We now know fifteen of the sixteen fighters that will be competing in what is supposed to be season one of the World Boxing Super Series. Former heavyweight contender and very recent cruiserweight debutante Mike Perez finishes the cruiserweight field while legitimate prospects Callum Smith, Rob Brant, and Avni Yildrim seriously bolster the super middleweight bracket. Callum Smith is now choosing this tournament over fighting for a vacant title against Anthony Dirrell this fall.
We have known for a while now that the cruiserweight tournament is absolutely loaded, but I am also unexpectedly pleased with how the super middleweight field is shaping up. While the super middleweight half of the series won’t settle the division like the cruiserweight half will, its winner is going to have serious career momentum. They also will likely have the WBA belt since George Groves is bringing it into the tournament. Callum Smith (22-0, 17 KOs), Avni Yildrim (16-0, 10 KOs), and Rob Brant (22-0, 15 KOs) are three very high level prospects and absolutely tremendous additions to the field. The rumored final addition to the tournament as of now is the winner of next Saturday’s fight between Chris Eubank Jr and Arthur Abraham which would be another outstanding addition too.
Callum Smith Jr was supposed to face Andre Dirrell in September for the vacant WBC belt that Badou Jack left behind, but this obviously means that fight is off. Recent negotiation issues with Dirrell’s team trying to move the fight to Flint, Michigan probably helped Callum Smith decide to do this. Flint is the Dirrell brothers’ hometown.
Already previously announced for the super middleweight side of the event are former world titleholder Juergen Braehmer (48-3, 35 KOs) , WBA titleholder George Groves (26-3, 19 KOs) and undefeated contenders Jamie Cox (22-0, 12 KOs) and Erik Skoglund (26-0, 12 KOs).
Mike Perez’s (22-2-1, 14 KOs) addition to the cruiserweight bracket completes its eight man field. Perez was briefly a heavyweight contender, but he hasn’t looked the same since his 2013 fight with Magomed Abdusalamov ended in tragedy. Last month he cut to cruiserweight for the first time and physically looked great. I don’t expect a ton out of Mike Perez in this tournament, but his addition is definitely the introduction of a real wild card.
The other seven fighters in the tournament are power punching Dmitry Kudryashov (21-1, 21 KOs), WBO titlist Okelsandr Usyk (12-0, 10 KOs), IBF titlist Murat Gassiev (24-0, 17 KOs), WBC titlist Mairis Briedis (22-0, 18 KOs), former long reigning titlists Krzysztof Wlodarczyk (53-3-1, 37 KOs) and Marco Huck (40-4-1, 27 KOs), as well as young top Cuban contender Yunier Dorticos (21-0, 20 KOs). You will see Dorticos list as the WBA’s titlist, but he isn’t as Denis Lebedev holds a belt they rank higher. Lebedev shouldn’t as Mairis Briedis beat him, but the WBA didn’t sanction that fight so whatever. Regardless of sanctioning body politics, the winner of this tournament will be the clear number one cruiserweight in the world.
This Saturday will be what the WBSS is calling the “Draft Gala.” Basically, the top four fighters in each bracket will be seeded one through four as determined by… somebody. The top seed will choose his first round opponent from the four unseeded fighters, then the second will, then the third, until finally the fourth seed is paired with the last unseeded fighter. It is unclear how this will work if Chris Eubank Jr and Arthur Abraham are fighting for the final spot in the super middleweight bracket one week later. The first round is scheduled to take place in September, the second in January, with the finals in May.
