BoxRec

Accoding to 'the word on the street' Mark Hobson is to get a crack at the vacant WBU Cruiserweight Title against Czech fighter Roman Kracik in London on September 8th.

So presumably Enzo relinquished the WBU belt to have a crack at the WBO Interim belt versus Dominguez then? Talk about alphabet soup

steve689 wrote:So presumably Enzo relinquished the WBU belt to have a crack at the WBO Interim belt versus Dominguez then? Talk about alphabet soup

Thats what I've heard yes.

If Hobson wins and Enzo beats Johnny there is of course already talk of a rematch.

I know i'm probably way off here with my Boxing expectations but why couldn't Haye have fought Hobson recently instead of Abdoul? I mean at least it would have been more competetive and Hobson is no worse than the Belgian.

Although i suppose Abdoul was Haye's European mandatory maybe, flip all this confuses the heck out of me

Roman Kraciks record doesn't look that impressive to be honest even for the WBU.

http://www.boxrec.com/boxer_display.php?boxer_id=137714

Yes it is indeed disappointing kojoe, they could have at least wheeled out Rich La Montagne for another shot first! Shocking from a professional organisation like the WBU, they have lost all credibility in my eyes.

Gents, please remember that the WBU uses objective computerized rankings, so Kracik is there on merit.

jomothepure wrote:Gents, please remember that the WBU uses objective computerized rankings, so Kracik is there on merit.

Objective as in , oh look this guy is ranked way lower than Hobson and by the look of his record he has no chance of winning .

KOJOE90 wrote:Roman Kraciks record doesn't look that impressive to be honest even for the WBU.

http://www.boxrec.com/boxer_display.php?boxer_id=137714

Two Czech's fighting for the IBF "Central Asia Cruiserweight" title

Priceless!!

steve689 wrote:I know i'm probably way off here with my Boxing expectations but why couldn't Haye have fought Hobson recently instead of Abdoul? I mean at least it would have been more competetive and Hobson is no worse than the Belgian.

Although i suppose Abdoul was Haye's European mandatory maybe, flip all this confuses the heck out of me

Yep way off kid, Hobsons got a punch and ambition and Haye dont want none of that.

Would love to see Haye Hobson (although as a yorkshire man who is also a haye fan I'd be conflicted) the two have almost got it on about 3 times and it never came off don't think its anyones fault.

I hate the WBU title, I remember people who didn't know about boxing and weren't sure what the fuss over the Hatton Tzue fight and why it was a step up because he has already been a world champion for ages I respect the EBU (and therefor haye) far more as a title cos you need to have real fights and they set sereouse mandetories.

Hobson well deserves better.

I thought he beat Macca the first time even though it was close.

Bit irrelevant this, other than it's still about dodgy titles, but (46 yr old, still active) Laszlo Paszterko is probably unique in having fought for 3 different national titles (two of these admittedly "international" titles) these being the German int, Austrian int and Slovakian heavyweight titles. Paszterko was born in Hungary.
http://www.boxrec.com/boxer_display.php?boxer_id=010767

I agree with the alphabet soup confusion, but from a fighters point of view, winning and defending titles like the WBU mean much bigger purses. fighters can double their purses in comparison to British, Commonwealth and in some cases European titles. Yes, it would be great to shun these titles for the traditional ones but they dont pay and only the very top echelons of the fight game are paid enough to make it worthwhile - eg Haye, Arthur, Froch.

Also every sanctioning body is as bad as the rest in terms putting on non-competitive fights.

That's not strictly true Jimmy. The WBU is generally worth more than British title fights / defences, but certainly not "double".

5-10K (15K max) is more realistic. But the overiding point is that you can't blame fighters for heading down this route when they've got families to provide for.

Hobson is always value for money, so you wouldn't begrudge him cashing in after he previously spent 15 months on the sidelines prior to taking on Maccarinelli.

Ben Carey wrote:That's not strictly true Jimmy. The WBU is generally worth more than British title fights / defences, but certainly not "double".

If this is true and this may sound silly but why do fighters earn more for defending a WBU belt that the British one?

My guess is that some of the international boxers actually cost a lot less than than british fighters, although the commonwealth title is often fought for by african fighters that must come 'cheap'.
Also TV money for promotions is probably often more for "world title" fights than for British and commonwealth fights which are probnably more of a hard sell to the casual fan. Additionally fighters may be able to demand a little bit more as a "world champ".

Ben Carey wrote:That's not strictly true Jimmy. The WBU is generally worth more than British title fights / defences, but certainly not "double".

5-10K (15K max) is more realistic. But the overiding point is that you can't blame fighters for heading down this route when they've got families to provide for.

Hobson is always value for money, so you wouldn't begrudge him cashing in after he previously spent 15 months on the sidelines prior to taking on Maccarinelli.

Added to which the fighter's marketability is far more important than the title. Hatton earned a fortune as WBU champ, far more than most big three belt holders or WBO title holders do for defences.