New Year starts with a Bang in the City of Dreams!

UPB Season 3, Edition 7 – The New Year brings Boxing joy to the City of Dreams, Mumbai with UPB going there for the first time. Exciting start to ‘24!

The new year would see a major first for UPB reaching Mumbai, a City which is known for its showbiz and entertainment, which will witness a UPB Fight Club event for the first time. Planet Hollywood, which is nestled in the prime location of Hiranandani Estate in Thane City would host this one-of-a-kind Night, hopefully which would be a start for more such action in Maximum City.

The Main Fight of the evening is the rematch in the Super Flyweight category for 8 Rounds, between the undefeated Shanborlang Marbeniang and the city-boy Adil Rajesh, who Drew with each other in a closely contested bout last September in Delhi. Since then, Adil is coming from a loss in a WBC title fight and a subsequent win whereas Shanborlang is coming from two knock-out wins and is very high on confidence. Adil has the home-ground advantage and would want to have a clear win this time instead of just getting the edge in one of the three Judges’ scores. On the other hand, Shanborlang would all geared up to finish the matter this time and etch his name into one of this weight division’s giant killers and etch his name as the most sought after Prospects not just in this Division but in the whole Country. This is a Fight which is the show-stopper of the evening, one which Fight fans are waiting to see for some time now.

The Co-Main Fight of the evening is between Larapborsing Kharbani and Saurabh Kumar. This contest would be duelled over 8 Rounds in the Bantamweight division. Kharbani had a shock 2nd Round knock-out loss in his debut Fight but he has come back strong since then with UD and KO wins in the following 2 Bouts. But he’s up against one of the top Boxers in Country in Saurabh, who recently challenged for the WBO Oriental title unsuccessfully in China. He has the experience and the hunger to get back to winning ways but Kharbani will not be a Walk-in-the-Park for him. This is going to be a tactical bout; one which the purists would savour.

The first of the International Bouts of the Evening between India and Nepal would be between Hitesh Khasa from Haryana in India and Binish Rai from Nepal, in the Middleweight division for 4 Rounds. Binish has a record of 11-3 (Wins/Losses) in the Amateur circuit in Nepal whilst Hitesh is a College-level Gold medallist and a State-level Silver medal winner from Haryana. Both the Boxers have an aggressive style of Boxing but could take a measured approach in order to seal a debut win for themselves. This is going to be the first one of the heavier weights on the night.

The second International Bout shall be a 4 Round contest between Harsh Sharma from India and Lal Prasad Upreti from Nepal in the Flyweight division. Harsh had an unfortunate outcome in his debut bout in November last year, which was declared a ‘No Contest’ on some technical grounds however Harsh had impressed in that outing and would now want to have his first win by defeating Upreti, who is a two-time Province (State) champion and has an Amateur record of 16-4 (Wins/Losses) in the Amateur circuit in Nepal and is quite sharp inside the Ring.

The Super Featherweight 4 Round contest between debutant Harsh Saroha and Sandeep Kumar is going to be one of the Bouts of the evening. Harsh is a decorated medallist with wins in multiple State championships and he would be testing his mettle against Sandeep, who after a stuttering start a year ago has come back with 2 wins and 2 draws, the last of which was against a seasoned Boxer in Pawan last December. This showdown would be one of the showpiece Bouts of the evening with two top prospects going against each other.

The comeback action of the evening is the 4 Round Heavyweight bout between Arjun, who is coming back to action after almost 2 years and Omkar, who is coming back after 5 years. Arjun has one of the promising talents in the heavier divisions in the country but has been plagued by injuries and personal issues, which hasn’t seen him consistently on the circuit in the last 5 years. He would like to make amends and take out his opponent soon and hopefully have a consistent run of bouts from now on. Omkar, on the other hand, would just want to win on home ground.

Kicking off the event in the Super Flyweight division is a 4 Round battle of local boys who both would want to score their first win on the pro-circuit. Amit would be looking for his first win in his fourth bout against the debutant Amir, who is University and State-level medal winner. Amit, although has had 3 losses in his previous 3 Fights against much more experienced Boxers, he would want to utilise the experience to secure a win over the new-kid-on-the-block Amir, who is quick footed and can be a slippery character in the Ring. A speedy start to the night in prospect.

The stage is set at the Planet Hollywood hotel, one of the most iconic global hospitality Brands. There is palpable excitement in the air and among the Hotel members and hopefully would complement our otherwise full house online audience across the globe. So get Punching!

For more information about the event and the complete fight card, visit our website Dafanews.com. Don’t miss out on this epic showdown in the world of boxing tomorrow!