Amid Khan's return to the UK

[Samuel Brooks]

I would just like to make a point regarding Amir Khan's management.

After his fantastic performance against Maidana, in which he showed the maturity and determination that a champ should have, I am starting to feel like a cheap relative to our boxing fraternity over the pond.

Barry Hearn came up with a good point last week when he mentioned that Khan cannot come over here anid expect to just pay peanuts and get a fight with the best in the UK. Apparently Khan and his 'management' offered a paltry £75k to an unbeaten Euro Champ in McCloskey. That is an insult not only to the fighter, but also to the fans. Khan would expect to pick up millions in TV and gate receipts from paying Sky Box office customers and punters at the venue, so why can he not seem to grasp that to get the best opponent, you are going to have to pay for it.

After Peterson, McCloskey and Murray, we are now hearing that we might get to see Khan batter Witter. A guy who has been out of the ring for 18 months and was soundly beaten by both Bradley and Alexander, who, due to lack of activity, would be a stiff in the ring and won't demand a purse much bigger than the price of a brand new VW Golf.........middle of the range decent motor, but it ain't gonna set the world on fire.

For a fan to pay PPV money, Khan has got to fight someone who is going to challenge for his titles, or at least grab the publics imagination as a 'battle of britain'. His management need to grasp that to e boxing world, their arms appear to be getting longer and their pockets deeper by the day.

[gobbles]

I would just like to make a point regarding Amir Khan's management.

After his fantastic performance against Maidana, in which he showed the maturity and determination that a champ should have, I am starting to feel like a cheap relative to our boxing fraternity over the pond.

Barry Hearn came up with a good point last week when he mentioned that Khan cannot come over here anid expect to just pay peanuts and get a fight with the best in the UK. Apparently Khan and his 'management' offered a paltry £75k to an unbeaten Euro Champ in McCloskey. That is an insult not only to the fighter, but also to the fans. Khan would expect to pick up millions in TV and gate receipts from paying Sky Box office customers and punters at the venue, so why can he not seem to grasp that to get the best opponent, you are going to have to pay for it.

After Peterson, McCloskey and Murray, we are now hearing that we might get to see Khan batter Witter. A guy who has been out of the ring for 18 months and was soundly beaten by both Bradley and Alexander, who, due to lack of activity, would be a stiff in the ring and won't demand a purse much bigger than the price of a brand new VW Golf.........middle of the range decent motor, but it ain't gonna set the world on fire.

For a fan to pay PPV money, Khan has got to fight someone who is going to challenge for his titles, or at least grab the publics imagination as a 'battle of britain'. His management need to grasp that to e boxing world, their arms appear to be getting longer and their pockets deeper by the day.

Khan wouldn't make millions from TV. Everyone seems to think a fight goes on pay-per-view and the money is endless.
In reality, Khan would get about 100,000 viewers, which could mean a fee to the boxers of about £400,000, with the rest going to Sky and production costs. Plus there is an undercard to pay for.
And how many viewers will be paying to watch McCloskey?
And don't blame Khan for PPV. Sky refuse to pay more than about £50,000 for any fight. Money that would not even cover the money McCloskey has been offered.
I hope McCloskey enjoys the £15,000 or whatever he gets for his next European title defence.

[Samuel Brooks]

From TV and gate receipts.

READ IT FIRST

[gobbles]

From TV and gate receipts.

READ IT FIRST

So McCloskey would be a sell-out, would he? Last time he boxed in the North-west, about 50 people turned up.
Your argument is still the same - Khan is going to make millions, so McCloskey should get a big cut. All OK in principle, but if the figure was £75,000, £90,000 or £100,000, Khan would never win unless he went 50-50 for what is a voluntary defence against a largely unknown opponent.

Had Hearn done a better job for the past 3 years building McCloskey's profile (instead of just putting all his meagre PR budget into Prizefighter) he would have more of a case.

