Quote Originally Posted by Spicoli View Post
Quote Originally Posted by greynotsoold View Post
ESPN is talking about cutting boxing as well.
This all relates back to the proliferation of titles- because sanctioning fees drive up costs- and the PBC business model of throwing stupid money at fighters. The trend that they started of overpaying everybody to attract names has done a lot of damage. They have been paying Ennis over a million for filler fights- in essence that is what they have been- so what is he going to demand to fight for a title or against somebody that might challenge him?
I have had conversations with fighters that, for example, came up with GBP, became champions and were making good money. They bought into the PBC allure and made good money for a fight or two, then watched they career stagnate because they couldn't get fights. PBC couldn't afford to put on fights, plain and simple. The business model didn't turn a profit and the OPM ran out.
I believe it is DAZN that recently reported that they have lost huge amounts of money over the last few years. They are throwing money at fights that have no chance to recoup. On the other side of the coin, promotional companies like Top Rank and GBP that are playing with their own money and try to turn a profit get labelled as cheapskates. But if you have a fighter that you are trying to build, you will go to TR or GBP- especially TR- because they know how to do it and run shows that he can fight on.
In my opinion boxing is going to go back to local promoters building fighters that draw locally. This will lead to a resurgence of locally televised fights and, hopefully, more local opportunities to be active and a more sensible financial expectation for all parties involved.
Very well put there. In general the overpaying created many problems for promotions, Gbp, pbc and dazn alike and they resigned themselves to kicking the can down the road. The whole clamor for short-term profit via mainly one sided ppv, tune ups being million dollar affairs...multi millions to Andrade or M. Garcia as example. It's all playing out like there was no long term vision or even foresight that it simply was not sustainable. Consequently, now inactivity is massive as fighters are not 'getting' the huge purse they feel as though they deserve. I'm all for fighters getting their bucks but hearing guys like Ruiz and Wilder call for 10 million it's just ridiculous. So they sit and do nothing. There was a time when getting to the massive stage of say HBO was part of the draw. It factored in as it meant you arrived.

Not to beat the dead horse but I'll always believe the across the board loss of consistent low cost or even free network 'tv' exposure will hobble the sport. There was a lasting anticipation and almost tunneling of focus when it came to developing and building fighters to a payoff. Not the payoff upfront as it seems today. Growing a fan base. Apps and streaming are here and are not going away but it's all pretty fractured and almost reverts..in a way..boxing again off the front page and bigger stage. I just don't know how a return to tv would play out. It's very much a generational thing as now it's mockingly dismissed as old media. But when it came to boxing long gone are the days of literally 4-5 cards/title fights a week. Local promotions as you rightly key on always benefited from networks coming to locals and putting young talent on a monthly and multi annual run. Guys like Boots Ennis should be years ahead of where he is and a known force now. He would actually blow a Philly fight scene up. So many local 'big' hubs have seemingly dried up. Barclays Center has not held a card of any sort in over a year!
Television is a weird thing for boxing. Supposedly TV brought more money into the game but, before TV, there were a lot more fighters and trainers and managers and promoters making a living from boxing than there were years later. Very few people make a living from boxing in 2023. And a live show...I have never known anybody that went to their first live fight card and didn't leave mesmerized.
But then you run across the other thing and that is "protecting the 0." Look at JCC and Yori Boy Campos. When Chavez made his debut at the Olympic they put him in with Adrian Arreola, wh0, as you know, was a very good fighter and a very good draw. It was a good, tough, competitive fight and, when they brought Chavez back to fight Azabache Martinez, they sold out. When Yori Boy debuted at the Olympic, the new Mexican KO sensation fought a one armed sheepherder and sold 3000 tickets. When they brought him back against the one armed sheepherder's blind brother, the fight fell through because of zero interest.
The renewal of boxing will come, if it does, from guys that love boxing and take the risk and put on fights- good fights- that people will pay to see. They will build fighters the old way, based on who the people want to see. Fundamentally, you have to wean yourself away from the addiction to "TV money" because it is ultimately detrimental. I'm seeing a lot of that going on in Texas and Mexico right now, where they are putting guys with good records that are good draws, in fights with one another. And they are drawing well and making money.