DAWN OF A NEW ERA IN INDIAN BOXING

Mr. Neerav Tomar & Mr.
Brigadier Raja, President of the IBC

Press Release: July 13, 2015 (Originally released July 8, 2015) By The Indian Boxing Council NEW DELHI: Indian Boxing has a brand new window of unlimited opportunities with the birth of a first of its kind organization – Indian Boxing Council. The “Indian Boxing Council” (IBC), a not-for- profit organization created for promoting the sport of Professional Boxing in India will be headquartered in Pune, Maharashtra. 

The IBC, a brainchild of the former Secretary General of the Indian Amateur Boxing federation, Brigadier PKM Raja is conceptualized as a National governing body that sanctions professional boxing matches and awards national and subordinate championship titles to its boxers. 

Announcing the formation of the IBC at a press conference here at New Delhi, Brigadier Raja, President IBC said “Indian Amateur Boxing has over the last 2 decades shown an exciting upswing, with outstanding performances at the Olympics, World Championships, Asian Games etc. Unfortunately we seem to have lost the momentum in the last 3 years owing to multiple squabbles and administrative issues with the World Amateur Boxing Body. Our boxers have suffered enough, it is time we did something for them.  We should be extremely proud that one of our boxers Vijender Singh is such hot property in the Boxing world that some of the biggest boxing promotions companies in the world are queuing up for his signatures. Let’s create more such Vijenders.”

The IBC will be a platform and an umbrella organization for boxers who have had a successful amateur career fighting for India, to now safely protect their own careers with structured, safe and more exciting prize fighting contests which are already existent around the world. 

The IBC announced 3 layers of competitions to create a whole new domestic circuit which will help Indian Boxers to gradually come up the ladder fighting 4 Round, 6 Round, 8 Round and 12 round Championship bouts. 

In another significant announcement, Brig. Muralidharan Raja announced the appointment of Mr. Neerav Tomar as the Chairman -Commercial Wing, IBC and he also appointed IOS Boxing Promotions as official commercial partner of IBC. which will be responsible for entire commercial rights engagements of IBC. Brig Raja said “IOS Boxing Promotions has recently achieved a historic milestone by taking Olympian Vijender Singh at a global platform of Professional Boxing in association with Queensberry Promotions and IOS has a proven track record for the last 10 years of  working and having managed country's top players, sporting events and rights and a long association with boxing.”

The newly appointed Chairman, Commercial Wing of IBC ,Mr. Neerav Tomar said "I am very  excited to take on this association with IBC forward to build and develop pro boxing in India and unlock the potential value commercially and we are on the threshold of creating history by bringing home a multi-billion dollar sport globally to this country.This is a great moment for Indian Boxing with India's top boxing administrators coming forward on one platform to promote the sport in the country. IOS has been associated with this sport for more than a decade and  this new initiative by Brig. Muralidharan Raja will surely help take the sport to the  next level".

Fight cards of an IBC affiliated competition can be built and marketed by a Boxing Promoter who can yearn to be spoken about in the same breath as the likes of Don King, Bob Arum and Frank Warren from around the world. The IBC alongwith IOS Boxing Promotions shall hold bids for Promoter licenses over the next few months to invite Marketing Groups, Entrepreneurs and individuals to come forward and build an entire new ecosystem in India. The true beneficiaries of such a system would be the Boxers, Trainers and Boxing clubs around the country who have nothing to look forward to after an amateur career which is usually short-lived and ends when the boxer is just 23 or 24.

To turn Pro – an amateur boxer needs to contact an IBC Boxing Commissioner from his zone (details of each Zonal Boxing Commissioner is up on the IBC website www.indianboxingcouncil.com). Boxers would be assessed on their preparedness for the rigours of Pro Fighting by an IBC appointed selection committee who will in turn nominate them for fighting in a Pre ranking tournament – the Indian Golden Glove Championships. Pro Licenses are awarded by membership commission of the IBC only after a thorough medical examination by the IBC medical commission.

