Prizefighter is it irrelevent

[bigdaddy]

Prizefighter was a good idea a knockout tournament but is it a side show and dose it work for pros or is is a step down????????????????

[whiteboy]

I think it was good when it came in when their seemed to be a huge number of poor Friday fight nights, but there are same many good matches waiting to happen at the moment I think it is a waste of a tv slot

[damianhucker1]

Most boxers have competed as amateurs so the 3 rounds format should be ok to them , and many of them are earning money better than ever before , so for such a dangerous sport i see no problem with higher pay for less rounds , only thing i think is a bit dodgy to me is that it can throw together a guy with a 20 wins 4 losses record with a 2 fight novice , something like that would never get sanctioned by the BBBofC but in prizefighter its fine , Would for example Herbie Hide vs Wayne Brooks have been acceptable under any other circumstances , on that particular day it made an exciting fight but usually it wont .

On the Whole i think prizefighter is good but i think its running a little low at the mo , it needs to start bringing in international fighters , maybe crank up the prizemoney to 50k , that should be enough to get a good level of fighter involved

[alexpaterson]

Agreed I don't mind it if it doesn't take up a SFN spot, so if it's on a Friday or mid week. But otherwise I'm not a massive fan I'd rather see a proper fight.

[stepper]

All sports have a bite sized version for fans, cricket has its one day international, football has five-a-side and boxing has prizefighter.

The question is, should a goal scored in a five-a-side tourney be added to the scorers premiership stats? Should a pro boxer have a loss in a 3 round knockout tourney have that chalked on his pro stats?

I have no problem with prizefighter but it needs to know what it is. The knockout tourneys that ask for our respect are happening. Khan is in one at the top of his ranking weight and so is Froch in a respectable "prizefighter" taking over a year to complete.

Keep prizefighter but place it in a sideshow where it belongs.

[jBacca]

I think prizefighter excels when the competition is matched evenly. Like last night though, there are often mismatches and only 1 in every few prizefighters is worth watching.

It's going stale. Up the competition.

[brian13]

Bad for boxing because the best fighter rarely wins.

[n1ebf]

Bad for boxing because the best fighter rarely wins.

tough sh*t.....they chose to enter it didn't they? Take Gary Sykes for example. No likey....no fightey!

[greenyox3]

It puts backsides in seats, usually delivers good action and gives previously unknown fighters some exposure. It shouldn't be seen as meaningful, e.g. I don't think winning prizefighter is enough to earn a title shot, but it's entertainment and that's the business they're in.

[n1ebf]

it's a better idea than that Super Six business where essentially most of the boxers have probably not been properly remunerated, they've blasted the shite out of each other and a few careers have been curtailed along the way. And that's without all the pull-outs / injuries/ shennanigans that were always going to happen.

I've never been excited by Prizefighter tbh and I've never held it in the same regard as a boxing match/ card with fights over the usual distances. It's only interesting if you're supporting somebody or you have at least 4 good names in it.....which is very rarely. Take last night for instance. I had heard of Dodson who I thought had retired, I was vaguely aware of Dickinson being one of a pair of brothers from up here somewhere......apart from that I'd heard of none of the others and by sounds of it some of them lacked a great deal in terms of skill/ ability.

[Datsue]

Can't stand it meself. Not even as an "attraction". How can I put this politely... Respect is due to those boys involved but I do not care to (nor would I wish to) watch it, at least not any more.

Not saying it shouldn't exist, but just that I do not care for it.

Also: You missed Richard "The Secret" Williams off of your poll.

[el_grande_mauro_mina]

It needs to go on a different tangent now - Great Britain vs

Argentina
Australia
Germany
United States
Canada

4 heavyweights from the UK vs 4 heavyweights from the aforementioned countries - no-one is telling me Great Britain vs Australia would not sell out anywhere!

[Datsue]

It needs to go on a different tangent now - Great Britain vs

Argentina
Australia
Germany
United States
Canada

4 heavyweights from the UK vs 4 heavyweights from the aforementioned countries - no-one is telling me Great Britain vs Australia would not sell out anywhere!

But Carlos, how are you going to encourage top fighters to travel all the way across the world for sixteen grand or whatever it is? How are you going to encourage top fighters to risk their records/rankings for sixteen grand?

Or are you suggesting that the "quality" (& I use the scare quotes in approved slapbangwhatever fashion here) of the field should stay the same, it's just that the net needs to be wider?

If you are saying that, I still wouldn't watch it. Three-rounders between two blokes of a less than interesting ability level aren't going to appeal to me no matter where they're from, & I would judge that most of the PF fans are attracted to it 'cos "It's a local lad, innit" or other such partisan appeal.

[n1ebf]

It needs to go on a different tangent now - Great Britain vs

Argentina
Australia
Germany
United States
Canada

4 heavyweights from the UK vs 4 heavyweights from the aforementioned countries - no-one is telling me Great Britain vs Australia would not sell out anywhere!

terrible idea. There's enough dross gets served up from here....with the anonymity the international angle would create you'd have a whole load of "Dutch Sonny Listons"....and the like...

