Hatton, Malignaggi and Crolla launch ULTIMATE BOXXER, eight-man tournament kicks off April 27, 2018

[ILikeBeer]

So kinda like Prizefighter.. EventCity though.. Not bad.. Close to home..

Good stuff by Event City, if you want to go out to eat etc....

[ILikeBeer]

Bit snide my last post. They’re just young lads having a go so good look to them and to be fair they are probably not old enough to remember Prizefighter.

Has it really been that long since they've had a Prizefighter tournament?

[Ruthless-RKO]

So kinda like Prizefighter.. EventCity though.. Not bad.. Close to home..

Good stuff by Event City, if you want to go out to eat etc....

Trafford Center next door.

[Spud]

Good news

[Wales]

The only problem I have with this format, is that an injury can derail it, and result in the best fighters not being in it towards the end.

Even with months preparation that can happen though, nature of the beast I guess.
Just like in the super six when Kessler and Taylor withdrew, more recently the WSB where Brahmer has withdrawn and generally in the sport where guys pull out and are replaced all the time . Rarely in boxing do we see the best fighters facing off, be it due to injury or promotional complexities.

Personally I like the idea of 8 undefeated fighters facing off instead of padding their records in a leisure centre on a Sunday afternoon against Latvian roadsweepers.

Just a shame the only financially viable way for undefeated fighters (and their promoters) to fight each other is by signing up for novelty side shows like this to generate enough interest in the sport to balance the reward with the risk.

[Stuffs]

Lineup....

Tom Young (Leeds, 4-0)
Sam Evans (Wednesbury, 9-0-1)
Kaisee Benjamin (Birmingham, 3-0)
Ben Eland (Notts, 4-0-1)
Drew Brown (Nothants, 7-0)
Jimmy Cooper (Hampshire, 6-0-1)
Louis Greene (Kent, 8-0)
Andy Kremner (Manchester, 8-0)

For some reason this at Manchester Arena, with tickets starting at £30 in the "First Release"... Gonna be a huge ask to try and get anywhere near a quarter full.

[PredatorHayds]

Kremner will win that IMO

[jamamb]

they have similar looking records. unbeaten but not tested much (only 2 guys have wins over ppl who had winning records). few stoppages.

louis green might have the best record, and also the only one with at least a 50 percent ko rate. overall only 11 stoppages between 8 fighters, and 7 of those stoppages are between louis greene (8-0 4kos) and sam evans (9-0-1 3 kos).

but they seem around the same level until proved otherwise, and should be the types to fight hard with the opportunity.ill have to check out more footage

[jamamb]

lol and i only just noticed the double x in boxer

why not ad a third x and make a porno of it

[Stuffs]

It's small hall stuff.

[mickey1975]

Seriously, what's new about it? It's The Prizefighter at a lower level! I don't get how it's at the arena.

[jamamb]

obviously tournaments arent new, been around for ages

if they say its unique its prob just some marketing attempt. and any uniquness comes from some trivial or superficial aspect. or the double xx

still im looking forward to it. a big step up on prospects vs the usual 36-40 journeymen

[Ruthless-RKO]

[handsofstone]

I read the other day Spike are showing this live on Friday

[jamamb]

i wonder what happened to louis greene, he seemed like a front runner

[Stuarty]

Looking forward to this on Friday actually. I'm intrigued to see what it's like. Few beers and watch the action

[happyNY18]

Maybe im not reading it right but to me it seems identical to prizefighter?

Why copy a fornat that ultimately failed?

I think there is room in boxing for tournaments though at lower/domestic levels. Not a fan of 3 round fights at all though, 3 rounds isn't enough.

I always thought a tournament series could work something like:

6 rounds quarter finals
8 rounds semi
10 or 12 final

And have them staggered, so for example a card may be something like:

Welterweight QF 1, A vs B, 6x3
Welterweight QF 2, C vs D, 6x3
Welterweight QF 3, E vs F, 6x3
Welterweight QF 4, G vs H, 6x3
Lightweight Semi 1, A vs D, 8x3
Lightweight Semi 2, F vs H, 8x3
Main event: Cruiserweight Final, D vs F, 10x3

Then the next card, say 8 weeks later, would feature the Lightweight final, the welter semis & a new set of quarters. This kind of rotating format combined with a 24/7 style background on domestic fighters and their daily lives i think would gave excellent production value & would perhaps be an excellent "break out" opportunity for future ppv level fighters.

[leejonesjnr]

Maybe im not reading it right but to me it seems identical to prizefighter?

Why copy a fornat that ultimately failed?

I think there is room in boxing for tournaments though at lower/domestic levels. Not a fan of 3 round fights at all though, 3 rounds isn't enough.

I always thought a tournament series could work something like:

6 rounds quarter finals
8 rounds semi
10 or 12 final

And have them staggered, so for example a card may be something like:

Welterweight QF 1, A vs B, 6x3
Welterweight QF 2, C vs D, 6x3
Welterweight QF 3, E vs F, 6x3
Welterweight QF 4, G vs H, 6x3
Lightweight Semi 1, A vs D, 8x3
Lightweight Semi 2, F vs H, 8x3
Main event: Cruiserweight Final, D vs F, 10x3

Then the next card, say 8 weeks later, would feature the Lightweight final, the welter semis & a new set of quarters. This kind of rotating format combined with a 24/7 style background on domestic fighters and their daily lives i think would gave excellent production value & would perhaps be an excellent "break out" opportunity for future ppv level fighters.

