Ryan Burnett to enter Bantamweight World Boxing Super Series
Ryan Burnett [18(9)-0] will box in the second season of the World Boxing Super Series according to his promoter Eddie Hearn.
The Belfast bantamweight defends his WBA title this weekend versus Yonfrez Parejo [21(10)-2(1)] at the Principality Stadium on the Sky Box Office Joshua-Parker heavyweight unification undercard.
Assuming that Burnett, a 1/50 favourite, defeats the Venezuelan this Saturday he will then move on to the WBSS.
This plan was revealed by Matchroom boss Hearn in an interview with IFL TV yesterday.
The English promoter, fielding a question regarding Burnett facing WBO champion Zolani Tete, stated: “that [fight] can happen, that probably will happen.”
“They’ll both go in the tournament it looks like. They’re both going to go in the tournament, probably, so they’ll fight each other anyway.”
“But, when they do, they’ll do it for big money rather than what’s available [now].”
Neither of the weights for the second season have been confirmed yet. Chief boxing officer for the Comosa-backed competition, Kalle Sauerland, has stated that fighters will be signed and announced over the coming weeks.
The World Boxing Super Series is currently approaching the final bouts of an extremely successful first season. The eight-man single elimination tournaments have been contested at super middleweight and cruiserweight initially, with the sixteen fighters splitting a $50,000,000 prize pot.
The cruiserweight final will see all four major belts brought together and an undisputed champion crowned when Oleksandr Usyk and Murat Gassiev clash in Saudi Arabia on Friday May 11th. The super middleweight decider will take place on a to-be-confirmed date in the summer with George Groves defending his WBA belt versus Burnett’s Matchroom stablemate Callum Smith.
There has been Irish representation in the first season through Cork-Cuban cruiser Mike Perez and Swindon super middle Jamie Cox who is of direct Donegal descent. Both fighters were eliminated at the quarter-final stage.
Belfast featherweight Carl Frampton has been vocal in his desire to compete in a 126lbs edition, but it looks as though 118lber Burnett will be the first Irish-born fighter to compete.
The 25-year-old won and unified world titles in 2017 with wins over former IBF and WBA champions Lee Haskins and Zhanat Zhakiyanov. With two separate mandatories falling due, Burnett vacated his IBF belt and will be looking to bring the WBA to the table in season two of the WBSS.
The IBF and WBC titles are currently vacant, with Tete wearing the WBO crown which he defends versus Argentine veteran Omar Narvaez on the Frampton-Donaire undercard in Belfast on April 21st.
Other big names in the division include Matchroom’s Paul Butler and Puerto Rican Emmanuel Rodriguez, who have been linked for the IBF belt, and the newly-arrived Japanese star Naoya Inoue – who faces Jamie McDonnell on May 25th in what could essentially be an eliminator for a WBSS spot
Watch Eddie Hearn’s interview with IFL TV:
Photo Credit: Ricardo Guglielminotti – The Fighting Irish (@ThefIrish)
