China's promoters, managers need to be more proactive

The ESPN website lists more than 100 worldwide professional boxing cards for the remainder of 2019, including events in Dirriyah, Saudi Arabia and Chelyabinsk, Russia; Tweed Heads, Australia and Saitama, Japan. There's even a punch-for-pay show coming up in Broken Arrow, Oklahoma.

But not a single one in China.

With the likes of WBA featherweight champion Xu Can and No 1-ranked light heavyweight contender Meng Fanlong topping an impressive list of domestic fighters, why are managers and promoters so reticent about taking the lead in showing them off?

In May, after Xu made his first title defense by stopping former WBA super bantamweight champ Shun Kubo in Fuzhou, Jiangxi province, Max Power Promotions CEO Lu Xiaolong hailed it as "a big step forward for Chinese boxing, which needs fighters like Xu who put on a great show".

Roberto Diaz, head matchmaker for Oscar De La Hoya's Las Vegas-based Golden Boy Promotions, agreed, adding: "We saw a champion being born when Xu won the title in Texas in January, but we saw a star being born in Fuzhou. He showed that he belongs in the class of the best fighters in the world."

Xu, 24, is only the third Chinese boxer - after retired Xiong Chaozhong (WBC strawweight) and two-time Olympic gold medalist Zou Shiming (WBO flyweight)-to win a major world title, but he remains largely unknown here.

It's the same story for Mengaka 'Cold Blood' - the 6-foot-3 southpaw brawler from Chifeng, Inner Mongolia, who became the mandatory challenger for the IBF world title by defeating previously unbeaten Adam Deines in their June 1 slugfest in Macao.

While both Xu (Golden Boy) and Meng (Roc Nation) have agreements with US-based promoters that play a role in determining where and when they fight, the vast majority of China's pro boxers are solely reliant on managers to advance their careers, and that's where it gets tricky. If the managers can't hook up with promoters who are willing to take risks, there are no cards - and promising careers are either put on hold or simply evaporate.

Remember Lyu Bin? Thirteen months ago, on the undercard of Manny Pacquiao's welterweight title fight in Kuala Lumpur, the 24-year-old featherweight from Yongkang, Zhejiang province, won a legion of fans with his gutsy attempt to become the first male boxer to capture a major world championship in just his second pro fight.

Lyu was stopped in the dying seconds of the final round by Venezuelan champ Carlos Canizales, but the courageous performance made him a worldwide sensation - everywhere but China.

IBF Asia lightweight champ Sun Xiangxiang, flashy world-ranked female featherweight Hu Die from Zhuzhou, Hunan province, and even unbeaten heavyweight and 2008 Olympic silver medalist Zhang Zhilei have likewise fallen off the national radar, largely because Chinese promoters are hesitant about stepping up to showcase homegrown talent.

Of pro boxing's four global sanctioning bodies, only the IBF has made promotional inroads here, staging shows in 10 Chinese cities after initiating the IBF China professional tournament in 2015 and the IBF Silk Road Champions tournament in 2017.

"It's both an anniversary and a new declaration of setting sail again," IBF China president Ruihang Wang said after the organization's 100th event last fall.

"We are laying a solid foundation for professional boxing in China, but its ultimate success lies with our homegrown fighters, managers and promoters."

That's exactly right.

Until the managers and promoters of China's growing crop of world-class fighters show greater willingness to push the envelope in putting that talent on display, relevant pro boxing is at serious risk of being TKO'd here.