Would be great but ultimately the money isn’t there, audiences don’t want to sit through loads and loads of longer fights and injuries and general life outside the ring can easily derail the whole thing

[happyNY18]

Maybe im not reading it right but to me it seems identical to prizefighter?

Why copy a fornat that ultimately failed?

I think there is room in boxing for tournaments though at lower/domestic levels. Not a fan of 3 round fights at all though, 3 rounds isn't enough.

I always thought a tournament series could work something like:

6 rounds quarter finals
8 rounds semi
10 or 12 final

And have them staggered, so for example a card may be something like:

Welterweight QF 1, A vs B, 6x3
Welterweight QF 2, C vs D, 6x3
Welterweight QF 3, E vs F, 6x3
Welterweight QF 4, G vs H, 6x3
Lightweight Semi 1, A vs D, 8x3
Lightweight Semi 2, F vs H, 8x3
Main event: Cruiserweight Final, D vs F, 10x3

Then the next card, say 8 weeks later, would feature the Lightweight final, the welter semis & a new set of quarters. This kind of rotating format combined with a 24/7 style background on domestic fighters and their daily lives i think would gave excellent production value & would perhaps be an excellent "break out" opportunity for future ppv level fighters.

Would be great but ultimately the money isn’t there, audiences don’t want to sit through loads and loads of longer fights and injuries and general life outside the ring can easily derail the whole thing

Surely injuries are easier to deal with over a period of weeks that on the same night? The big downside of PF was the format encouraged guys to pile it on so they could make an impression inside 9 minutes.... leading to many guys going into semi's or finals either gassed or with a cut.

The super6 had its probkems with dropouts but it was still a big success imo & added greatly to the careers of Ward & Froch. If a fighter pulls oit of a semi... award his place to a wildcard loser from the QFs... perhaps to a SplitDec loser.

[leejonesjnr]

Maybe im not reading it right but to me it seems identical to prizefighter?

Why copy a fornat that ultimately failed?

I think there is room in boxing for tournaments though at lower/domestic levels. Not a fan of 3 round fights at all though, 3 rounds isn't enough.

I always thought a tournament series could work something like:

6 rounds quarter finals
8 rounds semi
10 or 12 final

And have them staggered, so for example a card may be something like:

Welterweight QF 1, A vs B, 6x3
Welterweight QF 2, C vs D, 6x3
Welterweight QF 3, E vs F, 6x3
Welterweight QF 4, G vs H, 6x3
Lightweight Semi 1, A vs D, 8x3
Lightweight Semi 2, F vs H, 8x3
Main event: Cruiserweight Final, D vs F, 10x3

Then the next card, say 8 weeks later, would feature the Lightweight final, the welter semis & a new set of quarters. This kind of rotating format combined with a 24/7 style background on domestic fighters and their daily lives i think would gave excellent production value & would perhaps be an excellent "break out" opportunity for future ppv level fighters.

Would be great but ultimately the money isn’t there, audiences don’t want to sit through loads and loads of longer fights and injuries and general life outside the ring can easily derail the whole thing

Surely injuries are easier to deal with over a period of weeks that on the same night? The big downside of PF was the format encouraged guys to pile it on so they could make an impression inside 9 minutes.... leading to many guys going into semi's or finals either gassed or with a cut.

The super6 had its probkems with dropouts but it was still a big success imo & added greatly to the careers of Ward & Froch. If a fighter pulls oit of a semi... award his place to a wildcard loser from the QFs... perhaps to a SplitDec loser.

Everyone’s problems with the Super 6 was that it went on for 2 years.

There is currently a tournament spread over multiple shows for the midlands area title and that has had a number of issues including the starting lineup dropping from 8 participants to 6 and bouts floating around due to injuries, pull outs and outside issues. If you have shows which have parts of three different tournaments on them, any injuries etc then affect the training and preparation of 13 other boxers and probably the 14 on the next show and the one after etc.

Injuries on the night can be either dealt with or the boxer can withdraw and a sub steps in, but 14 men training for the same show, all making it without training injuries is highly improbable and subbing people in takes away the integrity of the whole concept, imagine the reaction if Smith ‘wins’ the Super Series by beating ‘not George Groves’.

[gilgamesh]

Tournaments are only really cool if there's something prestigious on the line for winning it. I suppose it's a chance for the guys involved to get more notoriety though so good for them.

[Oiky]

I like the tournament setting

[happyNY18]

Would be great but ultimately the money isn’t there, audiences don’t want to sit through loads and loads of longer fights and injuries and general life outside the ring can easily derail the whole thing

Surely injuries are easier to deal with over a period of weeks that on the same night? The big downside of PF was the format encouraged guys to pile it on so they could make an impression inside 9 minutes.... leading to many guys going into semi's or finals either gassed or with a cut.

