Kold Wars events will feature 12 Russians and 12 Brits over four events
Two Ultimate Boxxer finalists confirmed in exciting new tournament
Television studios in Europe with all the appropriate facilities will host events
UK promoter Al Siesta revealed in an interview with iFL TV a brand new tournament taking place in July that will see 12 British fighters go up against 12 Russians over a series of four weekly events.
Siesta said, “It’s television studios in Europe that I hired, I will be residing at that particular place for an entire month to supervise the project, and we’ll have weekly shows starting from 9th July.
“Yes, UK fighters are back in action! There's 12 of them so far, the first series will consist of four shows every week; there's one show on Thursday July 9, and three fights – two ten rounds and one eight-rounder. Everything is very competitive, as close as the money can get, budgets are limited, I'll be honest but desire is big!"
The series of events have been cleverly titles 'Kold Wars' involving only British and Russian fighters.
Siesta elaborated on his latest project, “Russians against Brits. From 1st of July, the entire of Europe is open. First of allm the UK had the pandemic quite badly, the British Boxig Board of Control are very professional and hence very cautious organisation, they think it won't be safe to contemplate live events earlier than 15th July. But European figurations such as Latvian, Hungarian, Polish and so on and so forth, they are all open from 1st July to train, and there are shows to be held behind closed doors from 1st July, so Europe is a little more advanced and moving slightly forward in terms of the pandemic."
Fighters like Grant Dennis (15-2, 3KOs) – a former Southern Area middleweight champion and English title contender – and ex-English light-heavyweight champion Dec Spelman (16-3, 8KOs) have already announced their participation in the tournament, as well as Southern Area welterweight title contender Jez Smith (11-1-1).
Excitement at returning to the ring is at an unusual high after what has been a frustrating and dificult layoff for all boxers worldwide.
“I think they were very pleased that the offer came from me," Siesta continued to say about the fighters lucky enough to be taking part. "The purses were decent. I am giving the opportunity to people to travel in the conditions where they will be judged fairly, they will be supported by me, and they can fight and showcase their talent on the European stage."
'Go-Getter' Dennis is one of the British boxers already confirmed on the event. Siesta then revealed more names, “Good, local boxing scene level, say for example Andrey Sirotkin, who fought with John Ryder, so this is the level we are talking about, it’s highly competitive.
“We've got 3-0 [boxer] fighting a 12-0 [boxer]. There are some Russian gatekeepers who are fighting good Brits, so it's evenly matched, everyone has an equal chance and opportunity, say, for example, I know a Russian kid who is 4-1-1 fighting a 12-0 British kid, and I know a Russian kid who is 3-0 fighting a 12-2 British kid, so these are good fights.
“The reason why I don’t have 12-rounders is that I'm being respectful to the fact that the guys didn’t have proper camps, I thought 10 rounds will be just about enough to have a competitive fight and have a championship feel.
“No heavyweights matchups yet; so far the heaviest match I have is light-heavyweight and lightest matchup I have is a lightweight, and all inbetween. Super welterweight, lightweight, middleweight, super middleweight, light heavyweight, so it's brilliant. And I have a float if there's stoppages.
“Only three main fights will be aired live. July 9 is the first battle, and battle second is 16th; 23rd then 30th of July.”
The announcement came on the same day that Top Rank was hosting its first show back at the MGM Grand Conference Center Grand Ballroom as WBO featherweight world champion Shakur Stevenson battles with Puerto Rican puncher Felix Caraballo. The Stateside event has signalled the return of boxing on the global scale and declaration of 'Kold Wars' couldn't have come at a more opportune time.
Even though lockdown continues, the numbers of infected in the UK and Europe is decreasing steadily, with countries like New Zealand declaring they are Covid-19-free. Despite the encouraging news and movement forward in the right direction, necessary safety procedures will still need to be followed strictly to ensure the safety of everyone involved in the events.
“I have testing in place, we will try to do in the UK," Siesta proclaimed. “If the legislation of the country we are going to is such as the testing is not necessary then I will not force the testing, I'll be honest, because the politicians and the medical advisors of the country know better than I do. But if the testing is necessary, then I have all the facilitites."
The television studio, yet to be fully revealed, that will be hosting the events will have some funding available, but there is not yet firm news of a TV deal in place for UK fight fans to watch the action live. However, there offers on the table, the promoter divulged, “I had the events being discussed and prepared over six weeks, so in this period of time, I have three offers from major UK online and media outfits, but I am thinking, contemplating to make it viable not only for my own business – Siesta Boxing – but also for British boxing fans and the fans worldwide.
“There are possibilities to roll out pay-per-view, but I don’t like to call it pay-per-view. I can't see it being more expensive than £5.99, if it goes pay-per-view, I will offer exceptional deals for early birds and all four events upfront.”
July 16
Grant Dennis vs Andrey Sirotkin
Jez Smith vs Aleksei Evchenko
July 30
Dec Spelman vs TBA
More news of the events will follow shortly.
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