Report: World Boxing Super Series could be canceled

The World Boxing Super Series, which is currently running tournaments at bantamweight, junior welterweight, and cruiserweight, is in danger of being canceled before the semifinal bouts of the second season, according to a report by Mike Coppinger at The Ring.

Coppinger writes that “turmoil has been brewing behind the scenes” with investors, and “several fighters are still waiting for their victory bonuses.”

The first season of the WBSS featured tournaments at super middleweight and cruiserweight, won by Callum Smith and Oleksandr Usyk, respectively. The second season was even more ambitious, with three weight classes involved, and the DAZN streaming service offering a reliable broadcast outlet for American fight fans, which was lacking in season one.

But there has always been a sense of doubt about the whole thing from many veterans of the boxing game, even when season one pretty much went off without a noticeable hitch. Tournaments like this are rare in the overly political boxing game, for many reasons. And while the semifinal bouts of season two are supposedly set for February and March of 2019, there have been no sites or dates named for any of them.

If the tournament falls apart, here are the fights we’d lose, at least for the time being:

• Bantamweight: Naoya Inoue vs Emmanuel Rodriguez and Nonito Donaire vs Zolani Tete
• Junior Welterweight: Regis Prograis vs Kiryl Relikh and Josh Taylor vs Ivan Baranchyk
• Cruiserweight: Mairis Briedis vs Krzysztof Glowacki and Yunier Dorticos vs Andrew Tabiti

Hopefully this all will get straightened out and the fights will go on, because there’s really not a bum matchup in the field. Those are all fights that hardcore boxing fans should be looking forward to seeing, but of course hardcore boxing fans are only so much of an audience, and that might be part of the problem here.