World Boxing Super Series By Richard Schaefer

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Ringstar Sports promoter Richard Schaefer plans on making a big splash after returning to boxing following a two-year hiatus caused by a nasty split with Golden Boy. As reported by RingTV, Schaefer plans on holding a transnational tournament with fighters from two weight classes competing for a trophy named after Muhammad Ali - not to mention $50M in prize money.

“Those who know me, they know that I like to do things big,” Schaefer said, drawing out the words in his Swiss accent, clearly enjoying himself. “This is a big trophy,” he pointed to a golden-wrapped prize in front of the stage. “This is big money and this is a big tournament. It is the biggest tournament. It is the greatest tournament.”

The tournament will be called the “World Boxing Super Series” and will hold its first bouts this September/October, ending in two championship matches in May 2018. The tourney will feature 16 fighters, with 8 fighters in each weight class fighting in a bracket-style, single elimination format.

The former Swiss banker has partnered with promoter Kalle Sauerland to put on this tournament where the ultimate winners could earn $10M+. There are still some details to be hashed out though since the weight classes haven’t been determined. Schaefer mentioned that he’d like to highlight historically neglected divisions, with cruiserweight and featherweight discussed as potential options with reporters.


Showtime executive Stephen Espinoza was in attendance for the announcement and mentioned his interest in possibly working with the tourney once the details were finalized. Schaefer also plans on talking with Al Haymon about the possibility of including his fighters in the tournament while also not ruling out working with other promotional outfits.

“I have no problem working with other promoters as well and giving them opportunities,” he said, adding that options won’t be written into deals so boxers will not be tethered to tournament officials after they have fought. “No strings attached. How great is that?” Added Schaefer of his own situation as a promoter who has signed mostly young fighters, “I’m really not a threat to Bob Arum or to Oscar De La Hoya or to whoever. I’m a start-up, so they shouldn’t be threatened.”

The weight classes and participating fighters will be announced live on TV with the top four boxers being seeded and allowed to choose who they want to face in the opening round. Addtional paticipants will be kept on reserve too in the event injuries arise, with Schaefer hoping to avoid the problematic issues that hurt the Super Six tournament. The $50M in prize money is said to have already been secured from multiple revenue sources.
 
As much as I hate to refer to a Queen B thread, there is already a thread on this.
 
This could turn out to be a great idea, particularly because they plan to keep some alternates ready in case something happens.
 
They have no fighters on board yet and the weight classes have not yet been determined, but longtime promoters Richard Schaefer and Kalle Sauerland announced plans Thursday in New York for the World Boxing Super Series, two eight-man single-elimination tournaments in which 16 fighters will divvy up $50 million in prize money.

The winner of each tournament could earn as much as $10 million for the final and will receive the Muhammad Ali trophy, which was created with the cooperation of Ali's family and designed by Silvio Gazzaniga, the designer of the FIFA World Cup trophy.

Schaefer, the former CEO of Golden Boy Promotions who founded Ringstar Sports last year, and Sauerland, long one of Europe's most significant promoters, said they will soon settle on which weight classes to stage the tournaments in and then hope to attract fighters ranked in the top 15, as well as world titleholders, of the various sanctioning organizations to participate.


"We want to focus on weight classes that might've been a bit ignored," Schaefer said. "We want to bring those fighters to the forefront and expose them."

Promoter Richard Schaefer said he hopes the World Boxing Super Series will bring fighters from less-publicized weight classes "to the forefront." Kris Connor/Getty Images
They plan to do so with television deals already locked up around the world, although an American deal is not complete. However, Schaefer said he is in "advanced discussions" with Showtime. Stephen Espinoza, who runs Showtime Sports and has had a close relationship with Schaefer for many years, attended the news conference on Thursday.

The promoters said the plan is to hold half of the 14 cards in venues in the United States, with the other half taking place elsewhere in the world, though Europe will be the focus. They said each fight would take place in a major arena, and then they ticked off several, including New York's Madison Square Garden and Barclays Center, Staples Center in Los Angeles, T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas and other major venues in the United Kingdom and Germany.

The quarterfinals in each tournament would take place in September or October, with the semifinals in January or February and the finals in May. Parent company Comosa AG, a Swiss company with principal owners from the world of marketing (Highlight Event & Entertainment), broadcasting (Modern Times Group) and boxing (Team Sauerland), said it has committed to three years' worth of tournaments.


"The tournament will set new standards, ensure coherent storylines and provide top-class boxing throughout the year," Comosa executive Roberto Dalmiglio said. "It is Comosa's ambition to turn the World Boxing Super Series into the world's biggest and best boxing tournament."

