PROMOTER Richard Schaefer is confident lucrative television deals will soon be signed for the inaugural World Boxing Super Series.
The tournament spans two weight classes and includes 16 of the best super-middleweights and cruiserweights in the world.
Now that the Draft Gala has taken place and the first round of fights decided, networks now know exactly what they would be purchasing the rights to.
“The thing is, this is a new concept. As much credibility as Kalle [Sauerland], me, the other organisers bring to the table, ultimately TV networks want to know what fight they are buying,” Schaefer told Boxing News.
“They want to know who is going to fight who. In boxing, networks pay on those fights and they want to know who’s fighting. So now the initial conversations with the TV networks can gain steam.”
TO SEE THE FULL LIST OF FIGHTS FOR THE QUARTER-FINALS, CLICK HERE.
The Series is set to hit venues all over the world, predominantly focusing on the seeded fighters; George Groves, Callum Smith, Juergen Braehmer and the Chris Eubank Jnr-Arthur Abraham winner at super-middleweight, and Oleksandr Usyk, Murat Gassiev, Mairis Briedis and Yunier Dorticos at cruiser.
The full set of dates and venues will be announced shortly. With so much money involved for the fight purses of every participant, there is a chance their supporting cards may lack depth.
However, Schaefer insists they will strive to make sure every show is full of talent.
He said: “We’ll work with Kalle to put together good undercards with local fighters and there are also reserve fighters for the tournament, and they’ll fight on these undercards. We’ll have to see, but we’ll be putting together attractive and entertaining undercards.”
Vincent Feigenbutz is the reserve at super-middleweight, and he will more than likely feature on the undercard of Braehmer’s fight with Brant, which looks set to take place in Germany.
At cruiserweight, former WBO champion Krzysztof Glowacki is the reserve. The first set of bouts will take place over September and October of this year, so Schaefer knows time is of the essence.
“Kalle and I will have our work cut out promoting these fights. We have to move quickly to secure dates and venues and get things going,” he said.
