Danny Who? of Boxing News?

[oliverfennell]

Yeah, I actually like the oft-maligned Zachary Levin, because at least he puts a different spin on things. There's nothing wrong with Danny and Tris, they're just a bit formulaic. Everything you need is there, just they don't stand out as journalists. Hey, not many do, but they're in a privileged position.

[Poncey]

Are you saying he did a report of a fight he never saw?

According to that blog 'Barn, which is on the BN website, that's what he' saying:

"The post-fight piece on the Sunday was more problematic for one slight obstacle…

I hadn’t seen the fight. Setanta always have a replay on the Sunday at midday and I’d checked this on Saturday. But I found out too late. The replay was on Setanta 2, which you don’t get on Freeview. We bluffed it okay except for the point when I said Pac finished Diaz off with a jab. I tried to steer away from any analysis of the actual fight but dropped that bit in to show off. You know, what a tough guy, winning with a jab…doh! Teletext on Sky had said it was a jab but when I eventually watched the replay at 11pm, I realised that Sky teletext don’t realise that some boxers are southpaws and that Manny’s straight left was a super shot. Oh well, cheque please, don’t call us…"

http://www.boxingnewsonline.net/BN08/detail.asp?id=458

[oliverfennell]

But the question remains... where did Danny Flexen come from? Nobody seems to know. Just being a journalism school graduate is surely not enough on it's own, as there's any number of qualified journalists out there who'd kill for that job (myself included!).

[Coco]

Levin is the most entertaining read a bit like Bunce, whereas Abrams is the most intellectual and informative.
Flexen and Dixon are more in the Daniel Herbert mould which isn't really a criticism but you wouldn't notice if they were gone.
And Bob Mee definately deserves a mention too, he has been my favourite for a long time, he scores very highly highly on all fronts, I would be most likely to take his articles as gospel

[Coco]

But the question remains... where did Danny Flexen come from? Nobody seems to know. Just being a journalism school graduate is surely not enough on it's own, as there's any number of qualified journalists out there who'd kill for that job (myself included!).

I would be very interested to kow Flexen's history and credentials, he does seem a mystery man

[whatashambles]

Are you saying he did a report of a fight he never saw?

According to that blog 'Barn, which is on the BN website, that's what he' saying:

"The post-fight piece on the Sunday was more problematic for one slight obstacle…

I hadn’t seen the fight. Setanta always have a replay on the Sunday at midday and I’d checked this on Saturday. But I found out too late. The replay was on Setanta 2, which you don’t get on Freeview. We bluffed it okay except for the point when I said Pac finished Diaz off with a jab. I tried to steer away from any analysis of the actual fight but dropped that bit in to show off. You know, what a tough guy, winning with a jab…doh! Teletext on Sky had said it was a jab but when I eventually watched the replay at 11pm, I realised that Sky teletext don’t realise that some boxers are southpaws and that Manny’s straight left was a super shot. Oh well, cheque please, don’t call us…"

http://www.boxingnewsonline.net/BN08/detail.asp?id=458

I find it weird that a boxing writer wouldn't stay up for one of the biggest fights of the year. What's more the fight was up to see on plenty of other places and why did he take his info from Sky teletext, not any of the websites or even the BBC??

Just realised that having Setanta on freeview means that he would never be able to watch any of the big fights, nor would he have Sky. A bit bizarre for a boxing writer not to be able to watch the two main channels broadcasting boxing?

[oliverfennell]

Flexen and Dixon are more in the Daniel Herbert mould which isn't really a criticism but you wouldn't notice if they were gone.

Absolutely spot on.

As you say, not a criticism, because only truly gifted writers WOULD be missed. But that sums them up perfectly.

Tony Connolly, while no Ernest Hemingway, did have a personal style, and I do miss his stuff.

[whicker]

But the question remains... where did Danny Flexen come from? Nobody seems to know. Just being a journalism school graduate is surely not enough on it's own, as there's any number of qualified journalists out there who'd kill for that job (myself included!).

He just must have really impressed at the interview...

[whatashambles]

http://www.boxingnewsonline.net/BN08/detail.asp?id=431

"I’m Danny Flexen, BN Staff Writer and I’m 26.

I live in Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire. I train and spar at the Times boxing club in Islington but I’m not really above novice status! Sure that’s nothing to do with a lack of natural ability on my part.