Brigadier Raja added “When we talk about creating an ecosystem – we mean developing capacities in Refereeing & Judging of contests, Doctors and Paramedics, Other ring officials like Master of Ceremonies, Ring Whips, Trainers, Seconds, Cut men. The IBC is committed to training and developing an entire platform which can start producing true Asian Champions and World champions in the next few years."

Material and Photo Courtesy of: The Indian Boxing Council (IBC) Used with Permission.

The Boxing Truth® is a registered trademark of Beau Denison All Rights Reserved. 

Reader Poll: The Cruiserweights

Greetings Boxing fans. We here at The Boxing Truth ® would like to let our readers know that a feature regarding Boxing’s Cruiserweight division is currently in the works. The Cruiserweight division has a storied history, but has lacked mainstream exposure over the years, particularly in the United States. We would like to know your opinion in regard to the division.  Do you think the Cruiserweight division needs more exposure in the United States?

Please cast your vote in our polling section as:

Yes

No

Or

Undecided

This reader poll will be open from Friday July 10, 2015 until Monday August 3, 2015 with the feature to be released on Wednesday August 5, 2015.

Please also feel free to comment in the comments section below.

We look forward to hearing from you.

Stay Tuned “And That’s The Boxing Truth.”

The Boxing Truth® is a registered trademark of Beau Denison All Rights Reserved.

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Mayweather Stripped Of WBO Welterweight World Championship

The World Boxing Organization (WBO) has announced that it has stripped Floyd Mayweather of its Welterweight world championship. In a statement released today on the WBO’s official website Luis Batista Salas, chairman of the WBO championship committee stated that the sanctioning organization has in accordance with its rules stripped Mayweather of the championship that he won in a unification bout against, then WBO champion Manny Pacquiao on May 2nd.

In its statement the WBO said that Mayweather failed to respond to an extension that was given to him to decide whether he was going to relinquish the WBC/WBA Jr. Middleweight world championships that Mayweather currently holds, as WBO rules state that no WBO champion may hold a non-WBO championship in a weight class that is different from the weight class where a fighter holds a WBO world championship. This follows Mayweather’s statement following his victory over Manny Pacquiao that he intended to relinquish all the world titles he currently holds in both the Welterweight and Jr. Middleweight divisions.

Mayweather requested and was given an extension by the WBO until July 3rd after it had been announced that the sanctioning organization had sanctioned the recent Timothy Bradley-Jessie Vargas bout as being for the vacated WBO Welterweight world championship. The Bradley-Vargas fight, which took place at the StubHub Center in Carson, California on June 27th was changed from being for a vacated world championship to a fight for interim championship status in the WBO’s Welterweight ratings.

It is unclear as of this writing as to what this might mean for Timothy Bradley who scored a twelve round unanimous decision over Vargas. As of this writing, Mayweather still holds the WBC/WBA world championships in both the Welterweight and Jr. Middleweight divisions. As this observer stated last week, if Mayweather were to follow through with what he stated following his victory over Pacquiao and relinquish the world titles he currently holds, a fighter in Bradley’s position could find himself in one of two scenarios.

Bradley could be mandated as the WBO’s top contender to face the sanctioning organization’s next highest available contender to determine a new WBO Welterweight world champion. The other and perhaps more likely scenario as this observer stated could be that Bradley having earned interim championship status in the WBO’s Welterweight ratings could simply be named world champion by the sanctioning organization. It is a scenario that is not uncommon in the sport when a fighter is deemed as having interim status in a sanctioning organization’s respective ratings in a weight class for that fighter to be named champion in the event that the current champion either relinquishes his title or is stripped of it by the sanctioning organization in question.

It is also unclear as to what this might mean for both the WBC and WBA Welterweight world championships. As this observer stated last week, Bradley’s situation is one that is not all that unlike the situation that undefeated Welterweight contender Keith Thurman may find himself in the event that Mayweather either relinquishes or is stripped of the WBA version of the Welterweight world championship due to Thurman holding interim/regular champion status in the WBA’s welterweight ratings.

