Following a heavyweight photo posted recently, questions have been asked about the quality of boxing licensing worldwide.
The Ukrainian-based company, Champion Boxing Promotions, included promoter Serdar Avci making his fifth pro outing against debutant Vadym Shyika.
Avci vs Shyika took place on July 15th at the Champion Boxing Club.
Licensed heavyweight bouts
But based on the weigh-in, you’d be hard-pressed to see how either fighter was licensed to participate in the heavyweight contest.
For his part, Avci is 35 years old and seems to be on a late mission to build a padded record. And don’t get me started on Shyika.
Making his first – and possibly last – fight in the paid ranks, the 20-year-old seemed more interested in working on his tan lines than competing.
Nonetheless, the pair scrapped on Wednesday, and Avic predictably used his ten-pound weight advantage and experience of the situation to take out the hapless Shyika.
The absurd encounter was just another example of how our sport needs to tighten restrictions on who is allowed to compete.
It wasn’t the only questionable match-up on the bill, either.
Dangerous sport
Far too many ‘boxers’ are allowed to call themselves professional when they are not in the business to face any danger to their record.
No doubt that Avci will knock over a few debutants and fighters with losing records. But all in all, his career will be nothing to write about.
Should promoters be charging the public for this kind of bout? – That is the big question.
Is it a case of ‘no harm done’ and just for fun? Or is it a severe slant on boxing as a profession?
At the moment, any Tom, Dick, or Harry can enter a pro event. Boom, they are a professional boxer. It’s a crazy situation.
Not many other disciplines will allow anyone who can do the very basic of tasks allowed in the sport to have such a status.
It looked like either hadn’t even trained without being too harsh. If they did, it was at the beach and possibly any fast-food restaurant after that.
It’s just frustrating when our sport gets ridiculed for allowing such clashes to take place. We could see that kind of fight for free at a local bar.
As with most controversial practices in boxing – especially at heavyweight – we are unlikely to see anything change anytime soon.
The views expressed in this article are the opinions of Phil Jay.
WBN Editor Phil Jay has over ten years of boxing news experience. Follow WBN on Facebook @officialworldboxingnews, Instagram, and Twitter @worldboxingnews.
