BACK in December, Mauricio Sulaiman and the WBC revealed a new tournament that would allow fighters who lack promotional backing and an opportunity to shine on the big stage. Sulaiman is attempting to deliver on his late father’s vision of a ‘Boxing World Cup’.
As anticipation for the inaugural event continues to build, further details regarding the competition have now been unveiled for what could later be considered a landmark event in years to come.
Sulaiman took the reins as WBC president after the death of his father, José, in 2014, and has followed in his footsteps by becoming one of the most influential figures in the sport and maintaining the reputation of the WBC’s coveted green and gold world titles.
At the press conference for Beterbiev-Bivol II, Mauricio Sulaiman paid homage to his father when announcing the competition, which is backed by newfound Saudi powerhouse Turki Al-Alshikh and Riyadh Season. He declared his hope of seeing fighters from lesser-funded nations shine under the spotlight, as per the WBC.
“With the incredible support and vision of His Excellency Turki Al-Alshikh, Dr. Rakan, his team and Sela, we are bringing to life a tournament that will revolutionize the sport and unearth incredible new talent. This is the first ever event in which the young talents are going to have the opportunity to come out from unknown parts of the world to shine through the Grand Prix,” stated Sulaiman.
The round-robin tournament consists of 32 fighters from each of the four selected weight classes (featherweight, super-lightweight, middleweight, and heavyweight) and will begin in April. The final for each weight category is planned for December, with all 124 fights taking place in Saudi Arabia.
Each participant must be under 26 years old, have no more than 10 professional contests to their name, and hail from one of the 41 participating countries across five continents.
However, it is not just the competition itself that could prove to be revolutionary. Each bout will also see the inclusion of modern tools such as instant replay officiating and open scoring, which will inform fighters of the scorecards after rounds two, four, and six. Draws have also been removed to force progression.
Finally, earlier stages of the tournaments will be six-round affairs, with eight-rounders becoming the norm in the latter phases, encouraging fighters to take an aggressive initiative and adopt a more intense pace.
Official confirmation of the participants for each weight category is expected imminently, as well as the official start date for the intriguing event that is touted to begin next month.
