How many more times?

[bennie]

How many times this year has this scenario unfolded: A decent opponent is announced for one of our boys, the tickets sell accordingly, then, lo and behold, with all the tickets gone, the good opponent mysteriously falls out and in comes a beatable opponent.
"Not our fault," say the promoters. "It's the best opponent we could hope for at such late notice."

[KOJOE90]

How many times this year has this scenario unfolded: A decent opponent is announced for one of our boys, the tickets sell accordingly, and then, lo and behold, with all the tickets gone, the good opponent mysteriously falls out and in comes a beatable opponent.
"Not our fault," say the promoters. "It's the best opponent we could hope for at such late notice."

I've kept count mate it's 548 But by the time you've read this it will be 562.

But seriously I know what you mean. I always remember a simular thing seemed to happen over and over again with Frank Bruno's career (although the fights were not always signed) Bruno's going to fight Tubbs, Berbick, Morrison, a rematch with Bonecrusher etc.

And we would end up with Chuck Gardener!

But he had beated a drink and drug addict and totally shot Jimmy Young in his previous fight and Young had beaten George Foreman.

[stujones]

The worst instance of this in recent times was when William Joppy was scheduled to face Joe Calzaghe. Of course, at the time Joppy hadn't long recaptured the WBA Middleweight title with a career best (and deserving) win over Eastman.

Now, over at another site (Boxingtalk) Joppy claimed that no fight he only verbally accepted the match to try and entice Hopkins. Joppy seemed quite glad that it did the trick and Hopkins fought Joppy later in the year.

Let me reiterate that we at boxrec are not stating that Joppy's allegations are true or signaling that the article in boxingtalk was accurate. We are mearly pointing out the then WBA Middleweight champion William Joppy was scheduled (according to the TV scheduling) to face Calzaghe, and that the fight was cancelled at relatively short notice.

[Bard of Boxrec]

Seven. Seven more times. This year.

[bennie]

Seven. Seven more times. This year.

Pinto, Dodson and Battaglia come to mind. Now, Popov.

[REAL_DEAL]

yes witter for pinto, pinto for hatton :x

[Goz]

How many times this year has this scenario unfolded: A decent opponent is announced for one of our boys, the tickets sell accordingly, then, lo and behold, with all the tickets gone, the good opponent mysteriously falls out and in comes a beatable opponent.
"Not our fault," say the promoters. "It's the best opponent we could hope for at such late notice."

I guess it's now on Page 1 of the 'How to be a crap British/German boxing promoter' manual.

[jameswilson]

Dont forget Haye v Swaby that is one I really wanted.
Dunno if that was this year but still recently

[Matchfixer]

The worst instance of this in recent times was when William Joppy was scheduled to face Joe Calzaghe. Of course, at the time Joppy hadn't long recaptured the WBA Middleweight title with a career best (and deserving) win over Eastman.

Now, over at another site (Boxingtalk) Joppy claimed that no fight he only verbally accepted the match to try and entice Hopkins. Joppy seemed quite glad that it did the trick and Hopkins fought Joppy later in the year.

Let me reiterate that we at boxrec are not stating that Joppy's allegations are true or signaling that the article in boxingtalk was accurate. We are mearly pointing out the then WBA Middleweight champion William Joppy was scheduled (according to the TV scheduling) to face Calzaghe, and that the fight was cancelled at relatively short notice.

Not quite sure what your point is.

Perhaps this attitude should be followed more if it leads to better match ups.

[knightshadeau]

Not quite sure what your point is.

Perhaps this attitude should be followed more if it leads to better match ups.

Lets see if I understand what you are suggesting, that more promoters and boxers do in the future.

A promoter places ads all over the place, that Fighter A will be fighting Fighter B, (with no signed contract and/or with the intention of the fight never going ahead) waits for the fans of Fighter A and/or B to buy their tickets, (Which are non-refundable) Then within a week of the fight, Fighter B pulls out of the fight, (Thus disapointing their fans and the boxing public in general) and brings in a no-hoper to fight as a replacement. (This is what you just suggested, is it not)

There is an old saying "Fool me once, shame on you, Fool me twice shame on me."

