By Terence Dooley
Kalle Sauerland is enjoying his role as the Chief Boxing Officer of the World Boxing Series because it allows him to take in FOTY candidates such as Oleksandr Usyk against Mairis Briedis, for the WBO and WBC cruiserweight titles respectively, and Murat Gassiev versus Yunier Dorticos, which united the IBF and WBA Super world belts.
George Groves against Chris Eubank, for WBA Super world middleweight and IBO belts, and Callum Smith and Juergen Braehmer are all set to go over the next two weekends.
Sauerland is delighted that people have bought into the concept, but reserved special praise for the fighters for bringing a plethora of titles to the party. “I have so much respect for the fighters who bring their belts into the tournament,” he said when speaking to BoxingScene. “It would be easier to sit on the side lines, watch it, and then try to fight the winner for a lot of money.
“Although it is big money in the tournament, they are putting a lot on the line, which is why I have talked about legacies. The combined record of the cruiserweight semi-finalists was 83 and zero with four belts on the line—that speaks for itself.”
Groves and Eubank top the bill at the Manchester Arena on Saturday night, with both men adamant that the other is a level below, and Sauerland admitted that he had half an eye on the blends of styles and temperaments when putting the list of entrants together. “I’d be lying if I said I didn’t also consider personalities when looking at the list of potential fighters,” he said.
“It is all about telling stories in boxing, if you have the chance you always like to work with people who you can tell stories about or, preferably, are up for it when the bell goes. I think we’ve got some great characters, had some great fight weeks and have had an interesting fight week this week. You’ve got two great talkers, two great minds, and I believe we will have one hell of a fight. I wouldn’t be surprised if it is another fight of the year candidate.”
He added: “Then we get Smith and Braehmer a week later. Braehmer has been around the top of world boxing for the past 10 years and you’ve got a guy in the other corner who wants to prove himself against a two-time world champion.”
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