The WBC officially announced the start of the “The Big Belt Championship” tournament that will kick-off on September 17th at the Austin Coliseum in Austin, Texas. This tournament will be limited to four-round fighters with six fights or less. All rounds will take place at venues in Texas.
The competition will take place at flyweight, bantamweight, featherweight, lightweight, welterweight, middleweight, light heavyweight, and heavyweight. Women will compete at flyweight, bantamweight, featherweight, and lightweight. The format will be direct elimination with winners advancing until they reach the grand final. The tournament champions will be presented with a green and gold WBC belt.
The scheduled dates are September 17 in Austin, October 1 and 29 in Dallas, November 5 in Laredo, semi-final 1 on November 12 in Fort Worth, semi-final 2 on December 17 in McAllen and the grand final on January 28 in Houston.
If you’re a licensed pro boxer with no more than six fights and want to compete, register before September 10 at https://boxingshowcase.com/registration/
WBC President Mauricio Sulaimán stated this is the type of initiative that our sport really needs since it has been demonstrated that the talent is there in the gyms. The only thing missing is that those boxers who dream of hitting the big time need to be given the opportunity, and this is what “The Big Belt Championship” is now offering them.
Sulaiman to me is full of crap but this doesn’t seem to be a bad idea. I know it’s a way to get more money out of these guys, hopefully it reasonable sanctioning fees but this is a good stepping stone for boxers who may otherwise may never see the opportunity because they go “undiscovered”. Hopefully good things come out of it.
When I saw the title I was irritated, thinking that it was another way to exploit the sport, but it actually not a bad idea. I just hope it’s done correctly.
Notice how they have only the original eight weight divisions-seem to be admitting that all these extra divisions are only there for sanctioning fees and more paper champions. May be a start to badly needed reform.
Cheapens the belt!!!
It’s not a world title…
I have never understood why boxing, a sports where many times the outcome is decided by judges have even number rounds, this makes zero sense. Why not odd number like 5-7-9-11-13-15 rounds thus potentially eliminating draws especially in title fights?
Not a bad idea. PKA kick-boxing on ESPN used to have 9-round title fights back in the ’80s. Why not boxing?
Well, it used to be 15 rounds. An odd number. Am I being too much of a sceptic to suggest draws mean more rematches and $?
Butterbean is coming out of retirement
Brilliant!
BS