Asia is rising as a force in world sport with new leagues, competitions and athletes emerging. But just who is the region’s most potent sports marketing force? John Davidson finds out.

Last month Bloomberg and BusinessWeek unveiled its annual ranking of the 100 most powerful athletes in sport. This list covers the earning potential for athletes both and on and off the field. Topping the 2010 rankings was unsurprisingly Tiger Woods, and the top 100 featured a lot of the usual suspects. Coming second was NBA star LeBron James, followed by golfer Phil Mickelson, baseballer Albert Pujols and American football star Peyton Manning. Other names that achieved a high spot in the US-centric rankings were Dwayne Wade, Michael Phelps, Shaquille O’Neal and Lance Armstrong, with David Beckham finishing 35^th.

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Delhi – Indian Boxing Federation today got XXX Energy Drink as the Title Sponsor of the forthcoming 5^th Commonwealth Boxing Championship 2010. Following the recent media reports stating the federation facing lack of sponsorships and shortage of funds to host the common wealth games, XXX has come forth to associate themselves with this coveted championship. XXX is a sensational energy drink from the house of the JMJ group. As the game of boxing is full of energy and adrenaline rush it was apt for XXX to associate with it. Like the game of boxing XXX also stands for extreme energy and tremendous excitement.

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Indian Olympic and world championship boxing medalist Vijender Kumar has been caught in unusual bout of sparring between two companies vying to promote the middleweight.

Vijender secured India’s first world championships podium finish with a bronze at Milan this week after earning the nation’s first Olympics boxing medal, also a bronze at Beijing last year.

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Wearing a tight, black vest emblazoned with the world “Invincible,” Indian boxer Vijender Kumar is enjoying the glamorous life that an Olympic medal has brought him.

The handsome 23-year-old revels in the attention lavished on him since he won India their first Olympic boxing medal — a bronze — in Beijing last year.

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India has become one of the 12 franchisees to have been selected by the International Boxing Association (AIBA) for the World Series of Boxing (WSB), slated for September 2010.
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The International Olympic Committee will consider the introduction of women’s boxing and an overhaul of the modern pentathlon among possible changes to events in time for London 2012. The IOC sports director, Christophe Dubi, said today that the executive board would consider 33 changes to the 26 existing Olympic sports before the London Games.

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