China Dragons will be seeking their first victory on Saturday in the Sixth World Series Boxing (WSB) on Saturday when they take on the strong team Cuba Domadores at home.
The category C-1 match (49, 56, 64, 75 and 91 kilograms) will take place in the city of Sanya on Hainan Island, Southeast China's sports center. The fights will correspond to qualification Group A.
Huang Xin (49 kg), Wang Long (56 kg), Hu Qianxun (64 kg), Zhao Minggang (75 kg) and Li Mingtao (91 kg) form China's team.
The Domadores will be represented by - in the same weight order - Santiago Amador, Robeisy Ramirez, Kevin Brown, Arlen Lopez and Frank Sanchez.
According to predictions, the experienced Ramirez, London Olympics 2012 gold-medallist, and Lopez, Doha (Qatar) World Champion 2015, should last the pace against their Chinese opponents.
Ramirez remains undefeated in the World Series with six victories while Lopez holds the record of eight wins and three defeats.
The rest of the team should also come out of the fights victorious and complete their second clean sweep in as many matches during this WSB edition.
In December, Amador and Sanchez were declared Cuban champions in their respective categories. Sanchez won this title after defeating the top man in the division, Erislandy Savon, who had been undefeated for 17 fights.
Brown, Youth World Champion, has only fought in one match in the WSB where he defeated an Algerian boxer last series.
During the Fifth World Series, Cuba Domadores and China Dragons faced each other on two occasions and the Caribbean island dominated both meetings.
In this edition, Lopez is the only boxer from last year's Cuban team to face China once again.
In the first round of the WSB, China lost 2-3 in Istanbul to the Turkiye Conquerors. A week later the Turkish team were defeated 5-0 by the Cubans, they won every round.
Cuba's powerful squad have only participated in the WSB since 2014. They won the series in 2014 and came second in the 2015 edition.
Cuba's plan is to take back the title they won in 2014 from Kazakhstan's Astana Arlans who won in 2015.
The Caribbean island are favorites to win however they will need to defeat the Ukraine who are also part of Group A and have a strong team this year.
British Lionhearts, USA Knockouts, Mexico Guerreros and Morrocco Atlas Lions make up Group B in this semi-professional tournament while Caciques Venezuela, Argentina Condors, Russian Boxing Team and Rafako Hussars Poland form Group C.
Current champions, Kazakhstan's Astana Arlans, are included in Group D along with Uzbek Tigers, Azerbaijan Baku Fires and Puerto Rico Hurricanes. It is the first time that Uzbekistan are competing in the tournament.
The two best teams from each group will go on the quarter finals which will take place at the start of April.
The winners will then go through to the semi-finals and final on May 20 and 21.
The tournament will act as an Olympic qualifying event for the upcoming games in Rio de Janeiro in August.
