THE BEGINNING
The concept of World Series of Boxing (WSB) was first presented to the boxing family in August 2008 by President, Dr Ching-Kuo Wu. The proposal was met with approval and plans were put in place for this unique competition format. The world's best boxers, competing in teams, without headguards and using the AIBA Ten Points-Must scoring system, would partake in a global team competition. The origin of WSB marked a new era in the sport of boxing, reuniting the broader boxing world and its grassroots amateur foundation by providing a bridge between Olympic Boxing and a future professional programme within the AIBA family.
AIBA
WSB is wholly owned by AIBA. All boxers in WSB are registered with AIBA. Furthermore, all officials working at WSB matches are experienced AIBA officials with a collective experience of many years in the field of boxing. National Federations play an important part also in ensuring the best boxers are aware of and available to participate in WSB.
THE COMPETITION
Teams representing franchises across the globe compete in a league format that leads to play-offs and a final. The boxers compete without vests or headguards in 5 three minute rounds; 5 bouts per match; 10-Point-Must-System. During the first 4 seasons 12 teams have competed, however, in Season V there will be 16 teams. Seasons I & II also included a programme for individual boxers. In Seasons I & II the franchises were city focused, but from Season III the franchises have developed a national identity. The teams are permitted to have international boxers (a maximum of 8 from Season V with a maximum of 3 boxers of the same nationality). Since Season IV, teams compete in 10 weight categories (identical to AIBA) and the top 4 teams from the regular season (league phase) participated in the play-off series which led to semi-finals on a home and away basis. With 4 additional teams in Season V, the play-off format will be structured differently so that the higher ranking teams will have home advantage until the finals. The winner of each group will go straight to the semi-finals.