India is ready to launch its own professional boxing league on the lines of the Indian Premier League (IPL).
India is ready to launch its own professional boxing league on the lines of the Indian Premier League (IPL) but is holding on so as not to jeopardise the similar World Series of Boxing (WSB) that has been announced by the International Boxing Association (AIBA).
“We will have a city-based league, the details of which have been more or less worked out,” Indian Boxing Federation (IBF) secretary-general, Colonel PK Muralidharan Raja, told DNA on the sidelines of an AIBA function on Thursday.
“Our league will be organised whether or not India manage a franchisee for the WSB. But we will go ahead only after the AIBA puts its own league in place as we don’t want to disturb that,” he said.
“We see great potential in boxing and hope to grab the vacant second spot after cricket,” said Raja, even as AIBA officials met potential city franchisees here, many of whom had bid for the IPL teams last year. The AIBA, which has signed a strategic partnership with the International Management Group for the WSB, met representatives of Vijay Mallya’s UB Group and the Mahindra group of companies among other corporates.
“We have got a favourable response and are hopeful of seeing an Indian franchisee among the 12 teams. We want only $ 5 million (about Rs 25 crore) over a 10-year period for a franchise and a fraction of that amount as running expenses,” said Julian Brand, sr vice president, events and federations of IMG. The WSB, to be launched in September 2010, will see boxers participating in the professional style (without headgear and vests) and can also compete in amateur events like Olympics.
The organisers are looking for four franchisees each in the three regions of Americas, Europe and Asia, with pugilists competing in team events and individual championships in five weight categories — bantam, light, middle, light heavy and heavy. There will be a regular season, play-off, exhibition matches and individual championships with each bout consisting of five rounds of three minutes each, judged by three officials on a 10-point system.
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