[el_grande_mauro_mina]

It needs to go on a different tangent now - Great Britain vs

Argentina
Australia
Germany
United States
Canada

4 heavyweights from the UK vs 4 heavyweights from the aforementioned countries - no-one is telling me Great Britain vs Australia would not sell out anywhere!

But Carlos, how are you going to encourage top fighters to travel all the way across the world for sixteen grand or whatever it is? How are you going to encourage top fighters to risk their records/rankings for sixteen grand?

Or are you suggesting that the "quality" (& I use the scare quotes in approved slapbangwhatever fashion here) of the field should stay the same, it's just that the net needs to be wider?

If you are saying that, I still wouldn't watch it. Three-rounders between two blokes of a less than interesting ability level aren't going to appeal to me no matter where they're from, & I would judge that most of the PF fans are attracted to it 'cos "It's a local lad, innit" or other such partisan appeal.

32,000 pounds? They would be over there like a shot? Do you know how much a fighter gets for an Australian title? It's peanuts, check out the Australian forum for purses for Australian title fights, most fighters over there get purse money through ticket sales and that is it! No-one is getting overpaid in any of those countries regards boxing. Offer them the flight and the chance to be on prize fighter fot that purse and you are going to get a positive response.

The net needs to be cast wider Datsue but the quality needn't drop. I don't see how Hearn can give us another prizefighter now with it's domestic format. Time to look overseas and you could sell it easily.

[el_grande_mauro_mina]

It needs to go on a different tangent now - Great Britain vs

Argentina
Australia
Germany
United States
Canada

4 heavyweights from the UK vs 4 heavyweights from the aforementioned countries - no-one is telling me Great Britain vs Australia would not sell out anywhere!

terrible idea. There's enough dross gets served up from here....with the anonymity the international angle would create you'd have a whole load of "Dutch Sonny Listons"....and the like...

Or we might unearth a Sergio Martinez. (I know he is not a heavyweight but he is an import and a jolly good one!)

[lefty]

It needs to go on a different tangent now - Great Britain vs

Argentina
Australia
Germany
United States
Canada

4 heavyweights from the UK vs 4 heavyweights from the aforementioned countries - no-one is telling me Great Britain vs Australia would not sell out anywhere!

I wouldnt be against it if it encompassed up and coming talents from say australia,the U.S etc.Doesnt have to be named fighters just guys that are talented but unknown.

[greenyox3]

A while back they did the Contender Challenge, where 6 guys from The Contender show in the US came over and fought 6 guys that Barry McGuigan picked & trained for it. Think it was in Newcastle, and Anthony Small/Robin Reid were two of our guys. Seem to remember enjoying it (except we lost ), maybe they could try something like this again.

[n1ebf]

A while back they did the Contender Challenge, where 6 guys from The Contender show in the US came over and fought 6 guys that Barry McGuigan picked & trained for it. Think it was in Newcastle, and Anthony Small/Robin Reid were two of our guys. Seem to remember enjoying it (except we lost ), maybe they could try something like this again.

contender was a lovely series and produced some lovely fights. Anthony Small put in a lovely performance......look where he is now the numptey!

[johnnygreaves]

What the prizefighter needs is a new angle , some of the matches in the last few tournaments have been shite. Maybe our idea of the journeymen really can work . Every fight well matched , no one can say we don't have enough quality . Couple of the fights last night were shite. Bad venue , bad show. Barry h has said he sees prizefighter as a springboard to major titles. None of the last few winners looked worldbeaters. They can spring one of us to area or masters fight. We can put on a better show than last nights cak!

[Deno1986]

This time last year Willie Casey was virtually unknown outside of Limerick and hardcore Irish boxing fans. In two months he is fighting for a Interim World Title. Prizefighter had a massive part to play in his fast-tracked career.

[johnnygreaves]

Yeh, ok Casey could be an exception. I know Willie and think he would have done well regardless! All I'm saying is the quality last nite was standard . The first bout was shocking . Us journeymen would give a better show than that. Looks like it won't happen tho. I'm just dreaming !

[Atom Bomb]

Bad for boxing because the best fighter rarely wins.

tough sh*t.....they chose to enter it didn't they? Take Gary Sykes for example. No likey....no fightey!

True, I'm a big fan of Gary and he knew exactly what he was getting into joining prizefighter. Not his style to go blazing in the first 3 rounds and he suffered because of it. Lost his unbeaten record.

[Spud]

It needs to go on a different tangent now - Great Britain vs

Argentina
Australia
Germany
United States
Canada

4 heavyweights from the UK vs 4 heavyweights from the aforementioned countries - no-one is telling me Great Britain vs Australia would not sell out anywhere!

Good idea - but costs would be sky high!!!

[Deno1986]

Yeh, ok Casey could be an exception. I know Willie and think he would have done well regardless! All I'm saying is the quality last nite was standard . The first bout was shocking . Us journeymen would give a better show than that. Looks like it won't happen tho. I'm just dreaming !

Yeah, he would have done well but PF has definitely fast tracked his career. I agree with you though, it was a poor PF last night. It does need something to spice it up. I like Carlos's idea of the team event.