250px, LA Matadors vs. Moscow Dynamo in Hollywood, CA on 4 December 2011. Both amateur boxers compete without vests or head guards.
The World Series of Boxing or WSB was an international
boxing
Boxing is a combat sport and martial art. Taking place in a boxing ring, it involves two people – usually wearing protective equipment, such as boxing glove, protective gloves, hand wraps, and mouthguards – throwing Punch (combat), punch ...
tournament that allowed amateur boxers to compete professionally while maintaining
Olympic
Olympic or Olympics may refer to
Sports
Competitions
* Olympic Games, international multi-sport event held since 1896
** Summer Olympic Games
** Winter Olympic Games
* Ancient Olympic Games, ancient multi-sport event held in Olympia, Greece bet ...
eligibility. It was organized by
AIBA
The International Boxing Association (IBA), previously known as the Association Internationale de Boxe Amateur (AIBA), is a sports organization that sanctions amateur and professional boxing matches and awards world and subordinate championships. ...
from 2010 to 2018. AIBA confirmed in 2019 that the league had ceased operations amid mounting financial losses.
History
The World Series of Boxing had a precursor in the International Boxing League, a short-lived U.S. venture established in
November 1969 after the first U.S.—Soviet boxing dual meet in 1969. The league functioned until 1971 and hosted several
exhibition
An exhibition, in the most general sense, is an organized presentation and display of a selection of items. In practice, exhibitions usually occur within a cultural or educational setting such as a museum, art gallery, park, library, exhibiti ...
tours of the Soviet boxing team across the United States to cities where IBL teams were located.
Bill Daniels
Robert William Daniels Jr. (July 1, 1920 – March 7, 2000) was an American cable television executive and owner of professional sports teams. He was a pioneer in building the cable television industry and was known as the "father of cable telev ...
was the boss of the league. The league folded due to the unprofitable nature of amateur boxing in North America.
Format
Unlike in
amateur boxing
Amateur boxing is the variant of boxing practiced in clubs and associations around the world, at the Olympic Games, Pan American Games and Commonwealth Games, as well as at the varsity sports, collegiate level.
Amateur boxing bouts comprise three ...
at the start of the World Series of Boxing's existence, competitors fought bare-chested and were not permitted to wear protective headgear. Each participating boxer was drafted by one of its international franchises, and could earn money by taking part in professional-style bouts. The competitors were allowed to maintain Olympic and AIBA world championship eligibility.
Like
professional boxing
Professional boxing, or prizefighting, is regulated, sanctioned boxing. Professional boxing bouts are fought for a purse that is divided between the boxers as determined by contract. Most professional fights are supervised by a regulatory auth ...
, each bout was decided by the scores of three judges, or by a knockout, a technical knockout or a walkover. A WSB meet between two international franchises consisted of bouts in ten (formerly five) weight categories. The fights consisted of five three-minute rounds in each bout and the team that won the most number of bouts won the meet.
Weight classes
Until season 4, the World Series of Boxing had five weight categories which were different from the 10 categories in
amateur (Olympic) boxing or 17 categories in
professional boxing
Professional boxing, or prizefighting, is regulated, sanctioned boxing. Professional boxing bouts are fought for a purse that is divided between the boxers as determined by contract. Most professional fights are supervised by a regulatory auth ...
. These were Heavyweight (91+ kg), Light heavyweight (80–85 kg), Middleweight (68–73 kg), Lightweight (57–61 kg) and Bantamweight (50–54 kg). In the fourth season (2013–14), the number of weight classes was increased to ten, mirroring amateur (Olympic) boxing.
*
Light flyweight (46–49 kg)
*
Flyweight
Flyweight is a weight class in combat sports.
Boxing
Flyweight is a class in boxing which includes fighters weighing up to and including 51 kg (112 lb) for a title fight.
Professional boxing
The flyweight division was the last of boxin ...
(-52 kg)
*
Bantamweight
Bantamweight is a weight class in combat sports and weightlifting. For boxing, the range is above and up to . In kickboxing, a bantamweight fighter generally weighs between . In mixed martial arts, MMA, bantamweight is .
The name for the class ...
(-56 kg)
*
Lightweight
Lightweight is a weight class in combat sports and rowing (sport), rowing.
Boxing Professional boxing
The lightweight division is over 130 pounds (59 kilograms) and up to 135 pounds (61.2 kilograms) boxing weight classes, weight class in the spor ...
(-60 kg)
*
Light welterweight
Light welterweight, also known as junior welterweight or super lightweight, is a weight class in combat sports.
Boxing Professional boxing
In professional boxing, light welterweight is contested between the lightweight and welterweight divisions, ...
