WBC Boxing Grand Prix 2025 details revealed
Yes, that's officially what it's called.
If you asked the average Joe which sport was being discussed if you said the participants were competing in a grand prix, the answer would understandably be motorsports or horse racing. Though cut the WBC some slack, this confusing name is actually a step up from what was previously announced as 'The First Boxing World Cup: Boxing Grand Prix'. Then again, their Instagram bio still reads "Boxing Grand Prix is the 1st Boxing World Cup". The bigger point is that this new tournament is essentially a single-elimination tournament that will attempt to discover and build new talent and introduce them to boxing fans.
The details shared (and reshared) include:
- the date ("April 17-20"),
- the bout format ("64 bouts over 6 rounds"),
- scoring details ("Open [scoring] after the second and fourth rounds"),
- ticket prices (FREE!),
- the broadcaster (DAZN...),
- and gimmicks ("Buzzer 30 seconds before the end [of each round]", "Judges: Positioned in high chairs for better viewing", "Instant Replay will be implemented").
However, true to boxing form, many details have been kept secret. There are 32 boxers across four divisions who represent "Over 40" countries. Who are these boxers? And who are the reserve fighters that "will be available for any eventuality"? Fuggedaboudit.
These will be 6-round bouts but there will be "No draws". Why didn't they go for an odd number of rounds like 5 or 7 to ensure that draws wouldn't be a factor? Who knows? How will a 3-3 tie be broken? Don't you worry your pretty little head.
On officiating we're told that there shall be "Guaranteed neutrality with referees and judges of different nationalities". Who are these referees and judges? It remains a mystery. Though the smart money says you should expect to see the Global North heavily represented.
Speaking of money the prize was revealed to be "A little over $200,000 for the winners". Presumably, this strangely specific and vague amount is only for the ultimate winner of each four divisions rather than for the winner of each bout. But this is also unconfirmed. Either way, it's presumably far less than WBC President Mauricio Suleiman will be getting.
There's not even any mention of the '"Jose Sulaiman" Trophy (AKA Flame of Hope)' which Lennox Lewis unceremoniously waved around a few weeks ago. Even earlier details such limits placed on a boxer's age (26) and record (no more than 15 fights) have been left out. Despite being less than 3 weeks away, DAZN does not have yet have a webpage for it.
I've made the point before but it's worth repeating: other sports that are more popular and successful than boxing are not this poorly run. In the summer, the relaunched FIFA Club World Cup will be taking place. The schedule and competitors were announced more than 6 months in advance of the tournament. The same is true for every Formula 1 race for the rest of this year. The people in charge of that will even tell you what time the Abu Dhabu Grand Prix is scheduled to start (both locally and in your device's timezone) and gives you the option to sync it to your digital calendar of choice even though it's not until December. Perhaps even because it's not until December.
The 'Boxing World Cup: Boxing Grand Prix' doesn't tell you what the times the fights are or if they'll be happening sequentially or in adjacent rings. For unknown reasons, none of these are seen as key details. It's baffling that the level of care put into press relations 60 years ago puts to shame anything we see nowadays despite the luxury of monopoly money budgets. Is it any wonder that boxing's Official Social Media receives engagement in the low-hundreds/low-thousands at best? And this is the tournament that's supposed to be changing that.
Maybe if the people in charge of boxing want it to become as successful as it once was they should try copying successes rather than just names. After this tournament we'll have had a 'Boxing World Cup: Boxing Grand Prix' and the 'World Series of Boxing' of old. Any aspiring domain squatters should begin filing for 'Boxing Super Bowl', 'Boxing Wimbledon', and 'Boxing UFC' post-haste.