[boxingchat]

Gobbles, you are way off the mark. Khan earns MILLIONS and was a Multi-Millionaire before he ever fought for a world title and with Sky and HBO bankrolling his fights he stands to earn a fortune again.

What the Brooks fella is trying to say is that with Amir paddling his own canoe, he's trying to
keep as much of the income as possible and keep the costs down to a minimum so to maximise his own income.

This is the problem when a Boxer promotes himself as was apparent with the whole Audley Harrison sage that ultimately made the BBC pull out of boxing.

If a boxer is going to act this way then the fans suffer and the quality is diminished. I find it distasteful that a Boxer is negotiating with his own opponent and has options on his opponent shouild he lose.

Khan won't sell the MEN Arena out in my opinion and without a very good undercard, which will cost and an opponent that stacks up, following his last perfrormace, which agsin will cost, then he hasn't got a chance. If you pay £75k for a McCloskey or Witter you may draw 8k to the show and take say £500k on the gate. If you pay say £150k to a named opponent with some interest you may get 10-15k into the venue. You do the math!

Small minded people with little or no foresight into how to run a major promotion will screw this kids careeer up just like the Hameds did to Naz. WTF are Golden Boy doing, it seems they sign these Brits up and then do SFA for them once they have.

I mean who is going the Promote the show if Golden Boy and the Khans don't have a licence to? Hearn might have fronted fro then if they hadn't been so mean but now they have blown that.

Khan is a star but not a draw and without a top Promoter behind him who is working on the show and not just for a small fee then the whole thing is doomed to failure and Khan would have been better off staying in the US.

John Murray or Kell Brook would fit the bill for this show but they will want paying. McCloskey, only by way of being European Champion, has credibility but is not known to the wider market and thus won't attract the 'event crowd.'

Manchester is probably still smarting over the Haye fight so anything other than a decent fight will see them stay at hom and not even buy the PPV.

I agree with Samuel Brooks, they need to pay big money as well as demand it. You have to leave some meat on the bone as they say.

[TheCobra]

I agree that Khan seems to have had a coupel fo big fights in america and now wants to come back to UK and have an 'easier' fight after the Maidana war, they also seem to want to pay someone peanuts for the privelege. Can't help but feeling that this would be a bit of a kick in the teeth to UK boxing fans.

[gobbles]

Gobbles, you are way off the mark. Khan earns MILLIONS and was a Multi-Millionaire before he ever fought for a world title and with Sky and HBO bankrolling his fights he stands to earn a fortune again.

What the Brooks fella is trying to say is that with Amir paddling his own canoe, he's trying to
keep as much of the income as possible and keep the costs down to a minimum so to maximise his own income.

This is the problem when a Boxer promotes himself as was apparent with the whole Audley Harrison sage that ultimately made the BBC pull out of boxing.

If a boxer is going to act this way then the fans suffer and the quality is diminished. I find it distasteful that a Boxer is negotiating with his own opponent and has options on his opponent shouild he lose.

Khan won't sell the MEN Arena out in my opinion and without a very good undercard, which will cost and an opponent that stacks up, following his last perfrormace, which agsin will cost, then he hasn't got a chance. If you pay £75k for a McCloskey or Witter you may draw 8k to the show and take say £500k on the gate. If you pay say £150k to a named opponent with some interest you may get 10-15k into the venue. You do the math!

Small minded people with little or no foresight into how to run a major promotion will screw this kids careeer up just like the Hameds did to Naz. WTF are Golden Boy doing, it seems they sign these Brits up and then do SFA for them once they have.

I mean who is going the Promote the show if Golden Boy and the Khans don't have a licence to? Hearn might have fronted fro then if they hadn't been so mean but now they have blown that.

Khan is a star but not a draw and without a top Promoter behind him who is working on the show and not just for a small fee then the whole thing is doomed to failure and Khan would have been better off staying in the US.