Thurman is scheduled to face former WBA Welterweight world champion Luis Collazo on Saturday, July 11th at the USF Sun Dome in Tampa, Florida. Although it is unclear whether the World Boxing Council (WBC) or the World Boxing Association (WBA) will take a similar approach to what the WBO has done, it is logical to assume that the winner of the Thurman-Collazo bout may be recognized as WBA world champion in the near future if Mayweather relinquishes or is stripped of the WBA title. Now that the WBO has vacated its Welterweight world championship it will be interesting to see if the division ends up with three vacated world championships at some point in the near future or if the WBC and WBA will hold bouts for those world titles in the event that Mayweather chooses to relinquish both world championships or is stripped. Stay tuned.

“And That’s The Boxing Truth.”

To read the WBO’s statement regarding the status of its Welterweight world championship please visit: http://www.wboboxing.com/resolution-to-vacate-wbo-title-of-floyd-mayweather/ .

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Follow Beau Denison on Twitter: www.twitter.com/Beau_Denison 

Update:

We want to let our readers know that new material will be released on Monday, July 6th.  Stay tuned. 

“And That’s The Boxing Truth.”

The Boxing Truth® is a registered trademark of Beau Denison All Rights Reserved.

Follow Beau Denison on Twitter: www.twitter.com/Beau_Denison 

 

Where Things Currently Stand In The Welterweight Division

An ongoing topic of discussion here at The Boxing Truth ® that readers have become accustomed to in recent months has been the state of the Welterweight division. Of course much of the discussion for a significant period of time centered around the fight that was deemed by some to be the “Fight Of The Century” between Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao.

Following Floyd Mayweather’s victory over Pacquiao on May 2nd however, Mayweather announced his intention to relinquish the world championships he currently holds in both the Welterweight and Jr. Middleweight divisions. Although Mayweather has not as of this writing vacated his world championships, the WBC/WBA /WBO Welterweight world championship and the WBC/WBA Jr. Middleweight world championship, both weight classes one might argue have been in limbo while Mayweather contemplates what he wants to do.

In regard to the Welterweight division, fighters such as Amir Khan, Robert Guerrero, Kell Brook, Shawn Porter, and Timothy Bradley have all recently entered the ring. If Mayweather does indeed relinquish his world championships, it will open opportunities for fighters to position themselves to fight for vacated world titles. Another important question will be if any of these fighters will potentially be in the discussion to possibly face Mayweather in September, in what could be the final time Mayweather enters the ring as a fighter.

Both Amir Khan and Kell Brook were successful against their recent opponents. Khan scored a hard-fought twelve round unanimous decision over former Jr. Welterweight world champion Chris Algieri on May 29th in Brooklyn, New York. Brook meanwhile, was successful in defending his IBF Welterweight world championship stopping top contender Frankie Gavin in six rounds on May 30th in London, England.

Robert Guerrero recently earned a hard fought split decision over journeyman contender Aron Martinez on June 6th in Carson, California. Although one might argue that Guerrero’s standing in the Welterweight division currently is not one of a fighter who is close to fighting for a world title, it is important to remember that Guerrero does have name recognition value and could find himself in an opportunity to fight for a world championship should one present itself, especially if Mayweather vacates his three Welterweight world championships, which would leave three vacancies at the top of the division.

On June 20th Shawn Porter scored a lopsided twelve round unanimous decision over former three-division world champion Adrien Broner at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada.  Porter, the former IBF Welterweight world champion one might argue could be a front runner for a potential bout against Mayweather based not only on Broner being a protege of Mayweather’s, but also Porter’s overall solid performance in a fight that he dictated and controlled pretty much from the opening bell. Despite suffering a knockdown in the final round of that fight, Porter was very impressive against a fighter in Broner who is known for his solid defense and accurate offense.

As for Timothy Bradley, he entered the ring to do battle on June 27th in the same venue that Robert Guerrero fought Aron Martinez, the StubHub Center in Carson, California. Bradley’s opponent was Jr. Welterweight contender Jessie Vargas. The fight was to determine interim championship status in the World Boxing Organization’s (WBO) Welterweight ratings. Originally, this fight was announced as being for the vacant WBO world title in the Welterweight division, but it was announced that Floyd Mayweather had been given an extension by the WBO to decide whether or not he was going to relinquish its welterweight world championship. This changed the Bradley-Vargas fight from being for a world championship, to determining a mandatory challenger if in the event Mayweather chooses to keep his WBO world championship.