Sauerland was central to the creation of Showtime's Super Six World Boxing Classic super middleweight tournament, a modified round-robin that ran from 2009 to 2012 and crowned Andre Ward as the winner. Sauerland also came up with World Boxing Super Series, which he said has been in the works for three years.

Sauerland pitched the idea to Schaefer, hoping to bring him into the fold. Big-money ideas in boxing have come and gone time and again, and Schaefer said he was skeptical at first. But when he saw the presentation at a meeting he said he was blown away.

"I was skeptical at first but went into the meeting with an open mind," Schaefer said. "When I started to realize the quality of the material, the quality of the people, I immediately knew this is going to be something I not only wanted to be involved in, but I know it will succeed. These are people who not only have passion and deep pockets for the sport, these are people with the expertise to execute a tournament like this at the highest level."

Once they have a field of fighters for each tournament they plan to hold a televised "draft gala" in June. The top four fighters in each tournament will be seeded, with the seeded fighters then selecting their opponents from the unseeded remaining four. The top seed will have the first choice of opponent. If a participant has a world title, a defense of that belt would be incorporated into the tournament.

Also, the promoters said they would work closely with the sanctioning bodies to make sure they avoid any issues related to mandatory defenses. Sauerland brought up the fact that the sanctioning organizations cooperated during the Super Six by delaying mandatory orders until after the tournament had concluded.

There are many details still to be ironed out and announced, but the lure of perhaps as much $1 million for the quarterfinal fights should go a long way toward attracting competitors. Schaefer said the participants, who will be subject to drug testing in accordance with World Anti-Doping Agency standards, would each receive the same base purse, with the winner of each fight getting a win bonus as he advances on to the next round.

With any tournament there is always the possibility that a participant might drop out because of an injury or other reasons. Schaefer and Sauerland said they will have a pool of reserve boxers, whose names will be made public and who will be scheduled to fight on each undercard. So if there is a withdrawal, one of them will be available to take over the spot.

"Like in other sports [the tournament] will not be stopped or slowed for any one individual," Sauerland said.

Schaefer said he believes they will be able to get other promoters to allow their fighters to participate because of the amount of money at stake and the fact that the tournament organizers will not ask for any future rights to that fighter.

"The promoter makes money, the fighter makes money and the promoter doesn't have to chase TV deals," Schaefer said. "If [the promoter's fighter] wins he gets back a fighter who has been exposed on a global scale."

Said Sauerland: "We are not here to conquer and divide. We are here to add [to boxing]. This is about putting the best fights on, and ultimately, we are talking about a sizable check, which is better for all promoters."
 
WBC - Tony Bellew champ

1. Mairis Briedis
2. Marco Huck
3. Dmitry Kudryashov
4. Krszysztof Wlodarczyk
5. Olanrewaja Durodola
6. Ilunga Makabu
7. Krzystof Glowacki
8. Andrew Tabiti
9. Dmytro Kucher
10. Mateusz Masternak
11. Kevin Lerena
12. Noel Gevor
13. Maxim Vlasov
14. Denton Daley
15. Constantin Bejenaru

WBA- Denis Lebedev-Champ
Beibut Shumenov

1. Yunier Dorticos
2. Marco Huck
3. Arsen Goularmirian
4. Mateusz Masternak
5. Noel Gevor
6. Denton Daley
7. Ryad Merhy
8. Krzysztof Wlodarczyk
9. Mark Flanaghan
10. Marksim Vlasov
11. Ruslan Fayfer
12. Youri Kalenga
13. Kevin Lerena
14. Michael Hunter
15. Issa Akberbayev

IBF - Murat Gassiev/ Champ

1. NOT RATED
2. NOT RATED
3. Noel Gevor
4. Krzysztof Wlodarczyk
5. Dmitry Kudryashov
6. Mateusz Masternak
7. Kevin Lerena
8. Krzysztof Glowacki
9. Maksim Vlasov
10. Ruslan Fayfer
11. Maxim Maslov
12. Dmytro Kucher
13. Andrew Tabiti
14. Denton Daley
15. Micki Nielsen

WBO- champ

Oleksandr Usyk

1. Noel Gevor
2. Mairis Briedis
3. Firat Arslan
4. Krzystof Glowacki
5. Kevin Lerena
6. Krzystof Wlodarczyk
7. Maxim Vlasov
8. Michael Hunter
9. Ismayl Sillakh
10. Olanrewaju Durodola
11. Imre Szello
12. Dimitry Kudryashov
13. Michal Cieslak
14. Denton Delay
15. Andrew Tabiti

I can see a lot of cruiserweights interested in this tourney since this is not a very exposed division on tv or media! Should be fun, they expect a few champs to enter the tournament
 
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