(-64 kg)
*
Welterweight
Welterweight is a weight class in combat sports. Originally the term ''welterweight'' was used only in boxing, but other combat sports like muay Thai, taekwondo, and mixed martial arts also use it for their own weight division system to classify th ...
(-69 kg)
*
Middleweight
Middleweight is a weight class in combat sports.
Boxing Professional
In professional boxing, the middleweight division is contested above and up to .
Early boxing history is less than exact, but the middleweight designation seems to have beg ...
(-75 kg)
*
Light heavyweight
Light heavyweight is a weight class in combat sports.
Boxing
Professional
In professional boxing, the division is above and up to , falling between super middleweight and cruiserweight (boxing), cruiserweight.
The light heavyweight class has ...
(-81 kg)
*
Heavyweight
Heavyweight is a weight class in combat sports and professional wrestling.
Boxing Professional
Male boxers who weigh over are considered heavyweights by 2 of the 4 major professional boxing organizations: the International Boxing Federation an ...
(-91 kg)
*
Super heavyweight
Super heavyweight is a weight class in combat sports and bodybuilding, competitive bodybuilding.
Boxing
In amateur boxing, the super heavyweight division is a weight class division for fighters weighing in excess of 91 kilograms (200 pounds). Int ...
(91+ kg)
Teams
*
Algeria Desert Hawks
*
Argentina Condors
250px, LA Matadors vs. Moscow Dynamo in Hollywood, CA on 4 December 2011. Both amateur boxers compete without vests or head guards.
The World Series of Boxing or WSB was an international boxing tournament that allowed amateur boxers to compete p ...
*
Astana Arlans
250px, LA Matadors vs. Moscow Dynamo in Hollywood, CA on 4 December 2011. Both amateur boxers compete without vests or head guards.
The World Series of Boxing or WSB was an international boxing tournament that allowed amateur boxers to compete p ...
*
Atlas Lions
The Morocco national football team (Arabic: المنتخب المغربي لكرة القدم) represents Morocco in men's international football, and is controlled by the Royal Moroccan Football Federation, the governing body for football in ...
*
Baku Fires
250px, LA Matadors vs. Moscow Dynamo in Hollywood, CA on 4 December 2011. Both amateur boxers compete without vests or head guards.
The World Series of Boxing or WSB was an international boxing tournament that allowed amateur boxers to compete p ...
*
British Lionhearts
The British Lionhearts are a British amateur boxing team that competed in the World Series Boxing tournament.
History
The British Lionhearts are an amateur team that was established in 2012 to compete in the third season of the World Series Box ...
* Caciques de Venezuela
* China Dragons
* Heroicos de Colombia
*
Cuba Domadores
250px, LA Matadors vs. Moscow Dynamo in Hollywood, CA on 4 December 2011. Both amateur boxers compete without vests or head guards.
The World Series of Boxing or WSB was an international boxing tournament that allowed amateur boxers to compete p ...
*
D&G Milano Thunder
* Dynamo Moscow
* German Eagles
*
Hussars Poland
250px, LA Matadors vs. Moscow Dynamo in Hollywood, CA on 4 December 2011. Both amateur boxers compete without vests or head guards.
The World Series of Boxing or WSB was an international boxing tournament that allowed amateur boxers to compete p ...
*
Mexico Guerreros
250px, LA Matadors vs. Moscow Dynamo in Hollywood, CA on 4 December 2011. Both amateur boxers compete without vests or head guards.
The World Series of Boxing or WSB was an international boxing tournament that allowed amateur boxers to compete p ...
* Morocco Atlas Lions
*
Paris United
250px, LA Matadors vs. Moscow Dynamo in Hollywood, CA on 4 December 2011. Both amateur boxers compete without vests or head guards.
The World Series of Boxing or WSB was an international boxing tournament that allowed amateur boxers to compete p ...
* Puerto Rico Hurricanes
* Russian Boxing Team
* Türkiye Conquerors
*
Ukraine Otamans
*
USA Knockouts
*
Uzbek Tigers
The Uzbek Tigers are Uzbek Amateur boxing, amateur and a semi-professional boxing team that has competed in the World Series of Boxing, WSB World Series of Boxing since season from 2016 to 2018. In the first debut season in 2016 Uzbek Tigers won ...
Results
Performance by club
See also
*
Boxing World Cup
The Boxing World Cup is an international boxing event organized by the International Boxing Association (IBA), featuring boxers competing in different weight divisions. It was held from 1979 to 1998 as an individual competition and from 2002 to 2 ...
References
External links
Official site of World Series Boxing (WSB)
{{International Boxing
World championships in boxing
International Boxing Association competitions