Born: 19 August 1981

From: Stepney, east London

First boxing article published: February 2007 on boxing and professional wrestling (oh dear)."

Wow he must have really impressed in the interview. From his first article to writing in one of the biggst boxing magazines in a year?

A quick look at Abrams profile as well shows they both like tennis and support Liverpool

[Glyn Leach]

For what it's worth I have no idea who Danny Flexen is and I haven't read the blog in question (or anything else by him that I remember as being by him), but this preoccupation with "who is he" and "where has he come from" is completely misguided IMO. There is no school for boxing writers, all of us come from nowhere to begin with (I do not include the legions of football and generic sports writers who cover the sport badly for the nationals). Personally, I was a 29-year-old boxing fan who was making pizzas for a living and couldn't even type when I got into the business. At that stage I had only ever attended shows in London but today I have watched and reported boxing in 15 countries on four continents, I'm the longest serving editor in the business and I own Boxing Monthly. And who "was" I? Believe me, it's not where you come from, it's where you are going and how much effort you are prepared to put into getting there. Good luck to Flexen and anyone else who has the balls to stick their neck out and say 'this is what I want to do'. That as much as talent and work ethic is what makes a boxing writer and they don't teach those attributes anywhere that I'm aware of.

PS I'm crap at tennis but I still beat Claude in a momentous inter-publication match at the MGM Grand. Granted, he slaughtered me in a racket ball rematch in Atlantic City (I nearly threw up and was on the verge of passing out), but I done him at his own game and he knows it lol!

[DavidPayne]

Thanks for the brisk application of sense there Glyn.

BN is trying to employ a lower brow offensive to appeal to a different generation of potential fans, blogging etc is all part of the tactic.

Flexen's simply knockabout style is all part of that one would assume.

And to say Hauser is better is akin to comparing a Rolls Royce to a pimped Rover 25. Unfair and pointless.

[Glyn Leach]

I thought that Hauser comparison was a bit off-beam too David - kind of Ali-McDermott lol

[Autobarn]

That's all cool. You have to start somewhere. Flexen obviously fit the requirements Claude was looking for, including being able to write, and some web design skills which he said was vital. Most ppl don't get paid for boxing writing - most websites for instance pay nothing at all - so if he's in there already then he's doing something right.

The bit I'm not keen on is writing up a fight without having seen it. I wouldn't advise it. Not good to communicate the feel of a fight taking it from other 2nd hand sources. Also, if you've seen the fight, it's better for you if you have to interview the principals (which he didn't have to); you end up having a better chat, getting better quotes, the whole thing adds up & most importantly, you are usually happy with it.

It makes you wonder how many fight reports you see are by guys who haven't seen the fights.

[DavidPayne]

That's all cool. You have to start somewhere. Flexen obviously fit the requirements Claude was looking for, including being able to write, and some web design skills which he said was vital. Most ppl don't get paid for boxing writing - most websites for instance pay nothing at all - so if he's in there already then he's doing something right.

The bit I'm not keen on is writing up a fight without having seen it. I wouldn't advise it. Not good to communicate the feel of a fight taking it from other 2nd hand sources. Also, if you've seen the fight, it's better for you if you have to interview the principals (which he didn't have to); you end up having a better chat, getting better quotes, the whole thing adds up & most importantly, you are usually happy with it.

It makes you wonder how many fight reports you see are by guys who haven't seen the fights.

Loads.

I also dont read Borges work anymore. I'm sure he's gutted.

[dbflex]

I will address your comments and complaints (there are many it seems) on my blog this week – you've clearly all read it so there is no need for a link. Just to address a few of the more extreme criticisms briefly:

Comparing me to Thomas Hauser is ridiculous. I don't claim to be anywhere near as experienced or talented.

Calling me an arsehole over the web does not a. make you a big boxing fan or b. make you a tough guy. It only serves to obscure your point and to demean you. Criticise me constructively me by all means, but most of us left the name-calling back at school.

Terry, thanks for your comments, you seemed niuce on Friday too and I think you could tell from our convo that, if nothing else, I know my stuff.

Finally, to suggest I got the job because Claude and I both like tennis and Liverpool was hilarious.

I am happy to take criticism though, and I will deal with your points in more detail on thursday in your favourite, Living the Dream.

