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How the World Boxing Super Series Is Making Boxing Better
When Naoya Inoue meets Nonito Donaire in the bantamweight final of season two of the World Boxing Super Series on Thursday in Japan, the event’s organizers will for the third time have accomplished something truly grand in the world of professional boxing.
No, this wasn’t just the latest repackaging of that same tired concept that permeates every single boxing promotional outfit in the world. You know the one. It features a promoter talking big things about his best fighters only to consistently pit them against a who’s who of people those fighters should have no trouble beating.
They do it over and over and over again until something really big comes along, and even when that happens, it doesn’t mean we get to see something special.
But the World Boxing Super Series makes stars, and it’s a concept that could potentially turn boxing’s future toward something more like the best parts of other professional sports someday. It features tournaments where the best fight the best in order to crown the top fighter in the field.
If boxing had a playoff system like other professional sports, the World Boxing Super Series is what it would look like. Heck, that should probably be the goal. Let’s turn this thing into boxing’s playoff system.
The first season of the World Boxing Super Series featured tournaments in the cruiserweight and super middleweight divisions. Oleksandr Usyk defeated Murat Gassiev in July 2018 to become the very first fighter to win the Muhammad Ali Trophy, which is the award given to tournament winners.
More impressively, because all four major titleholders had agreed to enter the tournament, Uysk’s win over Gassiev made him just the third person ever to become undisputed cruiserweight champion (and first of the four-belt era), following Evander Holyfield (IBF, WBA, WBC) in 1988 and O’Neil Bell (IBF, WBA, WBC) in 2006.
Two months later, Callum Smith defeated George Groves in Saudi Arabia to win the super middleweight bracket along with the WBA title.
In both cases, the World Boxing Super Series served as a platform for relatively unknown fighters to prove themselves against elite competition on the world stage. The tournament also forced that growth to happen over a short amount of time.
There were no long waits after fights to find out who Usyk or Smith would face next. That was always dictated by the tournament, and in addition to being nice and timely, it was always a quality opponent.
Despite some reported issues on the business side of things that led to some fighters threatening to pull out of the tournament, no one actually ended up doing that so the second season of the World Boxing Super Series was also a success.
Last month, Josh Taylor defeated Regis Prograis to win the junior welterweight tournament. Taylor entered the bracket as a highly regarded prospect but left it being a unified world champion on top of the division.
This week, Inoue and Donaire have the chance to do something very similar. For Inoue, winning the bantamweight tournament would solidify the fighter as one of the best fighters in all of boxing. For Donaire, a win would bring the 36-year-old right back to where he was during his prime years.
Sometime later this year, Maris Briedis will face Yunier Dorticos in the cruiserweight tournament final. The winner of that bout will also become unified champion. While the cruiserweight division seems like the most ignored division over 135 pounds in all of boxing, the World Boxing Super Series has actually given huge opportunities to those 200-pound limit fighters most everyone ignores that otherwise would have gone unrealized.
I mean, how many cruiserweight bouts did you see before the World Boxing Super Series came along? And how many have you watched since?
There’s no doubt that both Taylor, the winner of Inoue-Donaire and winner of Briedes-Dorticos will be in much better positions than they were just two years ago before the tournaments started.
They’ll be the new Usyks and Callum Smiths. They’ll be the fighters who have actually done something great. They’ll be the champions people want to see do even more big things, and they’ll be the names everyone in boxing knows by heart.
So far, the World Boxing Super Series is a mountain, and at the top of that mountain, the winners wear crowns. There’s no denying how much better boxing has been since it’s come along.
The fighters who have hoisted the Muhammad Ali Trophy have accomplished much more than they could have using the one-fight-at-a-time approach that permeates the rest of the sport.
Those who are about to do it are likely to experience the same.
In a boxing world gone mad with little ideas and constant regurgitations from the same tired playbook, the World Boxing Super Series is giving fighters a real chance to change their lives. That’s never really been all that common in the sport, so let’s hope nothing comes along to derail it.
But even if it does, there’s nothing proprietary about tournaments like this that other promoters couldn’t duplicate on their own. Heck, the World Boxing Super Series was at least partially inspired by the Super Six World Boxing Classic that solidified Andre Ward’s stardom eight years ago after he won its 168-pound tournament.
Tournaments make boxing better. That’s how the World Boxing Super Series is making the sport better, and it’s time for others to embrace the concept, too.
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R.I.P Israel Vazquez who has Passed Away at age 46
Israel Vazquez, a three-time world champion at 122 pounds and one of the most crowd-pleasing prizefighters of any era, has passed away at the age of 46. WBC president Mauricio Sulaiman revealed the bad news today (Dec. 3) on his social media platform.
Born on Christmas Day 1977, Vazquez began his pro career in his native Mexico City at age 17. He was 16 fights into his pro career when he made his U.S. debut in El Cajon, California, under the management of Frank Espinoza.
Vazquez is most remembered for his four-fight rivalry with fellow Mexico City native Rafael Marquez.
The first two meetings were contested before small crowds in Carson, California, and Hidalgo, Texas.
