Videocon bags franchise for World Series of Boxing

NEW DELHI - Videocon Industries Ltd. has bought the franchise rights for India in the high-profile World Series of Boxing (WSB), starting in September.

The electronic major has decided that Delhi will be India’s host city. It will also be among the 12 teams from Asia, Europe and America in the WSB, the ambitious professional series of International Boxing Association (AIBA) on the lines of cricket’s Indian Premier League. The 12 teams will fight it out on home and away basis.

AIBA President and WSB Chairman Ching-Kuo Wu said the franchise will popularise Indian boxing and cash in on the sudden surge of interest in the sport.

“There is a tremendous potential for boxing in India and a huge support base for nurturing talent. It is our pleasure to welcome India as one of the 12 franchisees for the WSB.

We welcome Videocon for their participation and are confident that WSB will bring about a paradigm shift and signal a new era in world boxing,” Wu said in a statement.

Pradeep Dhoot, president of Videocon, said that WSB will help Indian boxing attain global standards.

“We are excited and enthusiastic about our association with WSB. Through this partnership we would want to take Indian boxing to world standards,” he said.

“Our commitment to boxing is long term and we will invest in promoting the sport by developing facilities like boxing rings across India at grass-root level,” he added.

According to WSB rules, each franchise would cough up $5 million for 10 years.

Like IPL, the franchisee owners will generate revenue by selling sponsorship rights, merchandise and tickets besides getting a share of WSB central revenue from the media rights.

WSB will be the stepping stone for amateur boxers to become professionals without losing the eligibility to play in Olympics or World Championships.

It is also an attempt to cut the mushrooming promoter-based professional boxing leagues.

Each franchisee will have a team of at least 10 boxers, including three overseas participants.

Indian Boxing Federation secretary general P.K. Muralidharan Raja said the federation will work closely with the franchisee to get the best boxers in the team.

“It is a great news for Indian boxing. It will not only help to market the sport, but also improve its standard in the country. After the success of our boxers in the Olympics and other international events, this is the right step towards becoming a major power,” Raja said.

“We have to take a minimum of three foreign boxers in the team. All the teams will be eyeing the world’s best from Cuba and Russia. There will be bidding process for the foreign boxers during the World Championships in Milan (September) and we will have to formulate a strategy to see that we get the right players,” Raja told IANS.

WSB will crown both individual boxers and city-based teams as world champions.

Boxers will be seen in action without head guards and vests and compete in five bouts of three minutes each in the 10-point scoring system, much like professional boxing.

WSB will be held in five weight categories - bantam, light, middle, light heavy and heavy.