[Deserter]

Danny, don't let any of the more personal comments get to you. You'll always get criticism because of the high profile nature of your job and the fact that any special interest title attracts people who are particularly passionate about that particular subject.
You're a young journalist who's still growing into a new role so some mistakes are inevitable... the only thing that matters is that you learn from them. You've landed a job that many others would covet and I'm sure you know how lucky you are. Just embrace the whole experience, enjoy the opportunities that such a role throws up and go for it, without a backward glance at those who choose to snipe from the sidelines.

[whatashambles]

I will address your comments and complaints (there are many it seems) on my blog this week – you've clearly all read it so there is no need for a link. Just to address a few of the more extreme criticisms briefly:

Comparing me to Thomas Hauser is ridiculous. I don't claim to be anywhere near as experienced or talented.

Calling me an arsehole over the web does not a. make you a big boxing fan or b. make you a tough guy. It only serves to obscure your point and to demean you. Criticise me constructively me by all means, but most of us left the name-calling back at school.

Terry, thanks for your comments, you seemed niuce on Friday too and I think you could tell from our convo that, if nothing else, I know my stuff.

Finally, to suggest I got the job because Claude and I both like tennis and Liverpool was hilarious.

I am happy to take criticism though, and I will deal with your points in more detail on thursday in your favourite, Living the Dream.

I wasn't seriously suggesting you got the job because of the Liverpool/Tennis thing.
As for the Thomas Hauser comparison, I was actually responding to thespy saying "Maybe he should have cut his teeth with seconds out he's about their level, he probably thinks Roman Greenberg is good too!" more that Secondsout have some good writers than a comparison with Danny Flexen.
I'm sure Danny knows his stuff and his predictions have proved that, it just seems strange as we hadn't seen him on any websites, and how many pieces had he had in the magazine before becoming a full time writer?
I know Boxing News is held in pretty high regard and you wouldn't start writing for a national newspaper about football having had very little writing experience before.

[Glyn Leach]

There are very few trained journalists in specialist boxing writing — the experience is gained on the job and the very few jobs that become available only go to those who show themselves to be knowledgeable and dedicated enough to deserve the chance. Bottom line is if Danny Flexen impressed Claude with his knowledge, you can take it as read that he did well and he belongs at BN. That is the way it works at our level. Give the guy a chance.

[Poncey]

Out of interest, would you respect a Football journalist that's never kicked a ball?

I'm not having a pop at any Boxing journalists, I just thought the whole "Has he Boxed" question raised an interesting question.

Do you have to partake in the sport to be able to report on it?

[DavidPayne]

A bunch of the boys were whooping it up in the Malamute saloon;
The kid that handles the music-box was hitting a jag-time tune;
Back of the bar, in a solo game, sat Dangerous Dan McGrew,
And watching his luck was his light-o'-love, the lady that's known as Lou.
When out of the night, which was fifty below, and into the din and glare,
There stumbled a miner fresh from the creeks, dog-dirty, and loaded for bear.
He looked like a man with a foot in the grave and scarcely the strength of a louse,
Yet he tilted a poke of dust on the bar, and he called for drinks for the house.
There was none could place the stranger's face, though we searched ourselves for a clue;
But we drank his health, and the last to drink was Dangerous Dan McGrew.

There's men that somehow just grip your eyes, and hold them hard like a spell;
And such was he, and he looked to me like a man who had lived in hell;
With a face most hair, and the dreary stare of a dog whose day is done,
As he watered the green stuff in his glass, and the drops fell one by one.
Then I got to figgering who he was, and wondering what he'd do,
And I turned my head--and there watching him was the lady that's known as Lou.

His eyes went rubbering round the room, and he seemed in a kind of daze,
Till at last that old piano fell in the way of his wandering gaze.
The rag-time kid was having a drink; there was no one else on the stool,
So the stranger stumbles across the room, and flops down there like a fool.
In a buckskin shirt that was glazed with dirt he sat, and I saw him sway,
Then he clutched the keys with his talon hands--my God! but that man could play.

Were you ever out in the Great Alone, when the moon was awful clear,
And the icy mountains hemmed you in with a silence you most could hear;
With only the howl of a timber wolf, and you camped there in the cold,
A helf-dead thing in a stark, dead world, clean mad for the muck called gold;
While high overhead, green, yellow, and red, the North Lights swept in bars?--
Then you've a hunch what the music meant...hunger and might and the stars.

