Groves vs Smith: WBSS Shoots Itself in the Foot as All-British Final set for Saudi Arabia:

Groves vs Smith: WBSS Shoots Itself in the Foot as All-British Final set for Saudi Arabia:

By Josh Wooler 

Last week the World Boxing Super Series finally announced that the long-awaited Super Middleweight final between George Groves and Callum Smith will take place on Friday September 28, at the King Abdullah Sports City in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.

The decision has surprised and disappointed a many British fight fans who had been hoping to attend the bout, which will see Groves’ WBA world title on the line along with the vacant Ring Magazine belt and the Ali Trophy.

The Super Series has been financially backed by Saudi investors meaning that one of the finals was always rumoured to take place in the Middle East. It was initially thought that the Cruiserweight final would be held in Jeddah, whilst the Super Middleweight version would be staged in the UK due to the high number of British participants, with Manchester and London touted as possible venues.

However, injuries to George Groves and Oleksandr Usyk meant both finals had to be pushed back, with the Cruiserweight contest taking place in July in Moscow. There had been concerns prior to the bout that Murat Gassiev would be favoured by officials in his native Russia, especially due to Usyk’s Ukrainian origins given the political tensions between the two countries. In the event, these fears proved unfounded with Usyk’s boxing masterclass being reflected in a comprehensive points victory.

While the WBSS were prepared to take a risk on the Cruiserweight final venue, there seemed to be only one logical place for the Super Middleweight bout to be held. With both Groves and Smith hailing from the UK, the only question regarding the venue was which city, rather than country.

London would have been the first location on everyone’s lips, but with Groves growing up in the West of the capital, Manchester had been suggested as an alternative. Either way, British fight fans had every right to expect a domestic dustup on home soil.

However, tournament organisers had other ideas.

Previously, the WBSS had been a breath of fresh air for fans of a sport governed by promoter politics and where cash is king. Supporters had embraced the tournament format, which has produced exciting, competitive matchups between the best fighters in their divisions. Now they have undone some of their great work and have taken a step backwards, putting the money men before the fans once more.

By holding the all-British final almost 4,000 miles away, on a continent hardly renown for its pugilistic pedigree, a sense of an opportunity missed develops. British boxing has been going through a boom period over the last few years, regularly attracting live audiences that put the rest of the world to shame; this fight was a chance to showcase all things great about boxing in this country and produce a night to remember.

Now, in the UK at least, the WBSS has lost some of the credit it worked so hard to establish. Many fans have expressed disbelief and outrage at the decision and even Groves himself tweeted that Jeddah was ‘not the venue we all wanted’. The WBSS have announced two new tournaments that will take place at Super Lightweight and Bantamweight, surely these would provide an opportunity to take fights to Saudi Arabia if necessary. By bowing down to the money men of the sport it is those who truly matter who are the losers; the fighters and the fans.

• Losers are the fighters and the fans.