John Murray or Kell Brook would fit the bill for this show but they will want paying. McCloskey, only by way of being European Champion, has credibility but is not known to the wider market and thus won't attract the 'event crowd.'

Manchester is probably still smarting over the Haye fight so anything other than a decent fight will see them stay at hom and not even buy the PPV.

I agree with Samuel Brooks, they need to pay big money as well as demand it. You have to leave some meat on the bone as they say.

Well, you're not agreeing with him, because you are pointing out that McCloskey will not draw a crowd or many people to PPV.

The argument is not whether a good name opponent should be well compensated, or whether the Khans or Golden Boy are good promoters, the argument is what McCloskey is worth.

For example, boxingchat, what did Andreas Evensen get for his world title shot? Take away the talk of PPV, because whatever Evensen got paid, all the money was brought to the table by Burns, just as all the money here is brought to the table by Khan. McCloskey isn't bringing Irish TV, isn't a great ticket-seller, isn't being demanded by Sky or HBO, isn't the mandatory challenger.

allegedly always used to say it was difficult making matches for people like Hatton because the likes of Shamba Mitchell would see the crowd, work out the value of the gate and make a ridiculous demands.

[slapbangwhallop]

Well, you're not agreeing with him, because you are pointing out that McCloskey will not draw a crowd or many people to PPV.

The argument is not whether a good name opponent should be well compensated, or whether the Khans or Golden Boy are good promoters, the argument is what McCloskey is worth.

For example, boxingchat, what did Andreas Evensen get for his world title shot? Take away the talk of PPV, because whatever Evensen got paid, all the money was brought to the table by Burns, just as all the money here is brought to the table by Khan. McCloskey isn't bringing Irish TV, isn't a great ticket-seller, isn't being demanded by Sky or HBO, isn't the mandatory challenger.

allegedly always used to say it was difficult making matches for people like Hatton because the likes of Shamba Mitchell would see the crowd, work out the value of the gate and make a ridiculous demands.

You say that but McCloskey brings little to the table but the fact is that was willing to take tickets and a % of the Irish PPV in leiu of a decent purse.

I dont think they would do that if they were not confident that they could bring a little extra to the table.

[Finn]

Well, you're not agreeing with him, because you are pointing out that McCloskey will not draw a crowd or many people to PPV.

The argument is not whether a good name opponent should be well compensated, or whether the Khans or Golden Boy are good promoters, the argument is what McCloskey is worth.

For example, boxingchat, what did Andreas Evensen get for his world title shot? Take away the talk of PPV, because whatever Evensen got paid, all the money was brought to the table by Burns, just as all the money here is brought to the table by Khan. McCloskey isn't bringing Irish TV, isn't a great ticket-seller, isn't being demanded by Sky or HBO, isn't the mandatory challenger.

allegedly always used to say it was difficult making matches for people like Hatton because the likes of Shamba Mitchell would see the crowd, work out the value of the gate and make a ridiculous demands.

You say that but McCloskey brings little to the table but the fact is that was willing to take tickets and a % of the Irish PPV in leiu of a decent purse.

I dont think they would do that if they were not confident that they could bring a little extra to the table.

khan said they offered him 4 to 5 times what he got paid for his last fight plus a shot at the title and he wanted more. so they dropped him.

I doubt chisora had the same attitude when he got the shot at wlad.

[slapbangwhallop]

Well, you're not agreeing with him, because you are pointing out that McCloskey will not draw a crowd or many people to PPV.

The argument is not whether a good name opponent should be well compensated, or whether the Khans or Golden Boy are good promoters, the argument is what McCloskey is worth.

For example, boxingchat, what did Andreas Evensen get for his world title shot? Take away the talk of PPV, because whatever Evensen got paid, all the money was brought to the table by Burns, just as all the money here is brought to the table by Khan. McCloskey isn't bringing Irish TV, isn't a great ticket-seller, isn't being demanded by Sky or HBO, isn't the mandatory challenger.

allegedly always used to say it was difficult making matches for people like Hatton because the likes of Shamba Mitchell would see the crowd, work out the value of the gate and make a ridiculous demands.

