whicker wrote:mickey1975 wrote:but where are the "respected" guys going to be stewarding?at the M.E.N,there was dominic negus and co patrolling the ringside area,and the in-house stewards trying to control the vast arena.it should have been the other way round!the hooligan minority are usually in the cheaper sections.it needs to be sorted out,because its putting a lot of people off the large shows
Well said- and this highlights the problem.
Ringside will be well "stewarded" or "securitied" , at the bigger venues sometimes the rest of the arena is pretty much a free for all, with people sitting whereever they like and the trouble makers being given a free reign.
I've had shows ruined by a lack of stewarding at Small Hall shows- at a Nigel Wright fight a large group of his fans simply stood in front of the flat floor seats, ruining the view for everyone behind.
That said, sometimes Stewarding has been good too- Clifton Mitchell's firm do a good job, in my experience.
The problem is part of the price the bigger venue charge is for the stewarding - they then look at security on entering the arena and on the whole the fire exits and helping people to their seats. The remit for the security paid for by the promoter is to look after all the entrances to and from the Dressing Room Area, the VIP area, the BBBofC area and the press and TV and of course the boxers to and from the ring.
For the promoter to pay for top notch security at big venues like the MEN I dont think would work as as already stated the bigger venues provide this as part of their contract and I believe they are contracted to provide the security they employ the work when an event is taking place so there is a catch 22 situation there.
The only way around this problem is for the promoter to complain to the venue executives about poor standards and I suppose the ultimate sanction is not to use a particular arena again - the best of the bigger venues I have seen although it still had its problems is the O2 in London really good people to deal with -
the biggest problem with the poor standards of stewarding at the bigger venues is the minimum wage - quite honestly would you wade in and possible get your head kicked by some yob if you were only on £5.80 an hour? .
With regards to the security used by promoters - I think Clifton Mitchell's lot are bloody brilliant, I am kicking myself for forgetting the firm used by Hayemaker - they are a cracking bunch of lads too.
So the complaints with regards the bigger venues is not slopping shoulders here but to a point its not the promoters problem - they already pay big bucks to the venue to provide adequate cover.