Boxxer promoter Ben Shalom has weighed in on the debate surrounding women’s boxing after Amanda Serrano's decision to relinquish the WBC featherweight world title, citing a desire to box twelve, three-minute rounds like those in men's boxing.
The WBC reiterated that they will not budge on their 2014 ruling, which prohibited women boxing over twelve rounds and three-minute round durations. Under the WBC rulings, women are limited to box a maximum of ten rounds, each lasting two minutes.
Shalom has several female fighters in his BOXXER roster, with world champions Natasha Jonas and Savannah Marshall signed to promotional deals along with Olympians Lauren Price, Karris Artingstall and Caroline Dubois.
And, speaking to the Daily Mail’s ‘The Hook’ Podcast, he said he'd like to "experiment" with three-minute rounds on his events, not solely for equality but for "entertainment."
He said: "[The sport of women's boxing is] growing unbelievably, and the entertainment they give every time, we get to make the big fights, but it seems to me that every time the fight delivers, and that’s what’s special about it."
He continued: "You have to consider: Is it because of the two-minute rounds? Is it because there’s less thinking time? Is it because you can’t box at a distance? Is it because you have to go out there and perform immediately?
"So when looking at this, we want women’s boxing to continue to grow, we want it to continue to be exciting, there could be arguments either way, we’re happy to experiment, and we’ll see what happens in the future."
Shalom concedes that the squabble of round length duration could be used as a negotiating ploy for some fighters, with some fighters insisting on boxing over three minutes, which would suit them, whilst some fighters will insist on a two-minute duration for tactical purposes.
"I think sometimes now it’s being used as a negotiation tool as well. One fighter might feel that they have an advantage over three minutes, one fighter might feel that they have an advantage over two minutes.
"So we have to look at that as well, but we’ll get there, and I do think there’ll be three-minute fights. For us, we can do it.
"It’s not about equality. It’s about entertainment, what delivers for the fighters, what delivers for the sport, what delivers for the broadcasters, what allows us to grow the sport. At the moment, what has happened in the past two years has been pretty spectacular."
