WBC announces roster for welterweight tournament. Expected to begin on April 27th

[MMALOPEZ]

The “Jose Sulaiman World Invitational,” a partnership between the WBC and Evander Holyfield’s The Real Deal Boxing that put out a call for eight welterweights earlier this winter, now has its roster. The tournament begins on April 27th and will feature:

Felix Diaz (19-2, 9 KO)
Chris Van Heerden (25-2-1, 12 KO)
Fredrick Lawson (26-1, 21 KO)
Radzhab Butaev (8-0, 6 KO)
Brad Solomon (27-1, 9 KO)
Timo Schwarzkopf (18-1, 10 KO)
Derrieck Cuevas (16-0-1, 13 KO)
Baishanbo Nasiyiwula (13-1-1, 6 KO)

The WBC has also tabbed Mauricio Pintor (20-3-1, 13 KO), Paddy Gallagher (13-3, 8 KO), Sergiy Lubkovich (7-0, 6 KO), and Francisco Santana (26-6-1, 12 KO) as alternates.

The brackets will be decided by popular demand. You can vote on the first-round matchups until February 26th on Holyfield’s website.

https://www.badlefthook.com/2018/2/19/17029380/wbc-announces-roster-for-welterweight-tournament

 

[MMALOPEZ]

Díaz looks like the favorite

 

[Seano]

What sort of shit ass tourney is this?

 

[MMALOPEZ]

What sort of shit ass tourney is this?

lol

 

[ArtemV]

Go Bataev, I am honest and have not heard of him before, lol. But I hope he wins.

 

[ProBoxingInsidr]

van heerden was the guy conor beat up in sparring, right?

 

[ironfist05]

honestly, a better tournament than I was expecting. Nobody is going to come out of this as a top ranked threat, but it's a good way to test prospects. Diaz and Solomon are good names too, with Diaz the clear favorite IMO.

 

[Queen B]

What sort of shit ass tourney is this?

Its a lower tier tournament with smaller prize money and a smaller promotion (unlike WBSS)

For the quality of the tournament, the fighters are pretty good. Its people in the Top 40

Each fighter in round 1 will receive a purse of $15,000.00 (US), with the winner of each bout receiving a victory bonus of $7,500.00 (US).

Each fighter in round 2 will receive a purse of $30,000.00 (US), with the winner of each bout receiving a victory bonus of $15,000.00 (US).
Each fighter in round 3 (finals) will receive a purse of $75,000.00 (US), with the winner receiving a $25,000.00 (US) victory bonus.
**all bouts in the first two rounds of the tournament will be 10-rounds; in case of a draw, the contestants should be ready to go to an immediate 11th round.

 

[Blazeblack]

Its a lower tier tournament with smaller prize money and a smaller promotion (unlike WBSS)

For the quality of the tournament, the fighters are pretty good. Its people in the Top 40

http://forums.sherdog.com/threads/e...plan-welterweight-tournament-in-2018.3680155/

Yeah, I read that the point of the tournament was to build contenders and give said fighters exposure. In theory it sounds like a good idea, as long as they keep viewership up.

 

[Queen B]

Go Bataev, I am honest and have not heard of him before, lol. But I hope he wins.

Hes only 24 and won the World Series of Boxing, beating Roniel Iglesias (2012 Olympic gold medalist and 2008 Olympic silver medalist and beat GGG).
He just beat some dude whos 19-0 so he looks legit.

One of the favorites to win imo.

Top 3 are
1. Felix Diaz
2. Radzhav Butaev
3. Brad Solomon

Everybody else just doesnt seem championship level. Frederick Lawson had that PBC hype before he fought for the eliminator against Kevin Bizier, but then got destroyed (and Bizier went on to get destroyed by Kell Brook).

 

[HardasNAILZ]

van heerden was the guy conor beat up in sparring, right?

Yeah, Conor schooled the bum.

 

[JayE]

Butaev and Diaz are far and away the favourites here.

 

[Hagler]

Yay.

 

[Sunfish]

Is the who gives a fuck belt up for grabs?

 

[Joe Joyce]

That'll put butts in seats...

 

[Confucamus]

Only guy i know there is Diaz.

 

[Seano]

Go Bataev, I am honest and have not heard of him before, lol. But I hope he wins.

Sounds very exotic and white.

 

[BluntTrauma21]

I heard the belt for this tourney will be made by a small Malaysian child written in sharpie on single ply toilet paper.

 

[Queen B]

The first 3 fights are squash matches. The last fight Butaev vs Solomon should be a good competitive fight


https://www.boxingscene.com/holyfie...-125734?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter

#1 ranked FELIX DIAZ, (19-2-0, 9 KO’s) of Santa Domingo, D.R. will clash with #8 ranked DERRIECK CUEVAS, (16-0-1, 13 KO’s) of Catano, Puerto Rico.

#2 ranked CHRIS VAN HEERDEN, (25-2-1, 12 KO’s) of Johannesburg, South Africa, faces #7 ranked TIMO SCHWARZKOPF, (18-1-0, 10 KO’s) of Stuttgart, Germany.

#3 ranked FREDRICK LAWSON, (26-1-0, 21 KO’s) battles #6 ranked BAISHANBO NASIYWULA, (13-1-1, 6 KO’s), of Urumqi, China.

#4 ranked RADZHAB BUTAEV, (8-0-0, 6 KO’s) of Russia faces #5 ranked BRAD SOLOMON, (27-1-0, 9 KO’s), of Douglasville, Georgia.

 

[City_Lights]

I've only heard of 2 of them but if someone can destroy their way through it will make for some hype for them at least and probably set up a big fight.