Brian Amatruda talks Channel 9 series, rebuilding talent

 
LEADING domestic promoter Brian Amatruda is starting to develop a solid track record for re-establishing fighters and putting them back on track.

 
The Melbourne-based Amatruda, who currently owns the countries only purpose-built boxing venue, The Melbourne Pavilion, has recently signed a promotional pact alongside Jeff Fenech, bringing Australian boxing back to free-to-air television with a series set to air on Channel 9.

 
While the particulars are yet to be released, Amatruda’s aim is clear. When probed on his vision for the series, Amatruda talked about a healthy mix of veterans, big name domestic fights, while also promoting the next generation of stars on their way up.

 
“Between Jeff and I, our two teams have a really big network of fighters,” said Amatruda in an exclusive interview with Aus-Boxing. “We will use a lot of guys people have seen before on television, fighters like Brad Pitt, Blake Caparello and Jake Carr, and that’s me only naming the Melbourne-based fighters,”

 
“The aim is to bring the really big fights, the domestic fights that people care about and televise them live for everyone to see,”

 
“There will be some faces people are familiar with and others who they will learn a lot more about,”

 
In the past twelve months, Amatruda has worked with a plethora of budding prospects, established professionals and some big names too.

 
Amatruda takes great pride in the legacy that he is creating, but the Melbourne entrepreneur and property developer wants help re-establish fighters that have been away from the local spotlight.

 
“When it comes to rebuilding fighters, I think our track record speaks for itself,” continued Amatruda.

 
“We rebuilt Sam Soliman to the point where he was able to challenge for – and win – the IBF middleweight title. More recently the work we put into securing a meaningful title fight for Anthony Mundine, again with success,”

 
Before Amatruda took on the promotional duties for three-division titlist Anthony Mundine, his career was at a genuine crossroads. Mundine had clearly lost to Joshua Clottey and had no real fights of significance on the horizon.

 
Just over twelve months later, Mundine is now world rated across the legitimate sanctioning bodies and is now featuring in a major fight abroad.

 
“Australian fighters need to be built locally, to bigger audiences before either taking an opportunity abroad that can’t be turned down, or if possible, bringing the bigger names to Australia,” Amatruda noted.

 
“We are in the process of doing this with Michael Katsidis and of course Will Tomlinson,” he explained. “If you look back at the most exciting fights regularly featuring Australians, it’s almost always with both Will and Michael being involved,”

 
“They’ve had their wars and it’s time for them now to reach out to that bigger audience, which we can now provide them with the series that is launching on Channel 9. The platform speaks for itself, you can’t get any bigger than free-to-air television,”

 
“We are looking to make the best fights, featuring Australian fighters against hopefully other Australian fighters, but in each division,” Amatruda added.

 
“We are in talks to make fights like Mark Flanagan vs. Anthony McCracken, or even Brad Pitt. We want to make exciting fights that people will want to tune in to see,”

 
Amatruda talked at length about the depth of some of Australian boxing’s best divisions. In particular, he sees great value in the cruiserweight, middleweight and lightweight divisions. While no announcement has been made for the highly anticipated June 17th card in Melbourne, Amatruda did introduce some names.

 
“For June, we seriously considered making a fight between Michael Katsidis and Josh King,” Amatruda continued. “Michael has proven himself to the world and Josh is in a position where he has a world rating, but the following isn’t quite there,”

 
“Unfortunately, Michael got injured and we were then placed into a position where Will Tomlinson became available. He’s still with Golden Boy, but they will potentially allow a release for one fight and we think this is the perfect fight to put together,”

 
“Will has a great profile and is fan friendly fighter. The companies that have gotten behind him and continue to express their interest show that he’s not only marketable, but he is made for a series like this,”

 
Amatruda sees a fight between Tomlinson (23-2-1, 13 KOs) and the world rated King (19-3, 9 KOs) as the perfect introduction to the free-to-air audience. However, Amatruda acknowledged the difficulty in making fights like the aforementioned, when both teams appeared to be heading in seemingly different directions.

 
Tomlinson, 28, is a hugely popular figure in Melbourne and given that he is signed to the biggest promoter in world boxing, being Golden Boy Promotions, having him headline the opening free-to-air card on June 17th would add much needed lustre to a new age for Australian boxing.

 
Having also fought at the highest level in world boxing, Tomlinson’s status as one of the leading figures in Australian boxing would also give the looming series the appeal of having the best Australian fighters competing to its biggest possible audience.

 
“Josh would go from fighting in front of eight hundred people in Townsville, to potentially an audience of four million on free-to-air television,” Amatruda quipped. “We offered them a great purse, which we thought would be a career high – and even though they expressed interest – it was turned down,”

 
“Fighters should just fight. But from my point of view, I can’t understand the logic of turning down an opportunity for millions of Australians to watch you fight, especially riding on the back of State of Origin. Imagine the sponsorship opportunities and even the general interest,”

 
“We’re talking about viewing figures in excess of millions, around the four million mark,”

 
“At the end of the day, we can only offer the opportunity,” said Amatruda in closing.

 
“Some will turn it down and others, well, they will jump at the opportunity. In the past, fighters like Sam Soliman and Anthony Mundine have understood that, I’m not sure why others can’t,”

 
 
Photo: Louie Abigail/Photography by Rockfingrz