Marquez won the first meeting thanks to a left hook that broke Vazquez’s nose in the opening round. The nose swelled to the point that Vazquez, who was making the fourth defense of his WBC super bantamweight title, could no longer breathe and he was all done after seven rounds.
Vazquez won the rematch (TKO 6), setting the stage for a rubber match that would be a fight for the ages. The bout, contested on March 1, 2008 at the soccer stadium in the Los Angeles suburb of Carson, was a shoo-in for Fight of the Year, earning that accolade from the BWAA, The Ring magazine and others.
Vazquez pulled that fight out of the fire in the final round, knocking Marquez to the canvas to win a split decision. Ron Borges, writing for this publication, wrote, “they knocked pieces off each other that could never be fully reattached.”
That was true of the detached retina in Vazquez’s right eye. It would require multiple surgeries before Vazquez, nicknamed “El Magnifico,” fought again and the eye would eventually be replaced by a prosthetic.
Their fourth meeting, contested before a celebrity-studded crowd at LA’s Staples Center, was anticlimactic. Vazquez, damaged goods, was stopped in the third round and never fought again.
All four meetings were televised on Showtime which celebrated the rivalry in 2015, airing highlights from all four fights on March 7 of that year. TSS West Coast Bureau Chief David A. Avila, looking back at the series, wrote, “[It was] 28 rounds of the most scientifically brutal and awe-inspiring prizefighting at an elite level.” Avila would also call Israel Vazquez one of the sport’s greatest gentlemen, a class act, as evinced in his energetic handshake whenever meeting a new fan.
Vazquez used his ring earnings to open a boxing gym in the Greater Los Angeles City of South Gate.
Vazquez’s passing wasn’t unexpected. Mauricio Sulaiman announced last month that Vazquez had been diagnosed with Stage IV Sarcoma, a particularly virulent strain of cancer and along with Oscar Valdez and Top Rank, established a GoFundMe account to defray his medical expenses. Today, Sulaiman wrote, “Israel Vazquez is finally resting in peace. May God give strength and support to his wife Laura, their children, family and friends during these difficult times.”
We here at TSS share that sentiment and send our condolences.
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Fighting on His Home Turf, Galal Yafai Pulverizes Sunny Edwards
The Resorts World Arena in Birmingham, England, was the site of tonight’s Matchroom Promotions card featuring flyweights Galal Yafai and Sunny Edwards in the main event. Yafai went to post a short underdog in what on paper was a 50/50 fight, but it was a rout from the start.
Yafai got right into Edwards’ grill in the opening round and never let up. Although there were no knockdowns, it was complete domination by the Birmingham southpaw until the referee stepped in and waived it off at the 1:10 mark of round six.
“Bloodline” was the tagline of the match-up. Sunny’s brother Charlie Edwards, now competing as a bantamweight, is a former flyweight world title-holder. Galal, a gold medalist at the Tokyo Olympics, is the third member of his family to make his mark as a prizefighter. Brother Kal, also a former Olympian, once held a world title at 115 and brother Gamal was a Commonwealth champion as a bantamweight.
Edwards and Galal Yafai were well-acquainted. They had fought as amateurs and had shared the ring on many occasions as sparring partners. Although Galal was 31 years old, he had only eight pro fights under his belt and was meeting a veteran of six world title fights whose only loss in 22 starts came the hands of the brilliant Jesse “Bam” Rodriguez.
But that loss to Rodriguez in Arizona (Edwards’ corner pulled him out after nine frames) was of the kind that shortens careers. Although Sunny won a tune-up fight since that setback, tonight he had the appearance of a boxer who had grown old overnight. In fact, after the second round, he was heard saying to his corner “I really don’t want to be here.”
Edwards wanted out, but he dutifully answered the bell for the next four rounds. After the bout, he indicated that he had planned to retire after this fight, win, or lose, or draw.
The contest was billed as a WBC “eliminator” which positions Galal Yafai (9-0, 7 KOs) for a match with Japanese veteran Kenshiro Teraji, the long-reigning light flyweight title-holder who moved up in weight last month and captured the WBC flyweight title at the expense of Cristofer Rosales.
Other Bouts of Note
Welterweight Conah Walker, from the Birmingham bedroom community of Wolverhampton, won a clear-cut 10-round decision over Lewis Ritson, winning by scores of 98-93 and 97-93 twice.
A former British lightweight champion, Ritson (23-5) lost for the fourth time in his last six starts, but was game to the core. At various times he appeared on the verge of being stopped, but he may have won the final round when he got the best of several exchanges. Walker, a heavy favorite, improved to 14-3-1 (6).
In a 12-round middleweight match, Kieron Conway won his fourth straight, advancing to 22-3-1 (6) with a split decision over a local product, Ryan Kelly (19-5-1). Kelly got the nod on one of the cards (115-114), but was out-voted by his colleagues who had it 116-112 and 115-113 for Conway.
While the decision was fair, this was a lackluster performance by Conway who had fought much stiffer competition and entered the ring a 6/1 favorite.
