Matchroom Boxing is bringing Prizefighter back to the boxing masses with a new format as a new series kicks off in Japan.
The announcement hailed a ‘re-imagined world-class international tournament’ with a prize pot of $1 million and a KO bonus of $100,000.
Teaming up with Rakuten Ticket and Never Say Never [NSN], Matchroom confirmed at a press conference in Tokyo the fight night will occur at Nagoya Congress Center, Nagoya, on March 31.
The series will be live on Abema in Japan and DAZN worldwide [excluding Asia].
Prizefighter Boxing Tournament is back for 2024
Prizefighter will remain an eight-boxer competition. However, it will now take place on three separate nights. It’s a significant alteration from the original format that saw eight competitors battle for $50,000 in one night.
Quarter-finals will be staged in the first event over ten rounds. The $100k knockout bonus is active each night and split between the fighters who successfully stop their opponent. The tournament will continue over twelve rounds on two further events.
An initial deal agreement between the three companies involved is for a trio of the new format events running until 2027. The aim is to attract ‘some of the best domestic and international fighters’ as the World Boxing Super Series did before it evaporated into thin air.
The first of those three fight nights will involve the bustling middleweight division.
Middleweight
In the first quarter-final, Japan’s number one-ranked middleweight, Riku Kunimoto, defends his Japanese title against mandatory challenger Eiki Kani. Wildcard British entry Mark Dickinson could await the winner in the last four if the north-east native can stun France’s undefeated 2016 Olympian Anauel Ngamissengue.
Ireland’s impressive Aaron McKenna will be out to establish his future world title challenger credentials with’ The Silencer’ signed up. McKenna will face unbeaten 23-year-old American-Puerto Rican Jeovanny Estela.
WBA Inter-Continental Middleweight champion Kieron Conway will be looking to stake his claim for success. He faces a formidable opponent in China’s Ainiwaer Yilixiati.
The original and popular Matchroom version of the Prizefighter series ran from 2008 to 2015. It acted as a launchpad to the elite stage for many boxers to earn shots at the big time.
A more lucrative version allows participants to make significant paychecks and land a trophy before world honors.
It’s hoped that world champions will eventually be involved as the Prizefighter series progresses and that the prize pot can be increased for those instances.
Everything depends on how the first three events catch on.