Franchise system to give boxing popular punch’
Post CommentLarger | Smaller Nitin Sharma
Tags : boxing, India, International Amateur Boxing Association, Ivan Khodabakash

Boxing is set to be promoted on a scale not seen before, at least in this part of the world, when the World Series of Boxing gets going later this year. After drafting procedures for the franchises, the International Amateur Boxing Association is working on the finer details for the event to be held in November across 12 cities of the world, including Delhi. Videocon has bought the Indian franchise. The Sunday Express spoke to Ivan Khodabakash, the chief operating officer of WSB. Excerpts:

The IPL has been a phenomenally successful business model for cricket. Will WSB draw inputs from it?

We have been following the IPL for the last two years and I agree it has brought many innovations in terms of how people watch the sport. We will certainly draw inspiration from the IPL.

The WSB constitution says there will be a special programme for junior boxers. What is the plan for India in particular?

From the time we conceptualised WSB, we have kept in mind that each franchisee will have to make a core group of 20 boxers who will be trained by that franchisee. These young boxers will also be paid and offered individual contracts. Indian boxers will get similar contracts.

How do you see India as a market?

India is a leading market for us. No other country offers so much potential in terms of audience and revenue. The game has grown here after Indian boxers gained success at the world level and we need to take advantage of that. A new aspect of WSB is that the teams come from different countries, so there will be a wider scope to create team loyalty. Team Delhi, for instance, will also be supported by, say, people of Kolkata since it is an Indian team.