Middleweight Tournament Proposal

Alright lads, thought I would post this on here as this is a long post (cue mass exodus from this thread) and attention span is not something I associate with some of the guys in the general thread. I posted this is on 606 a while ago, so ignore it if you recognize it......

I thought I would get your views on an idea I've had for a while. Boxing for me at the moment is on a real high, in 2011 we have plenty of opportunities to crown undisputed and unified champions, something that in my experience means more exposure and more interest from the general public. Especially as we could see a legit Heavyweight champion as well.

I do however think this should be the status quo for the sport, not something that has or will become a rarity. The Super Six Tournament was a great idea, hopefully we should get to see the WBC champ go against the WBA champ soon enough. Taking this model, and perhaps correcting a few flaws it has, I've devised a Middleweight Knockout Tournament.

It would involve 16 fighters, I think the great thing about the Middleweights is that although there is plenty of talent in this division, none of the top guys are in 'Superstar ego mode'. Making consecutive match ups against world class opposition more likely than unlikely. Firstly the four current World Champions will be seeded, in the way we are used to seeing Champions league draws in Football;

First seeds

Sergio Martinez (WBC)
Felix Strum (WBA)
Sebastian Sylvester (IBF)
Dmitry Pirog (WBO)

These guys would not face each other in the first round or the quarter finals (last eight).

Second Seeds (Interim champs/No 1 contenders from each body)

Sebastian Zbik (WBC)
Hassan N'Dam (WBA)
Daniel Geale (IBF)
Gennady Martriosyan (WBO)

The second seeds cannot face the first seeds in the first round.

Third seeds (No 1 contenders/No 2 contenders from each body)

Julio Cesar Chavez JR (WBC)
Javier Castillejo (WBA) *Their rankings are all over the place.
Antony Mundine (IBF)
Fernando Guerrero (WBO)

Those in the third seeding group face the second seeds in the first round.

Fourth seeds (Wild cards or bigger names to make the tournament more promotable)

Matthew Macklin (European Middleweight champ)
Yuri Foreman (Former Junior Middleweight champ)
James Kirkland (Exciting American fighter)
Arthur Abraham (Former Middleweight champ)

Fight the first seeds in the first round.

So here would be the draw for the first round, all bouts would take place in the most financially viable venues;

Sergio Martinez vs James Kirkland
Felix Strum vs Arthur Abraham
Sebastian Sylvester vs Matthew Macklin
Dmitry Pirog vs Yuri Foreman
Sebastian Zbik vs Julio Cesar Chavez JR
Hassan N'Dam vs Javier Castillejo
Daniel Geale vs Antony Mundine
Gennady Martriosyan vs Fernando Guerrero

Potential Quarter Finals

Sergio Martinez vs Arthur Abarham
Sebastian Sylvester vs Julio Cesar Chavez JR
Dmitry Pirog vs Daniel Geale
Hassan N'Dam vs Fernando Guerrero

Potential Semi Finals

Sergio Martinez vs Hassan N'Dam
Sebastian Sylvester vs Dmitry Pirog

Potential Final

Sergio Martinez vs Dmitry Pirog


All going well, all four world title belts would be on the line come the final.

 

I know it's unrealistic and when I wrote that David was not in the higher ranking places by any of the four bodies but you could defo put him in as fourth seed.

BTW don't wanna go to far of topic but I'm not kneejerk enough to take Williams or Cotto of the list just because they were beaten by top P4P fighters, people forget achievements to quick.

 

No I havent got Marg above Cotto because as I said I am not kneejerk kind of a guy like those people at the Ring. Cotto actually beat a legit Light middle champ, unlike some other fighters you could mention.

As for Williams he was a high as 5 on alot of lists and then gets knocked out. He then plummets of the list, which is just incredible really.