You say that but McCloskey brings little to the table but the fact is that was willing to take tickets and a % of the Irish PPV in leiu of a decent purse.

I dont think they would do that if they were not confident that they could bring a little extra to the table.

khan said they offered him 4 to 5 times what he got paid for his last fight plus a shot at the title and he wanted more. so they dropped him.

I doubt chisora had the same attitude when he got the shot at wlad.

Firstly thats bullshizzle and you shouldnt really listen to what the Khans say. Shah said the he wanted to add a "few noughts" onto the purse - did you believe that as well?

Of course the purse was going to be bigger than anything McCloskey recieved before but that is because he has never fought for a world title before, or on PPV or infront of a gate of in excess of 20k. It stands to reason that the purse would be in excess of anything he capatured before.

McCloskeys team were prepared to take the purse but wanted a share of PPVs in Ireland for sales in excess of Khans fight and tickets.

What is Chisora's purse for the Klitchko fight?

[forcefraser]

Boxingchat, how can you say Khan is not a big draw? Of course he is.

If Mcloskey was confident of winning, why not take the shot for £75k? It`s probably the biggest purse he will see in a long time and a massive opportunity, not to mention exposure.

If he wins, then he has a world of possibilities, if he doesn`t take the fight, he might lose his next European defence and £75k will suddenly be a long way away.

[slapbangwhallop]

Boxingchat, how can you say Khan is not a big draw? Of course he is.

If Mcloskey was confident of winning, why not take the shot for £75k? It`s probably the biggest purse he will see in a long time and a massive opportunity, not to mention exposure.

If he wins, then he has a world of possibilities, if he doesn`t take the fight, he might lose his next European defence and £75k will suddenly be a long way away.

He did accept the purse offered.

"If he wins, then he has a world of possibilities" - maybe you should read this to see that it wasnt as straight forward as that.

http://boxrec.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=132992

[Finn]

You say that but McCloskey brings little to the table but the fact is that was willing to take tickets and a % of the Irish PPV in leiu of a decent purse.

I dont think they would do that if they were not confident that they could bring a little extra to the table.

khan said they offered him 4 to 5 times what he got paid for his last fight plus a shot at the title and he wanted more. so they dropped him.

I doubt chisora had the same attitude when he got the shot at wlad.

Firstly thats bullshizzle and you shouldnt really listen to what the Khans say. Shah said the he wanted to add a "few noughts" onto the purse - did you believe that as well?

Of course the purse was going to be bigger than anything McCloskey recieved before but that is because he has never fought for a world title before, or on PPV or infront of a gate of in excess of 20k. It stands to reason that the purse would be in excess of anything he capatured before.

McCloskeys team were prepared to take the purse but wanted a share of PPVs in Ireland for sales in excess of Khans fight and tickets.

What is Chisora's purse for the Klitchko fight?

Why should they get a share of the PPV money in ireland? Chisora is apparently getting £120k but that could be bull.

But this is what he said about it
"The Americans who went to Germany to fight [the Klitschkos] just went to get paid. I'm not going there just to get paid. They offered me crap money but this is me fighting for the sport I love and the titles I want. What winds me up every day is that they have made the game very, very boring."

[Finn]

Boxingchat, how can you say Khan is not a big draw? Of course he is.

If Mcloskey was confident of winning, why not take the shot for £75k? It`s probably the biggest purse he will see in a long time and a massive opportunity, not to mention exposure.

If he wins, then he has a world of possibilities, if he doesn`t take the fight, he might lose his next European defence and £75k will suddenly be a long way away.

He did accept the purse offered.

"If he wins, then he has a world of possibilities" - maybe you should read this to see that it wasnt as straight forward as that.

http://boxrec.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=132992

Sound to me like Khans team just underestimated how much mcloskey usually gets paid then thought sod that lets get someone bigger, if were going to have to pay better money.

