I’m sure by now you have at least herd of the World Boxing Super Series, but what is it and is it good for boxing?
What is the World Boxing Super Series?
It is a tournament for professional boxers that will start in September 2017 and it will be completed in May 2018. The organisers said that they came up with the idea because they felt that there was something missing in boxing as there are no tournaments in professional boxing. Unlike in other sports as football has the World Cup, golf has the majors and tennis has grand slams. They feel that this will fill a gap in boxing.
How will it work?
Each tournament will consist of 8 boxers both seeded and unseeded all fights will be scheduled for 12 rounds just like a championship fight. When a fighter loses they will be eliminated, the tournament will be made up of quarter finals consisting of 4 fights, semi finals consisting of 2 fights and obviously a final. The winner of the final will be name champion and will win $50 million (£39 million). The diagram below will show you how the tournament will work.
At the start of each boxing season a weight category will be added to the tournament at the moment we know there will be a Super Middleweight and Cruiserweight tournament.
When and where will it happen?
The tournament will start in September with the first round of quarter finals, the second round of quarter finals will take place in October. The semi finals will take place in the new year in January, and the final will take place in May.
No venues have been confirmed but it is believed that over half the tournament will happen in the US. The tournament will also take place at venues around Europe.
Is it good for boxing?
On paper this seems like a really good idea because we will have the best fighting the best which can only be a good thing for the sport. However this tournament sounds very similar to the Super 6 tournament that ran from 2009-2011, that started well but then fighters started to pull out and the tournament lost some of its momentum and fans started to lose interest. In this tournament the organisers will have a list of reserve fighters that will take the place of any fighter that may have to pull out of the tournament
We will have to wait and see what happens but I think it could start well but then become a bit farcical like the Super 6, but I’d be very happy to be proven wrong.
The more important question is does boxing need this tournament, the organisers say that there are no tournaments in boxing if there are no tournaments then why do we have all those belts, aren’t they boxing’s tournaments. They are making it sound like there’s nothing to win in boxing well there are world titles. If this tournament become successful isn’t there a big danger that been world champion will no longer be good enough because a fighter can make more money and be in bigger fights fighting in this tournament, than they can been a world champion. I want to make it very clear I’m not against this tournament if anything I think it’s a good idea the organisers just have to make sure they don’t just look at dollar signs and they protect the integrity of the sport.
Please comment below and let me know your thoughts.
I must admit never gave it much thought so until I’ve watch it I will reserve judgement,but a very enjoyable subject great stuff nice to have you back cheers mate.