers will seek tickets to Beijing 2008 Olympic Games.

 

Solana said the Republic's squad for the Copa will be 12 boxers, five of whom will seek an Olympic place in March.

 

He said the squad will include Juan Carlos Payanao and Claudio Marrero, silver medal winners in the 2007 Pan-American Games; Winston Mendez, who won bronze in the same contest; and Felix Manuel Guzman and Johnathan Batista.

 

As well as the national team, the Republic is sending regional boxing team from the metropolitan region, the south, the east and the north.

 

Only one Dominican fighter has so far qualified for the 2008 Olympic Games, which will be held in Chinese capital Beijing: Argenis Nunez who earned his ticket at the World Championships in United States city Chicago in November.

 

(Xinhua News Agency January 7, 2008)