[forcefraser]

Boxingchat, how can you say Khan is not a big draw? Of course he is.

If Mcloskey was confident of winning, why not take the shot for £75k? It`s probably the biggest purse he will see in a long time and a massive opportunity, not to mention exposure.

If he wins, then he has a world of possibilities, if he doesn`t take the fight, he might lose his next European defence and £75k will suddenly be a long way away.

He did accept the purse offered.

"If he wins, then he has a world of possibilities" - maybe you should read this to see that it wasnt as straight forward as that.

http://boxrec.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=132992

Just read that piece, which if true is pretty screwed up I agree. Will he get much better terms though, or indeed even the chanced against the other world champions in the division?

Like it or not, he is not (yet) a big draw on the world scene, he does not have a strong hand when negotiating with these people.

Perhaps he should take the long road and get into a mandatory position for one of the titles. Whether Hearn has the weight to help him do that is another matter.

[JimJim2009]

I get the impression that Goldenboy have let Khan have an "easy" fight in the UK this spring before something bigger in Vegas later in the year, and as Goldenboy aren't based in the UK and have other fish to fry in the meantime, "Team Khan" are trying to wring every last penny out of the April fight. I might be wrong, but that's the impression I get - a group of amateurish chancers (who would be lucky to make the tea at Goldenboy) burning the midnight oil to find an ever cheaper way of making this April show come together. I'm sure Amir is enjoying life, enjoying being back in the UK, and doesn't get too drawn into the nitty gritty, and maybe the team are fobbing him off too, fearing that when its time for a bigger fight in Vegas in the second half of 2011, Goldenboy will be running the show, and they'll be back making the tea. The conditioning coach who's been sacked said that he'd never known such an amateurish set up as what he'd seen around Khan. Perhaps out in America, they're pretty much kept in their boxes, but back in the UK they're currently running amok. Maybe they'll put the challenger slot up for bidding on Ebay

[slapbangwhallop]

khan said they offered him 4 to 5 times what he got paid for his last fight plus a shot at the title and he wanted more. so they dropped him.

I doubt chisora had the same attitude when he got the shot at wlad.

Firstly thats bullshizzle and you shouldnt really listen to what the Khans say. Shah said the he wanted to add a "few noughts" onto the purse - did you believe that as well?

Of course the purse was going to be bigger than anything McCloskey recieved before but that is because he has never fought for a world title before, or on PPV or infront of a gate of in excess of 20k. It stands to reason that the purse would be in excess of anything he capatured before.

McCloskeys team were prepared to take the purse but wanted a share of PPVs in Ireland for sales in excess of Khans fight and tickets.

What is Chisora's purse for the Klitchko fight?

Why should they get a share of the PPV money in ireland? Chisora is apparently getting £120k but that could be bull.

But this is what he said about it
"The Americans who went to Germany to fight [the Klitschkos] just went to get paid. I'm not going there just to get paid. They offered me crap money but this is me fighting for the sport I love and the titles I want. What winds me up every day is that they have made the game very, very boring."

Why should be get a share of PPV money from Ireland? Have a wild guess why an Irish fighter should get a share of increased revenue from monies coming from the country that he is from?

If he fights Peterson or Murray or Witter do you think Khan would get more, less or the same PPV buys in Ireland then if he fought McCloskey?

[slapbangwhallop]

Boxingchat, how can you say Khan is not a big draw? Of course he is.

If Mcloskey was confident of winning, why not take the shot for £75k? It`s probably the biggest purse he will see in a long time and a massive opportunity, not to mention exposure.

If he wins, then he has a world of possibilities, if he doesn`t take the fight, he might lose his next European defence and £75k will suddenly be a long way away.

He did accept the purse offered.

