David Price has been offered the chance to become the first professional to box at an Olympic Games.
The Liverpudlian turned professional after winning a bronze medal at super heavyweight in Beijing last summer and boxing is the only Olympic sport that excludes professionals.
But the International Boxing Association (AIBA), the amateur world governing body, has agreed a deal that would allow Price to compete in the newly formed World Series of Boxing (WSB) and go to London 2012.
British boxers failed to win a medal at the World Amateur Championships that finished in Milan on Saturday and the cupboard looked particularly bare in the biggest weight division, in which Andy Jones, the British ABA champion, who was sent by Wales after not being selected by Great Britain, was stopped after 99 seconds of his opening bout by Erislandy Savón, a adolescent from Cuba.
The WSB, which is 25 per cent owned by IMG, the sports marketing giant, is the AIBA’s answer to the loss of its talent to the professional code, allowing boxers to be paid, while retaining their power to compete at the Olympics. Rather than competing individually, boxers will be part of teams, over five weight divisions, each competing in five round bouts, with no headguards or vests and with professional style scoring. There will be 12 franchises based over three continents. A deal has been agreed for London to host a franchise, which will not be qualified to British boxers.
At the end of a regular season, there would be play offs to decide a winning team and individual rankings. Boxers would be offered the security of three year contracts worth between $40,000 (about £24,000) and $300,000 with prize money on top.
Only “professionals” competing in the WSB will be allowed to box at the Olympics, boxers who have already turned professional or who leave the system will be excluded. An exemption has been offered to Price, although he is far from certain to take it.
Price, 26, made a winning professional debut in March, after signing with Hayemaker, the promotional company of David Haye. However, after working as Haye’s sparring partner in Cyprus before the cancelled bout with Wladimir Klitschko when Setanta, the television company that had a deal with Hayemaker, went to the wall Price was not offered any more bouts.
His deal with Hayemaker has expired, but Price is believed to have received offers from at least three professional promoters as well as the WSB.
The British Boxing Board of Control (BBBC) has come under pressure to appoint three judges in all title bouts after Tyson Fury’s controversial English heavyweight title win over John McDermott on Friday. The points verdict, which was widely criticised, was made by Terry O’Connor, the referee, who made Fury a 98-92 points winner, while most observers saw McDermott as the winner. BBBC rules state that every bout beneath British title level is decided only by the reader, unlike most countries where all bouts are decided by three judges.
The Liverpudlian turned professional after winning a bronze medal at super heavyweight in Beijing last summer and boxing is the only Olympic sport that excludes professionals.
But the International Boxing Association (AIBA), the amateur world governing body, has agreed a deal that would allow Price to compete in the newly formed World Series of Boxing (WSB) and go to London 2012.
British boxers failed to win a medal at the World Amateur Championships that finished in Milan on Saturday and the cupboard looked particularly bare in the biggest weight division, in which Andy Jones, the British ABA champion, who was sent by Wales after not being selected by Great Britain, was stopped after 99 seconds of his opening bout by Erislandy Savón, a adolescent from Cuba.
The WSB, which is 25 per cent owned by IMG, the sports marketing giant, is the AIBA’s answer to the loss of its talent to the professional code, allowing boxers to be paid, while retaining their power to compete at the Olympics. Rather than competing individually, boxers will be part of teams, over five weight divisions, each competing in five round bouts, with no headguards or vests and with professional style scoring. There will be 12 franchises based over three continents. A deal has been agreed for London to host a franchise, which will not be qualified to British boxers.
At the end of a regular season, there would be play offs to decide a winning team and individual rankings. Boxers would be offered the security of three year contracts worth between $40,000 (about £24,000) and $300,000 with prize money on top.
Only “professionals” competing in the WSB will be allowed to box at the Olympics, boxers who have already turned professional or who leave the system will be excluded. An exemption has been offered to Price, although he is far from certain to take it.
Price, 26, made a winning professional debut in March, after signing with Hayemaker, the promotional company of David Haye. However, after working as Haye’s sparring partner in Cyprus before the cancelled bout with Wladimir Klitschko when Setanta, the television company that had a deal with Hayemaker, went to the wall Price was not offered any more bouts.
His deal with Hayemaker has expired, but Price is believed to have received offers from at least three professional promoters as well as the WSB.
The British Boxing Board of Control (BBBC) has come under pressure to appoint three judges in all title bouts after Tyson Fury’s controversial English heavyweight title win over John McDermott on Friday. The points verdict, which was widely criticised, was made by Terry O’Connor, the referee, who made Fury a 98-92 points winner, while most observers saw McDermott as the winner. BBBC rules state that every bout beneath British title level is decided only by the reader, unlike most countries where all bouts are decided by three judges.
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