Twenty-two-year-old junior welterweight Cameron Vuong, a stablemate of Jack Catterall, stepped up in class and improved to 7-0 (3) with a 10-round unanimous decision over Gavin Gwynne. The judges had it 97-94, 96-94, and 96-95.
Vuong, who is half Vietnamese, out-boxed Gwynne from the outside but was far from impressive. A 34-year-old Welshman and veteran of eight domestic title fights, Gwynne (17-4-1) was the aggressor throughout and there were scattered boos when the decision was announced.
In a scheduled 8-rounder that wasn’t part of the main card, Liverpool’s Callum Smith (30-2, 22 KOs) wacked out Colombian trial horse Carlos Galvan in the fifth round. Smith, whose only defeats came at the hands of future Hall of Famers Canelo Alvarez (L 12) and Artur Beterbiev (L TKO 7), knocked Galvan down in the fourth and then twice more in the fifth with body punches before the match was halted. Galvan declined to 20-15-2.
Photo credit: Mark Robinson / Matchroom
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Avila Perspective, Chap. 306: Flyweight Rumble in England, Ryan Garcia in SoCal
Avila Perspective, Chap. 306: Flyweight Rumble in England, Ryan Garcia in SoCal
With most of America in a turkey coma, all boxing eyes should be pointed toward England this weekend.
Former world titlist Sunny Edwards (21-1, 4 KOs) challenges the fast-rising Galal Yafai (8-0, 6 KOs) for a regional flyweight on Saturday, Nov. 30, at Resorts World Arena in Birmingham. DAZN will stream the Matchroom Boxing card.
Without the fast-talking and dare-to-be-great Edwards, the flyweight division and super flyweight divisions would be in a blanket of invisibility. He’s the kind of personality the lower weight classes need.
The London kid loves to talk and loves to fight even more.
Edwards was calling out Jesse “Bam” Rodriguez when the San Antonio fighter was blasting out feared Thai slugger Srisaket Sor Rungvisai and dismantling Mexico’s Carlos Cuadras. And he did this in front of a worldwide audience.
Of course, he fell short of defeating the young superstar but he kick-started the weight division with new life. And here he is again enticing more eyes on the flyweights as he challenges another potential star.
“I was happy and proud of Galal when he won the Olympic gold medal,” said Edwards who has sparred Yafai many times. “When me and Galal get in a small space, it’s fireworks.”
Yafai, a 2021 Tokyo Olympic gold medalist, only has eight pro fights but at age 31 doesn’t have time to walk through the stages of careful preparation. But with blazing speed to go along with big power in his southpaw punches, it’s time for the Birmingham native to claim his spot on the world stage.
Is he ready?
“It’s a massive fight, it speaks for itself. Sunny is a great fighter, a former world champion, a good name and we’ve got history as well,” Yafai said at the press conference.” I’ve got to be a bit smarter, but I know Sunny inside-out.”
Both have blazing speed. Yafai has the power, but Edwards has the experience of pro-style competition.
Promoter Eddie Hearn calls this one of the top fights in British boxing.
“Sunny doesn’t care, he wants to be in great fights, he believes in himself and he is rolling the dice again on Saturday night, as is Galal. An Olympic gold medalist from Birmingham with just a handful of fights really, and already stepping up to take on one of the top, top flyweights in the world,” said Hearns.
Ryan Garcia in Beverly Hills
The budding Southern California superstar Ryan Garcia met the boxing media in Beverly Hills to announce an exhibition match against Japan’s kickboxing star Rukiya Anpo on December 30 in Tokyo. FANMIO pay-per-view will show the match if it takes place.
Garcia is still under contract with Golden Boy Promotions and according to the promotion company an agreement has not been established. But with Garcia under suspension for PED use following his last fight against Devin Haney back in April, an opportunity for the popular fighter to make a living will probably be allowed.
As long as everyone gets their cut.
Now 26, Garcia seeks to get back in the prize ring and do what he does best and that’s fire left hooks in machine gun fashion.
“He tried to knock out Manny Pacquiao and it pissed me off,” said Garcia on his reasons for accepting an exhibition match with the bigger in size Anpo. “That rubbed me the wrong way and now I’m here to show him someone in his prime with speed and power.”
Anpo wants a knockout and nothing else.
“I regret that I couldn’t finish Manny Pacquiao,” said Anpo who met Pacquiao in an exhibition this past summer in Tokyo. “That’s what we train to do in every fight. I have even more motivation this time and I will knock him out and finish Ryan Garcia as a professional.”
Following the press conference on Tuesday, Nov. 26, an e-mail by Golden Boy was sent to the media and stated: “Golden Boy Promotions has exclusive rights to Ryan Garcia’s fights. The organizers of this event (Garcia vs. Anpo) have acknowledged as such and have agreed in writing that our sign-off is needed for this event to occur. As no such sign-off has been given, as of today there is no event with Ryan Garcia.”
Simply said, they get their cut or no fight.
The potential money-making fight has a strong possibility to occur.
Photo credit: Mark Robinson / Matchroom
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