This thread has been prompted by the recent news of the upcoming David Haye vs Derek Chisora fight.

Both fighters are no longer in possession of a British Boxing Board of Control license, and the fight itself is going to be sanctioned under the Luxembourg Boxing Federation, even though it is going to be held in the UK.

The BBBoC itself is a self-appointed regulator of professional boxing within the UK, and has also itself sanctioned boxing outside of the UK. Whether these bouts were in Countries where there were no current 'authority' at the time remains to be seen. At the end of the day the BBBoC is only a private Limited company, albeit run by influential types such as peerage folk, etc.


Currently, the British Boxing Board of Control have overseen very strict licensing requirements for fighters, promoters, cornermen, etc, and have an extensive network of area/regional committees that oversee activity within said regions. They also compile relatively up to date, accurate rankings, and titles, as well as dish out suspensions or revoke licenses where fighters are deemed unworthy. Kickboxing on the other hand is completely different from licensing, officiating, and rankings. In fact, very few KB orgs have accurate rankings, licensing criteria, or a solid network of officials. They certainly don't have regionalised committees.

So with all of this in mind, and no doubt i have left out some valid points also, but do we see professional boxing going down kickboxing's path? Will new UK bodies spring up ready to sanction pro events as well as bring in their own version of titles? Will we see pro boxing get watered down in the future? Will the BBBoC begin to lose it's control over the scene?

Without a proper 'National Regulating Body' it looks like professional boxing is going to go the same way as kickboxing has

Do we really want this in the UK for Boxing?

I hope not.