The super6 had its probkems with dropouts but it was still a big success imo & added greatly to the careers of Ward & Froch. If a fighter pulls oit of a semi... award his place to a wildcard loser from the QFs... perhaps to a SplitDec loser.

Everyone’s problems with the Super 6 was that it went on for 2 years.

There is currently a tournament spread over multiple shows for the midlands area title and that has had a number of issues including the starting lineup dropping from 8 participants to 6 and bouts floating around due to injuries, pull outs and outside issues. If you have shows which have parts of three different tournaments on them, any injuries etc then affect the training and preparation of 13 other boxers and probably the 14 on the next show and the one after etc.

Injuries on the night can be either dealt with or the boxer can withdraw and a sub steps in, but 14 men training for the same show, all making it without training injuries is highly improbable and subbing people in takes away the integrity of the whole concept, imagine the reaction if Smith ‘wins’ the Super Series by beating ‘not George Groves’.

Sure 14 fighters all fighting for 1 card could pose problems, but with contigency/backup fighters being available for quarter or semi bouts i don't think it would be too difficult to overcome. Having finalists pull out is another story as i would envisage finals being the headline - but is it much different from any other weekend of boxing? Golovkin Canelo 2 was scheduled to be the biggest fight of 2018 and its descended into farce with a shambolic opponent and change of network & even state that it will be held. It happens, tournament format or not.

[leejonesjnr]

Surely injuries are easier to deal with over a period of weeks that on the same night? The big downside of PF was the format encouraged guys to pile it on so they could make an impression inside 9 minutes.... leading to many guys going into semi's or finals either gassed or with a cut.

The super6 had its probkems with dropouts but it was still a big success imo & added greatly to the careers of Ward & Froch. If a fighter pulls oit of a semi... award his place to a wildcard loser from the QFs... perhaps to a SplitDec loser.

Everyone’s problems with the Super 6 was that it went on for 2 years.

There is currently a tournament spread over multiple shows for the midlands area title and that has had a number of issues including the starting lineup dropping from 8 participants to 6 and bouts floating around due to injuries, pull outs and outside issues. If you have shows which have parts of three different tournaments on them, any injuries etc then affect the training and preparation of 13 other boxers and probably the 14 on the next show and the one after etc.

Injuries on the night can be either dealt with or the boxer can withdraw and a sub steps in, but 14 men training for the same show, all making it without training injuries is highly improbable and subbing people in takes away the integrity of the whole concept, imagine the reaction if Smith ‘wins’ the Super Series by beating ‘not George Groves’.

Sure 14 fighters all fighting for 1 card could pose problems, but with contigency/backup fighters being available for quarter or semi bouts i don't think it would be too difficult to overcome. Having finalists pull out is another story as i would envisage finals being the headline - but is it much different from any other weekend of boxing? Golovkin Canelo 2 was scheduled to be the biggest fight of 2018 and its descended into farce with a shambolic opponent and change of network & even state that it will be held. It happens, tournament format or not.

Even when using the words farce and shambolic in your example of why it’s ok, you don’t see the problem?
If a number of under prepared stand ins are brought in you no longer have a tournament or a result with and meaning.

[happyNY18]

Everyone’s problems with the Super 6 was that it went on for 2 years.

There is currently a tournament spread over multiple shows for the midlands area title and that has had a number of issues including the starting lineup dropping from 8 participants to 6 and bouts floating around due to injuries, pull outs and outside issues. If you have shows which have parts of three different tournaments on them, any injuries etc then affect the training and preparation of 13 other boxers and probably the 14 on the next show and the one after etc.

Injuries on the night can be either dealt with or the boxer can withdraw and a sub steps in, but 14 men training for the same show, all making it without training injuries is highly improbable and subbing people in takes away the integrity of the whole concept, imagine the reaction if Smith ‘wins’ the Super Series by beating ‘not George Groves’.

Sure 14 fighters all fighting for 1 card could pose problems, but with contigency/backup fighters being available for quarter or semi bouts i don't think it would be too difficult to overcome. Having finalists pull out is another story as i would envisage finals being the headline - but is it much different from any other weekend of boxing? Golovkin Canelo 2 was scheduled to be the biggest fight of 2018 and its descended into farce with a shambolic opponent and change of network & even state that it will be held. It happens, tournament format or not.

Even when using the words farce and shambolic in your example of why it’s ok, you don’t see the problem?
If a number of under prepared stand ins are brought in you no longer have a tournament or a result with and meaning.

I just don't think the problems you are highlighting are problems that are exclusive to tournaments; they are general challenges that every promoter faces anyway, sure i can see why such issues could be amplified in tournament formats but as i mentioned in my first post in this thread, i think there is room in boxing for such formats, especially at domestic level. Asking stand-ins to be prepared in case of dropouts in early stages of tournaments surely can't be that hard at lower levels where tough journeymen looking for a payday are ten a penny. It's finals and headliners i think is where it gets a little more problematic. As you mentioned, George Groves shoulder injury reflects that, but if the contest is postponed for a while before actually coming off, i suspect the tournament will still be reflected upon as being a success.