MUMBAI: Indian Boxing League (IBL), a franchise-based league for Indian boxers that has been in the works since 2017, and which was tentatively looking at a July-August window when the Boxing Federation of India (BFI) made the official announcement late last month in the capital, has now fixed a different set of dates for its inaugural season.
And no. It will NOT happen in August or September as BFI president Ajay Singh indicated here at the weekend.
“It’s on. We expect this to happen this year in August or September. They are trying to find windows in the TV schedule to see that does not clash with any other major league. So, that there is undisturbed period,” Singh said Friday during a press conference after the conclusion of the India Open in Guwahati.
The dates for the Indian Open have been finalised and will run from October 19 to November 09, Atul Pande, managing director of sports management company Sportzlive, which owns the commercial rights to the league, confirmed to SportzPower. For the record, Sportzlive is also the commercial rights holder for the Premier Badminton League.
The BFI had floated a tender for the commercial and organising rights for the pro-style league in 2017. IBL will see prolific Indian pugilists, including newly-crowned Asian Champion Amit Panghal, Shiva Thapa and veteran L Sarita Devi fight alongside foreign boxers.
“A lot of Indian players have already signed up for the league. We are also in process of signing up international boxers to have a mixed men and women international team,” Pande said.
A caravan format, in which all teams move from one city to another during the course of the tournament, will be followed.
“The tournament will run for three weeks and the team owners, title sponsors and everything will be finalised later. It will follow a caravan format, similar to other leagues in the India,” Pande said.
Star Sports has already been roped in as the official broadcaster of the event.
“It will be showcased on Star. The idea is to become the number one sporting event. Our target is to reach 10 crore (100 million) viewers in the first year in television and 200 million in digital,” Pande said.