Now the real questions are,

1. How long do you think it is going to take me to see thru this and stop buying tickets to your promotions or PPV coverage?
2. How long before I or others like me, start complaining to the "Office of Fair Trading" (insert name of org from your own country)
3. How long before PPV and/or other boxing shows wise up and cancel their contract with you. (Thus cutting your profits even more)
4. How long before you have (in effect) shut yourself down?


Answers:

1. Not long, three or four fight cards. (Unless your in England where it could take more than seven in a year) Just kidding folks.
2. Same as above
3. The moment their profits start to be affected.
4. About a year or two, once some or all of the above starts to happen.



Some promoters only deliver promises, While others deliver what they promised. Which do you have in your area?

[Eric the Viking]

Now the real questions are,

1. How long do you think it is going to take me to see thru this and stop buying tickets to your promotions or PPV coverage?
2. How long before I or others like me, start complaining to the "Office of Fair Trading" (insert name of org from your own country)
3. How long before PPV and/or other boxing shows wise up and cancel their contract with you. (Thus cutting your profits even more)
4. How long before you have (in effect) shut yourself down?


Answers:

1. Not long, three or four fight cards. (Unless your in England where it could take more than seven in a year) Just kidding folks.
2. Same as above
3. The moment their profits start to be affected.
4. About a year or two, once some or all of the above starts to happen.

Ah, but the whole point is to not have this sort of thing happen every time - you need to intersperse it with enough genuine-but-completely-safe fights to make it look like an accident when it does happen. On page 2 of the How to be a Crap British/German Boxing Promoter manual ( a copy of which I recently obtained from an informant who insisted I keep his secret identity confidential, or something like that), it specifically states:

Suggested fight distribution for your overprotected hometown fraudfighter (OHFF):

1) Announce a scheduled fight against a genuinely dangerous opponent, even though no contract has been signed and you have no intention of actually making the fight. At the last minute, announce that the supposedly scheduled opponent (SSO) has pulled out (suggested excuses: SSO is an unreliable flake who chickened out at the last minute; SSO's wife had been hiding her pregancy for over 8 months and then suddenly went into labor; SSO has gone on walkabout in the last remaining rainforests of Madagascar and is nowhere to be found) and replace him with the kind of fighter you had planned to have him face to begin with, i.e. one according to formulae 2, 3 or 4 below.

2) Have OHFF fight a once-world-class guy with a recognizable name, but who is now light-years past his prime, and is only fighting at your OHFF's weight because he can no longer make his prime weight. Build opponent up as if he were still in his prime, mention that "like a fine wine, he's the kind of guy who only gets better with age," etc.

3) Have OHFF fight a far-from-world-class local boy, but one who has a strong regional following, allowing you to exploit local rivalries, thus short-circuiting any critical, objective analysis of the matchup by the local fans. Put a positive spin on the sucky opponent's losses, e.g. "...in his entire career, this rugged warrior has only been stopped seventeen times..."

4) Have OHFF fight a green prospect with a gaudy but completely inflated record. To be safe, it is preferable that opponent, despite his inexperience, be one from a lower weight class. Say he "simply outgrew" it, and that he should have been fighting at OHFF's weight for years now.

IMPORTANT NOTE #1: While cycling through this schedule, continually throw out the names of proven world-class fighters, say they are ducking OHFF, that you tried to make a fight but they priced themselves out of it, etc. By continually mentioning OHFF's name in the same breath as world-class fighters, people will come to believe that it deserves to be so, i.e. that OHFF is himself proven world-class and that the actual world-class guys are in fact afraid to face him. Remember: If you repeat a lie enough times, it begins to sound like the truth.

IMPORTANT NOTE #2: AVOID CYCLING THROUGH THIS LIST THE SAME WAY EACH TIME, IN ORDER TO MAINTAIN A VENEER OF PLAUSIBILITY AT ALL TIMES. THIS IS CRUCIAL TO OBTAINING MAXIMAL LONGEVITY AND FINANCIAL RETURNS FROM YOUR OHFF.

Next chapter: How to slander the big names effectively without getting sued, or: The Fine Art of the Joke Fight Contract.

[Guest]

Daffy Duck.


Sorry I know that answer didn't make much sense, but it was the best answer that could be brought in at such short notice.