326 women boxers to compete at AIBA 2016 Women’s World Championships in Astana (PHOTOS)

The boxers will take to the ring to compete for gold medals and twelve Rio 2016 Olympic licenses, Kazakhstan Boxing Federation says.

“The event is promised to become the strongest one in its 15-year history,” aiba.org predicts.

Katie Tailor from Ireland and MC Mary Kom from India are going to set up their sixth record and earn the world’s champion titles.

Among the favorites for the gold are London Olympic Games winners – U.S. boxer Claressa Shields, British Nicola Adams – and Chinese Ren Cankan.

326 boxers applied for the championship in total with Jordan, Mozambique and Sierra-Leone to be represented for the first time in the competition’s history.

The majority of the teams has already arrived at Astana. Trainings are held at three local facilities – Boxing Development Centre, Tolkyn Sport Complex and Astana Arena.

“We are living in thrilling times for women’s boxing, and the 2016 AIBA World Championships will once again raise the profile of this incredible sport around the world. We are both fortunate and hugely proud to have iconic champions, young talents and inspirational figures taking part in Astana, and the city of Astana is ready to begin another sporting journey by which future tournaments can be measured. I am confident we will experience an amazing event in a country with a longstanding boxing tradition," said AIBA President Dr Ching-Kuo Wu

The opening ceremony will take place May 19 at 18:00.