last week, India’s most successful amateur boxer Vijender Singh turned professional. On Wednesday, a new body for professional boxing — Indian Boxing Council (IBC) — was launched by former Indian Amateur Boxing Federation (IABF) secretary general Brigadier PK Muralidharan Raja. The indicators are hard to miss. Professional boxing in the country is up for a massive fillip.
According to Brig Raja, IBC is a not for profit organisation registered under Section 8 of Indian Companies Act 2013 with an aim of promoting hitherto neglected professional boxing in the country. “Whatever money we will earn through this will be ploughed back into the sport,” he said.
So far, Indian boxers needed to look beyond the confines of the country to explore options in professional sport.
But now, with the launch of IBC, all they would need to do is contact an IBC zonal commissioner. Rest of the things will be taken care of by the IBC officials.
But that won’t guarantee them a pro fight. Boxers would be assessed on their preparedness for the rigours of pro boxing by an IBC appointed selection committee who will in turn nominate them for fighting in a Pre ranking tournament — the Indian Golden Glove Championships. Pro licenses are awarded by the membership commission of the IBC only after a thorough medical examination by the IBC medical commission.
The IBC, however, is still not affiliated with any of the five major international sanctioning bodies for pro boxing. “We’re yet to get an affiliation. But our first aim is to do some work so that we can show our intent to the world bodies,” Brig Raja said.
Incidently, IOS Sports and Entertainment, that was instrumental in acquiring a lucrative pro boxing contract for Vijender, is also a major stakeholder in the IBC. IOS MD and CEO Neerav Tomar was appointed chairman of IBC’s commercial arm. “It is like making a movie, promoters are the producers, the boxers are the stars. Our job is to bring in promoters and how many come along would depend on the stardom of the boxer.
IBC will provide us with the raw material, they will give us the boxers and then we will put on the show by having multiple promoters on board,” Tomar said explaining the concept.
The IBC will work as a facilitator between boxers and promoters. It will hold bouts for the national title, the winners of which will progress to the world rounds.
“The boxer will get 70 per cent of the earnings, while his coach will get 30 per cent of it. The profit from the bout will go to the promoters. So, it is a win-win situation for everybody,” Raja said.
As IBC is aware of the risk that the amateur boxer will take by turning pro, it has tried to incentivise the risk by setting a minimum purse for every bout.
The lowest level of bouts that is termed as ‘exhibition bouts’ and categorized under Silver Gloves Series will ensure a boxer a minimum of `10,000 per fight. While The IBC Series National Title will carry a minimum purse of `6 lakh. There is no upper limit. The first fight, which IBC plans to use as an exhibition for all the possible promoters and advertisers, is expected to happen at the end of September or early October.