Ben Shalom claims the three-minute round debate in women’s boxing is ‘about entertainment and what allows us to grow the sport’… as the promoter tells The Hook ‘we’ll get there’ but insists it is ‘up to the fighters’
- Ben Shalom argues that women’s boxing should prioritise its rapid growth
- He thinks entertainment value must be considered when debating round length
- Female boxers have to prove themselves more than men but women’s boxing is on the rise – Listen to The Hook
Ben Shalom has argued that the debate over whether women’s boxing should have two-minute or three-minute rounds is not about ‘equality’ but ‘entertainment’.
The promoter, who founded Boxxer, told The Hook that women’s boxing has grown ‘unbelievably’ because of its entertainment value.
He questioned whether that was because two-minute rounds give boxers ‘less thinking time’ and force them to ‘perform immediately’.
However, he ultimately insisted that ‘we’re happy to experiment’ and that ‘we’ll get there’, although it is ‘up to the fighters’.
‘It’s growing unbelievably and the entertainment they give every time, we get to make the big fights, but it seems to me that every time the fight delivers and that’s what’s special about it,’ Shalom explained to Mail Sport’s boxing podcast, The Hook.
Ben Shalom told The Hook that he thinks there will be three-minute fights in women’s boxing but that it is a question of entertainment and what the fighters want
Women’s boxing is currently contested over ten two-minute rounds but there is a raging debate over whether it should fall in line with men’s boxing
Amanda Serrano vacated her WBC title after the organisation refused to sanction changes to match the rounds in men’s boxing
‘It’s up to the fighters. I think for me, we’re all for equality, we’re pushing women’s boxing all the time.’
Amanda Serrano vacated her WBC title after the organisation refused to sanction 12 three-minute rounds in women’s boxing. Bouts are usually over ten two-minute rounds.
Shalom said: ‘We also have to consider what has been so good about it, what is that special formula that continues to deliver even though we might not have all the depth that we have in men’s boxing, in women’s boxing the trajectory is just incredible.
‘I believe it’s because of the entertainment it delivers and so you have to consider: is it because of the two-minute rounds? Is it because there’s less thinking time? Is it because you can’t box at distance? Is it because you have to go out there and perform immediately?
‘So when looking at this, we want women’s boxing to continue to grow, we want it to continue to be exciting, there could be arguments either way, we’re happy to experiment and we’ll see what happens in the future.
‘I think sometimes now it’s being used as a negotiation tool as well. One fighter might feel that they have an advantage over three minutes, one fighter might feel that they have an advantage over two minutes.
‘So we have to look at that as well, but we’ll get there and I do think there’ll be three-minute fights. For us, we can do it.
‘It’s not about equality, it’s about entertainment, what delivers for the fighters, what delivers for the sport, what delivers for the broadcasters, what allows us to grow the sport. At the moment it has been pretty spectacular what has happened in the past two years.’
Source: Read Full Article