The Golden Contract is a professional boxing tournament created by boxing management and promotions company MTK Global. The tournament is held across three weight-classes with eight fighters in each class, competing in 10 x 3 minute rounds. The winners of each tournament secure a two-year, five-fight contract with MTK Global that guarantees a six-figure purse for each fight.[1] The tournament is televised live on Sky Sports in the United Kingdom[2] and streamed through ESPN+ in the United States.[3]

2019/2020

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The Golden Contract's inaugural tournament is being contested across the featherweight, super-lightweight and light-heavyweight divisions.

Featherweight

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Competitors in the featherweight edition are; Britain's Ryan Walsh, Leigh Wood, Jazza Dickens and Tyrone McCullagh; Ireland's David Oliver Joyce; Mexico's Carlos Araujo; Spain's Carlos Ramos; and Hairon Socarras of Cuba. With Britain's Razaq Najib and Jacob Robinson in reserve.[4] The quarter-final bouts took place on 4 October 2019 at the York Hall, London,[5] and the semi-finals on 21 February 2020 at the same venue.[6] The final was originally set to take place in June, however, due to the COVID-19 pandemic the date was pushed back to 30 September.[7]

 
Quarter-finalsSemi-finalsFinal
 
          
 
 
 
  Ryan WalshTKO 8
 
 
  Hairon Socarras
 
  Ryan WalshUD
 
 
  Tyrone Mccullagh
 
  Tyrone McCullaghUD
 
 
  Razaq Najib n1
 
  Ryan Walsh
 
 
  Jazza DickensUD
 
  Leigh WoodTKO 9
 
 
  David Oliver Joyce
 
  Leigh Wood
 
 
  Jazza DickensMD
 
  Jazza DickensUD
 
 
  Carlos Ramos
 

^Note 1 Araujo failed to make weight; Najib brought in as replacement

Super-lightweight

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Competitors in the super-lightweight edition are; Britain's Tyrone McKenna, Ohara Davies, Jeff Ofori, Darren Surtees, Kieran Gething and Mikey Sakyi; America's Logan Yoon; and France's Mohamed Mimoune.[8] The quarter-final bouts took place on 22 November 2019 at the York Hall, London,[9] and the semi-finals on 21 February 2020.[6] The final was originally set to take place in June, however, due to the COVID-19 pandemic the date was pushed back to 30 September.[7]

 
Quarter-finalsSemi-finalsFinal
 
          
 
 
 
  Ohara DaviesRTD 7
 
 
  Logan Yoon
 
  Ohara DaviesTKO
 
 
  Jeff Ofori
 
  Kieran Gething
 
 
  Jeff Ofori n1Draw
 
  Ohara DaviesMD
 
 
  Tyrone McKenna
 
  Tyrone McKennaUD
 
 
  Mikey Sakyi
 
  Tyrone McKennaUD
 
 
  Mohamed Mimoune
 
  Mohamed MimouneTKO 5
 
 
  Darren Surtees
 

^Note 1 Ofori replaced Lewis Benson due to injury [10]

Light-heavyweight

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Competitors in the light-heavyweight edition are; Britain's Hosea Burton, Steven Ward, Liam Conroy, Tommy Philbin, Andre Sterling and Bob Ajisafe; Germany's Serge Michel; and Latvia's Ričards Bolotņiks.[11] The quarter-final bouts took place on 14 December 2019 at the Brentwood Centre, Brentwood.[11] The semi-finals were originally scheduled to take place on 20 March 2020 at the York Hall in London,[12] however, due to the COVID-19 pandemic the event was rescheduled to take place in September, being split over two nights; the first bout, featuring Bolotniks, took place in Bolotniks' hometown of Rīga, Latvia, on 26 September; the second bout will take place on the same card as the featherweight and super-lightweight finals on 30 September at the York Hall in London.[13][14]

 
Quarter-finalsSemi-finalsFinal
 
          
 
 
 
  Bob Ajisafe
 
 
  Hosea BurtonUD
 
  Hosea Burton
 
 
  Ričards BolotņiksUD
 
  Steven Ward
 
 
  Ričards BolotņiksTKO
 
  Ričards BolotņiksTKO
 
 
  Serge Michel
 
  Andre Sterling
 
 
  Liam ConroyUD
 
  Liam Conroy
 
 
  Serge MichelTKO
 
  Tommy Philbin
 
 
  Serge MichelUD
 

References

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  1. ^ "WORLD-LEVEL TOURNAMENTS UNVEILED". MTK Global. Retrieved 12 December 2019.
  2. ^ "The Golden Contract tournament will be shown live on Sky Sports". Sky Sports. Retrieved 12 December 2019.
  3. ^ "Golden Contract tournament on ESPN+: How to watch". ESPN.com. 3 October 2019. Retrieved 12 December 2019.
  4. ^ "What's the Golden Contract tournament, and who's in it?". ESPN.com. 30 September 2019. Retrieved 12 December 2019.
  5. ^ "Golden Contract: Quarter-final draw explained ahead of next Friday's featherweight competition". Sky Sports. Retrieved 12 December 2019.
  6. ^ a b Christ, Scott (21 February 2020). "MTK Golden Contract results: Ryan Walsh-Jazza Dickens, Ohara Davies-Tyrone McKenna set for tournament finals". Bad Left Hook. Retrieved 17 August 2020.
  7. ^ a b "Golden Contract finals: Ohara Davies takes on Tyrone McKenna and Ryan Walsh faces Jazza Dickens on September 30". Sky Sports. 17 August 2020. Retrieved 17 August 2020.
  8. ^ "What's the Golden Contract super lightweight tournament, and who's in it?". ESPN.com. 21 November 2019. Retrieved 12 December 2019.
  9. ^ "The Golden Contract: The lowdown on tonight's super-lightweight quarter-finals". Sky Sports. Retrieved 12 December 2019.
  10. ^ "OFORI JOINS GOLDEN CONTRACT PARTY". MTK Global. Retrieved 17 December 2019.
  11. ^ a b "The Golden Contract: Hosea Burton to fight Bob Ajisafe in light-heavyweight quarter-finals". Sky Sports. Retrieved 12 December 2019.
  12. ^ "The Golden Contract semi-finals confirmed on March 20". Sky Sports. 3 March 2020. Retrieved 17 August 2020.
  13. ^ "The Golden Contract postponed". Sky Sports. 17 March 2020. Retrieved 17 August 2020.
  14. ^ "Golden Contract 175 Semi-Finals on September 26 & 30". Boxing Scene. 18 August 2020. Retrieved 18 August 2020.
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