SECA MAKES HUGE INVESTMENT TO BUILD CHINESE BOXING LEAGUE INTO A PREMIUM BRAND
By Ronnie Nathanielsz
PhilBoxing.com
Sat, 05 Sep 2015
Chinese sports marketing/management company SECA has started a new Chinese professional boxing venture with the premier Las Vegas-based boxing promotional company Top Rank headed by Bob Arum
Under the plan a new professional boxing league titled ?League of Fists? will be officially launched on September 4th.
Hall of Fame promoter Bob Arum said ?League of Fists is aiming to build a league that consists of high level boxing matches in order to provide Chinese boxers and boxing fans not only a sophisticated league system but also developing their boxing experience, as well as helping Chinese boxers compete on the international stage.?
For the past three years, Arum has been promoting world championship boxing events featuring Chinese boxers ZOU Shiming and YANG Lianhui and is recognized for his huge contribution to the development of professional boxing in China. These efforts have set a solid foundation in building up professional boxing in mainland China.
Both Top Rank and SECA acknowledge that there are many world class boxers in China. However, Chinese professional boxing lacks a systematic, scheduled, professional platform to allow more and more boxers to grow. As a result, the ?League of Fists? was developed.
The league organizers, Top Rank and SECA, are planning to host two seasons of boxing matches, the first season kicks off on September 4th in the Shanghai Mercedes Benz Arena; the second season is scheduled to begin between March and August in 2016.
Under the present plans every season will be comprised of 23 rounds with 224 matches. There will be 46 rounds and 448 matches annually. Every new season will have 80 boxers participating in eight different weight classes with 10 boxers in every weight level. There will be two rounds during each week of the season, with 20 matches overall in four different weight divisions. The matches will take place on select weekends Friday and Saturday throughout the season.
?League of Fists? has employed world-class production teams. The promotion operations will replicate every production detail of a Las Vegas event. No detail in staging, lighting, sound and fan experience will be overlooked.
Additionally, League of Fists has forged a partnership with Shanghai Five-Star Sports, Tencent Sports and CCTV5, enabling full live coverage on TV, online streaming and mobile devices. It will also work with every major traditional media and social media to put on a multi-dimensional promotion to attract a wider fan base.
League of Fists will include Fists Fight and Fists of Power to form a complete series of matches with the name of the match being registered as trade mark. Boxers will compete with each other in groups (Fists Fight) producing a Final Four with the boxers in each weight division. They will then be in the crossover elimination matches (Fist of Power) to award a champion at each weight level. The champions will be awarded the WBO Greater China Champion by the World Boxing Organization, and they will have the chance to move on to fights in Macau and the USA. The 80 boxers? results in each round will be calculated and then entered into the points and ranking system of WBO.
Photo: Sheng Li (L) with Chinese boxers during Friday's press conference in Shanghai. Photo by Rene Bonsubre Jr.
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Ronnie Nathanielsz.
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