And hunger not of the belly kind, that's banished with bacon and beans,
But the gnawing hunger of lonely men for a home and all that it means;
For a fireside far from the cares that are, four walls and a roof above;
But oh! so cramful of cosy joy, and crowded with a woman's love--
A woman dearer than all the world, and true as Heaven is true--
(God! how ghastly she looks through her rouge,--the lady that's known as Lou.)

Then on a sudden the music changed, so soft that you scarce could hear;
But you felt that your life had been looted clean of all that it once held dear;
That someone had stolen the woman you loved; that her love was a devil's lie;
That your guts were gone, and the best for you was to crawl away and die.
'Twas the crowning cry of a heart's despair, and it thrilled you through and through--
"I guess I'll make it a spread misere," said Dangerous Dan McGrew.

The music almost dies away...then it burst like a pent-up flood;
And it seemed to say, "Repay, repay," and my eyes were blind with blood.
The thought came back of an ancient wrong, and it stung like a frozen lash,
And the lust awoke to kill, to kill...then the music stopped with a crash,
And the stranger turned, and his eyes they burned in a most peculiar way;

In a buckskin shirt that was glazed with dirt he sat, and I saw him sway;
Then his lips went in in a kind of grin, and he spoke, and his voice was calm,
And "Boys," says he, "you don't know me, and none of you care a damn;
But I want to state, and my words are straight, and I'll bet my poke they're true,
That one of you is a hound of hell...and that one is Dan McGrew."

Then I ducked my head and the lights went out, and two guns blazed in the dark;
And a woman screamed, and the lights went up, and two men lay stiff and stark.
Pitched on his head, and pumped full of lead, was Dangerous Dan McGrew,
While the man from the creeks lay clutched to the breast of the lady that's known as Lou.

These are the simple facts of the case, and I guess I ought to know.
They say that the stranger was crazed with "hooch," and I'm not denying it's so.
I'm not so wise as the lawyer guys, but strictly between us two--
The woman that kissed him and--pinched his poke--was the lady known as Lou.

Why you ask? I dunno really.

[Asterix]

Out of interest, would you respect a Football journalist that's never kicked a ball?

I'm not having a pop at any Boxing journalists, I just thought the whole "Has he Boxed" question raised an interesting question.

Do you have to partake in the sport to be able to report on it?

You don't have to, although I'm sure it helps a lot.

[Autobarn]

Out of interest, would you respect a Football journalist that's never kicked a ball?

I'm not having a pop at any Boxing journalists, I just thought the whole "Has he Boxed" question raised an interesting question.

Do you have to partake in the sport to be able to report on it?

A boxer would have to be good at writing.

For a scribe, it's more important for a writer to be good at writing, than he is at boxing, as I see it.

Obviously some boxers are good writers. McCullough wrote for Ring Mag, and many are doing blogs which is good.

[Poncey]

and many are doing blogs which is good.

Any decent ones you've come across?

[Glyn Leach]

Out of interest, would you respect a Football journalist that's never kicked a ball?

I'm not having a pop at any Boxing journalists, I just thought the whole "Has he Boxed" question raised an interesting question.

Do you have to partake in the sport to be able to report on it?

It wouldn't hurt but it isn't necessary. For example, how many pro boxers have ever become toplevel written media journalists? I'm not talking about ghost written columns here, but boxing journalism. Frankie Taylor is the only one I can think of in the last 40 years. The logical extension of the "participation is crucial" argument is that an amateur couldn't have the experience to write about a pro, a six-round pro couldn't write about an eight-round pro for the same reason, an eight-round pro couldn't comment on an Area title fight, up through to British title, up through to European, up through to world ... It becomes unsustainable in the end. Too many people out there say they've boxed when in all honesty they've just brawled with gloves on half a dozen times, which is not the same thing. I'd never claim to have been a boxer, out of respect to boxers. I think that having followed and studied the sport over a long period of time has been far more important to my work than the couple of sloppy rounds of milling I had as a kid. But I'm sure others will think differently, and God love them for it.

[Autobarn]

and many are doing blogs which is good.

Any decent ones you've come across?

Jim Watt and Glenn McCrory write some interesting stuff on the Sky Sports website. Woth checking out now and again.