Would a Klitchsko open invitational tournament work?

One of the worst parts of boxing is politics. It is holding back the sport massively and is of course a necessary evil. My last post gave me an idea, which is really out of the square, but which i think might work, if a promoter (and of course the Klitchskos) were to take it on.

Quite simply, everyone wants a shot at the brothers, but there is obviously jostling to get that shot. So, why not try an open tournament. The rules of entry are made clear and are non negotiable. The prize is in winning or entering the tournament and not in negotiating a good deal.

The idea is for the klitchskos to stage a 32 man open invitational tournament with the following set conditions:

A fighter entering the competition will fight each fight at the time, date and location specified by the Klitchskos.
If there are more than 32 applicants, the Klitchskos reserve the right to pick the 32 successful applicants.
The payment for the tournament will be on a win loss basis and will be staged, so that the rounds are worth more money as the rounds advance. It would be up to promoters to work out how to profit, but it must be accepted that good fighters will fight for less money in the early rounds, but there will be a mega payday at the end.
fights shall be held every month.
There are no hidden options or tricks in the contracts simply a case of round one is worth 10000 for the winner and 5,000 for the loser etc. I suppose you could include a bonus which would be a share of the gate and/or revenue but this must be cut up equally.
The winner of the tournament gets a shot at the Klitchskos world title (their choice) or perhaps even both, one after the other. The other Klitchsko brother gets to pick (his choice) his title challenger from the losing fighter who put up the best performance in the tournament.

So that is my thoughts of what a promoter of the Klitchskos should do.


I am not sure what calibre of fighter would enter the tournament, but you would like to think that many of the top 10 would like to actually back themselves and take part in such a tournament.

 

You are right about regular fighting, but the problem is it just isnt the way, and with all the negotiations that go on, fighters simply arent fighting any more. More often than not, it is because they want to preserve their zero (or streak) and get picked in a lottery for a title shot. Every fight a contender has is a risk at losing the pay day. That is why i am thinking of outside the square solutions to try to make it in a fighters financial interest to actually fight, without having politics slow things down. In fact, Politics should actually help things (because fighters are contracted to fight and fight quickly) for once.

I know it isnt ideal and your way is better, but that just doesnt happen anymore. Something like i proposed might just shake things up enough to get fighters fighting again. The flipside to such a tournament is that once one major promoter does it, we coudl see other similarly structured tournaments take place (at the lower levels) This would both promote these fighters and raise the profile of fighters at local levels, thus making it profitable again for fighters to fight regularly.

 

I am not so sure Janitor.

For a start, the caliber of fighter we see at the moment currently includes the likes of Pianato, Wach, Mormeck and Charr.

Let us just suppose what i suggested was proposed by the Klichskos.

Open invitational you want to enter you sign on the dotted line within 6 months following terms:
$ X paid for expenses (can obviously have include set fees for travel, or whatever is arranged)
Standard Drug Tests, Minimum number of promotional appearances, 12 rounds, must fight at time and place and against opponent in tournament etc.
Round 1 - Winner is paid $20,000 Loser is paid 10,000
Round 2 - Winner is paid $40,000 loser is paid 20,000etc
Wlad Title challenge: Winner is paid 2 million dollars loser is paid 1 million dollars.
Now obviously my figures will be out, but the promoter will know what he would usually have to pay for fighters of this quality, and he would not be seeking to take advantage of the fighters, but instead would be trying to make the tournament good for all around. It may also be that instead of the set prize money, that those figures should be quoted or added to as a percentage of the gate or PPV sales, but that is all dependent on the promoter and is all advised up front, as the idea is that this is a no strings attached offer.

Now on to your point, is who is going to nominate for this tournament. Now looking at a worst case scenario and most of the top names dont nominate, would this really matter all that much?

For a start surely, you would see guys who are at the lesser level Journeyman type fighters who arent really ever likely to get a title shot, jumping at the chance. By these fighters, i mean guys like Chauncy Welliver, Alex Leapai, Michael Sprott, Martin Rogan etc.

You would think that you would also get guys who have had their chance or been in line but since fallen by the way side and who might be confident enough to back their own abilities. Guys like Albert Sosnowski, Francesco Pianato, Wach etc.

You would almost certainly get a smigeon of older name guys who are no longer in the picture, but who would be if they won this tournament, and who might just want one last shot at glory and maybe even against all odds fancy themselves even though we think they are gone and not going to do anything. Guys Like Holyfield, Tua, Toney, Tarver, Rahman

now, you would have to think that at least a few lesser known youngsters would like to back themselves into this maybe say Seth Mitchell, Johnathon Banks, Bryant Jennings maybe even some high profile amateurs tempted to switch.

Maybe a few guys have been around a while but never really got the chance to break through like Malik Scott, Dimitrenko, Maurice Harris, Audley Harrison.

A couple of the former cruiserweights, might like a go, Huck, Cunningham, Mormeck could all fancy themselves.

So, i have just named approximately 20 fighters who might be likely to enter the tournament and give you an idea of the standard of fighter you might see. The other 12 spots would be taken by local fighters (presumably these fights would be taken to various different locations, but that is up to the promoter).

Now, at the moment these 20 names are not really inspiring. But in 6-12 moths time, when the winner has emerged, they will have dones so by beating solid opponents on solid win streaks and i dare say a far better length of resume than any previous klitchkso recent opponents, thus making the Klitchsko match a much bigger affair than the standard every day fight (excluding a superfight title vs title type fight).

For example, if Holyfield or Tua or any of the older fighters were to beat all these fighters, surely they would be seen as a good opponent for the klitchskos (as oppposed to how they would be seen now if they were given a one off fight) and this would be a blockbuster title defence.

Likewise if one of the youngsters were good enough to navigate through this, you would have to get far more excited about their prospects than if they just wait around for 12 months fight a few hand picked opponents and are then thrown in with the wolves.

And even if one of the others wins, they would do so on the back of the good form and you might just think they would be deserving of a title shot and actually applaud them for their courage (even if outclassed by the klitchskos).

Likewise on the flip side, you would think that even if the Klitchskos do dominate, at least you coudl say they are fighting deserved opponents and you coudl appreciate their dominance more.

I think this type of tournament is a worst case scenario. I see no reason why some of the higher profile fighters might not enter. I mean what if Wlad was to say this is it. If you want me, this is how you get me. I am only having one more fight and then retiring. It is now or never for the ultimate pay day and lLegacy builder.

Would this be enough to entice Povetkin, Haye, Adameck, Solis, Helenious etc into the tournament.

I think i am going to force this thread for a while. I know it isnt going to happen, but i do think that something like this could happen and would certainly improve (maybe even save) the sport.