World Boxing Foundation President Interview

By Boxing News - 01/29/2008 - Comments

Interview with Billy Reese (WBF USA Continental Coordinator) and Mick Croucher (WBF President)

BR: Mick good to see the World boxing Foundation sanctioning bouts in the US; tell us about your role in the WBF and how it came about?

MC: Billy the WBF was founded in Bristol Tennessee in the eighties by the late livewire businessman Larry Carrier who later passed the business to his buddy Ron Scalf. The World Boxing Federation as it was known then was run for a few years by Ron sanctioning bouts all over the world and at one stage was one of the world’s biggest. In the late nineties I became involved with my former boxing trainer Jack Rennie to look after the South East Asia region.

BR: Mick I have seen over the last few years how the WBF has come back from being quiet to being the busy world sanctioning body it is now. How has this happened?

MC: I had the opportunity to take over full control and ownership in 2004 of the newly named World Boxing Foundation and with good people and hard work have made it a big success. Ron Scalf has no interest or doesn’t play any part in the management these days. He has retired from boxing and I along with our world wide team run the WBF from our offices in Melbourne, Australia.

BR: Your background as detailed on the WBF website says your family has a family dynasty of over 100 years in boxing. Tell us about it.

MC: Billy our family boxing dynasty started in Southhampton, England in 1892 with my grandfather who was a sailor and bare knuckle fighter. My father and two uncles were English champions followed by me who got to the Australian title. Then came my son Nathan who won three Australian titles and now my daughter Bridie has come on board as our WBF General Secretary. She is doing a fantastic job attending to the administration of our world wide business. The WBF has been set up as a family business and is now a registered Australian company.

BR: What about your goals and mission for the WBF world wide.

MC: I am very proud of the people we have got handling our affairs in many countries around the world. We sanctioned bouts in 17 countries last year and also saw a 150% increase in the number of sanctioned contests. I am very grateful to our team for their efforts. We have a great team world wide and are also very glad to have you as our Americas Continental Coordinator. My daughter Bridie has said that you remind her of a young Mick Croucher, full of enthusiasm and loves boxing like I do. We aim to continue sanctioning championship contests world wide like we have been doing and create opportunities for boxers to be able to travel to other countries, make some good dollars and see the world with their sport. We are presently looking at four US boxers to go to Europe and South Africa to fight soon.

BR: Tell us about the WBF website.

MC: A quick perusal of our website which is regularly updated will demonstrate our high level of activity in various regions throughout Asia Pacific, Europe, the Americas and Africa. We provide listings of our champions, monthly boxer rankings, boxing news and the contact details of all our world wide representatives. As a result of this many promoters have come to the WBF. We pride ourselves on being user friendly and being able to provide many opportunities for capable boxers to obtain a belt and increase their marketability.

BR: Mick I see by your, or I should say our WBF boxing schedule, that the WBF sanctioned nine bouts in America last year. What do you think for this year in the US?

MC: We believe that the US has some of the greatest boxing potential in the world. We recognize the top American promoters that have come to us and are very keen to work with them further to develop the untapped potential of your fighters in 2008. There will be a many opportunities for American promoters, managers and fighters to work with us and get their boxers title fights around the world.

BR: Sounds great Mick, I am also proud to be on the WBF team and work with you. What message do you have for promoters willing to come onboard the WBF?

MC: Billy I’ll wind it all up now and say that we look forward to coming to America. It’s a great country with magic people and any promoter is welcome to approach the WBF to discuss possibilities for their boxers as we have many opportunities. Our contact details are on our website: www.worldboxingfoundation.com and we will answer any questions readily. We respect integrity and good character and like to work with anybody who has a passion for and a genuine interest in the sport of boxing. It is important for any promoter wishing to work with us to present suitable well matched fighters for our title contests. We have already booked in numerous bouts in the US for this year and look forward to working with you in your great country.

BR: Thanks Mick for your time.

MC: Billy, God bless America.