For Bradley, it was his second fight since losing the WBO Welterweight world championship in his rematch against Manny Pacquiao in April of last year. Boxing fans of course remember Bradley being declared the winner of their controversial first encounter in June 2012.

Although many observers, this one included felt that the decision in the first fight between the two should have gone to Pacquiao, no one can deny that Timothy Bradley is the kind of fighter that gives it everything he has every time he steps in the ring. Despite suffering the effects of the controversy of that fight, Bradley is still one of the best Welterweights in the world.

Bradley however, was looking for his first win since losing the WBO championship back to Pacquiao last year after battling to a split decision draw against Diego Chaves in December of last year. In Vargas, Bradley faced an undefeated world-class boxer, who was moving up in weight and currently holds interim/regular champion status in the WBA’s Jr. Welterweight ratings.

In what was a competitive fight, Bradley was able to consistently force the action and gradually outwork Vargas over the course of twelve rounds to earn a lopsided unanimous decision. For Bradley, it was an impressive performance against a highly skilled world-class boxer in Vargas. With Khan, Guerrero, Brook, Porter, and Bradley all victorious in their recent bouts a question that some might have is how this will all impact the Welterweight division going forward.

In terms of Timothy Bradley, his victory over Jessie Vargas earned him essentially a world championship opportunity at some point down the line. Whether or not Bradley will find himself in position to fight Mayweather for Mayweather’s unified world title remains to be seen. If however, Mayweather does follow through with what he stated following his victory over Manny Pacquiao and relinquishes all the world titles he currently holds in both the Welterweight and Jr. Middleweight divisions, a fighter in Bradley’s position could find himself in one of two scenarios.

The first scenario would be Bradley, the number one contender facing the next highest available contender to determine a new WBO world champion. The second, and perhaps more likely scenario could be that since Bradley now holds interim championship status in the WBO’s Welterweight ratings that the sanctioning organization may simply declare him the new champion if in the event Mayweather either relinquishes his title or is stripped of it for failing to defend against the WBO’s top contender.

It is a situation that is not all that unlike the situation that undefeated Welterweight contender Keith Thurman could find himself in. Thurman, who currently holds interim/regular champion status in the WBA’s Welterweight ratings is scheduled to face former WBA Welterweight world champion Luis Collazo on July 11th in Tampa, Florida in a fight where Thurman’s interim status will be at stake.

It is certainly possible that the winner of that fight could be named WBA world champion if in the event Mayweather relinquishes his titles. As for Khan, Brook, and Porter, it is logical that either of the three could be potential Mayweather opponents and it is certainly possible that two of the three could face each other down the line. In the case of Porter and Brook, a potential rematch between the two for the IBF world championship is possible and as this observer stated following Porter’s victory over Adrien Broner, the fight between Porter and Brook was extremely close, could have gone either way, and had all the ingredients that warrants a second encounter. If Porter or Brook were to face Amir Khan, either fighter would present an interesting stylistic challenge for Khan.

Whether either these fighters are in consideration for a potential fight with Floyd Mayweather in September remains to be seen. It will however, be interesting to see whether the winners of two upcoming Welterweight fights can enter themselves into the discussion of either potential world title challengers and/or potential Mayweather opponents. In addition to Keith Thurman’s fight against Luis Collazo on July 11th, undefeated unified WBC/WBA Jr. Welterweight world champion Danny Garcia will move up in weight to the Welterweight division to face former two-division world champion Paulie Malignaggi on August 1st in Brooklyn, New York.

No matter who should win those fights and how the scenario regarding the Welterweight division and three world championships that are currently held by Floyd Mayweather plays out, the 147lb. Welterweight division remains one of the most competitive weight classes in the entire sport of Boxing. No matter what happens it is a division that will likely stay a topic of discussion for Boxing fans and experts alike for quite some time to come.

“And That’s The Boxing Truth.”

The Boxing Truth® is a registered trademark of Beau Denison All Rights Reserved.

Follow Beau Denison on Twitter: www.twitter.com/Beau_Denison