The city welcomed the first ever World Boxing Championships last month
11:22, 17 Oct 2025Updated 11:22, 17 Oct 2025
Callum Makin in action against Petar Kresimir Knezevic at the World Boxing Championships(Image: (Peter Byrne/PA Wire))
Costs for hosting a first of its kind international boxing event in Liverpool have been revealed. Last month, the city welcomed hundreds of athletes from across the globe as World Boxing hosted the first series of elite fights set up by the new federation.
It is the first of its kind to be arranged by the body which was formed to negate the concerns over integrity, governance and financial management and aims to receive IOC backing to manage future Olympic boxing competitions. The M&S Bank Arena staged 10 days of elite bouts culminating in the finals on September 14.
Now the cost of putting up more than 1,000 fighters across six of the city’s hotels has been revealed. A budget of £1.2m – to be reimbursed by GB Boxing – had been put aside by Liverpool Council but new calculations have uncovered the true cost of providing accommodation for the athletes.
In October last year after the championships had been announced, the city council entered into a series of contracts with four hotels across Liverpool pertaining to accommodation for the World Boxing Championships in conjunction with GB Boxing, England Boxing and UK Sport. An estimated value of £1.2m was calculated for the numbers of athletes, coaches and officials.
Initial estimates suggested between 600 and 775 athletes and officials would attend the event. This increased to a maximum of 1,200, requiring a top up of the budget by a further £285,000.
Odel Kamara in action at the World Boxing Championships
Almost half a million pounds was spent on rooms and food for those attending at the Maldron hotel facing the arena.
A further £375,000 was used at the nearby Leonardo.
Such was the increased number of attendees at the inaugural championships, two further city hotels were contracted by the local authority to host competitors. Additional rooms were needed at the Holiday Inn Express at Liverpool Central and Novotel.
The maximum number of bed nights increased to 15,600 whilst the economic impact and benefit of the event could increase by up to £6.1m utilising the Sporting Impacts calculator required by UK Sport. Utilising the Visit Britain formula this economic impact could reach up to £8.3m.
Team GB boxer Sacha Hickey training for the World Boxing Championships at the M&S Bank Arena in Liverpool(Image: Liverpool Echo)
All costs associated with hosting the event in the city will be reimbursed in full, ensuring the event hosting represents best value for Liverpool Council. The city’s analysis said: “The economic advantages of hosting the World Boxing Championships are substantial.
“The event has the capacity to draw thousands of visitors, including athletes, teams, officials, and boxing fans, all of whom will contribute significantly to the local economy.
“A full reconciliation of accommodation costs incurred by the Council will be provided to UK Sport and GB Boxing in relation to the accommodation costs and any costs not covered by participants will be reimbursed in full by GB Boxing following the event reconciliation.”