"If he wins, then he has a world of possibilities" - maybe you should read this to see that it wasnt as straight forward as that.

http://boxrec.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=132992

Just read that piece, which if true is pretty screwed up I agree. Will he get much better terms though, or indeed even the chanced against the other world champions in the division?

Like it or not, he is not (yet) a big draw on the world scene, he does not have a strong hand when negotiating with these people.

Perhaps he should take the long road and get into a mandatory position for one of the titles. Whether Hearn has the weight to help him do that is another matter.

There is having a strong hand and their is becoming someones slave.

[Finn]

Firstly thats bullshizzle and you shouldnt really listen to what the Khans say. Shah said the he wanted to add a "few noughts" onto the purse - did you believe that as well?

Of course the purse was going to be bigger than anything McCloskey recieved before but that is because he has never fought for a world title before, or on PPV or infront of a gate of in excess of 20k. It stands to reason that the purse would be in excess of anything he capatured before.

McCloskeys team were prepared to take the purse but wanted a share of PPVs in Ireland for sales in excess of Khans fight and tickets.

What is Chisora's purse for the Klitchko fight?

Why should they get a share of the PPV money in ireland? Chisora is apparently getting £120k but that could be bull.

But this is what he said about it
"The Americans who went to Germany to fight [the Klitschkos] just went to get paid. I'm not going there just to get paid. They offered me crap money but this is me fighting for the sport I love and the titles I want. What winds me up every day is that they have made the game very, very boring."

Why should be get a share of PPV money from Ireland? Have a wild guess why an Irish fighter should get a share of increased revenue from monies coming from the country that he is from?

If he fights Peterson or Murray or Witter do you think Khan would get more, less or the same PPV buys in Ireland then if he fought McCloskey?

That becomes irrelivent because he would then get more uk ppv revenue because more people would buy the fight from the uk.

If he fights an irish fighter like mcloskey he gets less uk ppv buys but counteracts it with the irish ppy buys - so why give a percentage of that away.

[forcefraser]

If it`s pure PPV figures he is after, by far the easiest sell to joe public would be a rematch with Prescott.

Sky would have a field day building that one up.

[slapbangwhallop]

Why should they get a share of the PPV money in ireland? Chisora is apparently getting £120k but that could be bull.

But this is what he said about it
"The Americans who went to Germany to fight [the Klitschkos] just went to get paid. I'm not going there just to get paid. They offered me crap money but this is me fighting for the sport I love and the titles I want. What winds me up every day is that they have made the game very, very boring."

Why should be get a share of PPV money from Ireland? Have a wild guess why an Irish fighter should get a share of increased revenue from monies coming from the country that he is from?

If he fights Peterson or Murray or Witter do you think Khan would get more, less or the same PPV buys in Ireland then if he fought McCloskey?

That becomes irrelivent because he would then get more uk ppv revenue because more people would buy the fight from the uk.

If he fights an irish fighter like mcloskey he gets less uk ppv buys but counteracts it with the irish ppy buys - so why give a percentage of that away.

Eh? It becomes irrelevant in what way? I am actually struggling to comprehend what your point is.

Why would Khan get less PPVs in the UK against McCloskey than Peterson? Yer logic is screwed up my friend.

Anyone that can defend the offer made to McCloskey is either a deranged Khan-fan or needs their head read in my opinion.

[slapbangwhallop]

If it`s pure PPV figures he is after, by far the easiest sell to joe public would be a rematch with Prescott.

Sky would have a field day building that one up.

I wouldnt necessarily disagree with that logic.

I dont think a lot of real boxing fans would like it but then again boxing isnt run for the real fans

[lefty]

If it`s pure PPV figures he is after, by far the easiest sell to joe public would be a rematch with Prescott.

Sky would have a field day building that one up.

too much of a risk I imagine

[lefty]

p.s ive been one of khans harshest critics but I dont think he has to fight prescott again to prove anything,before the maidana fight i would of said yes he does but i think maidana hits harder than prescott and is also just a better all round fighter who's proved that on the world stage.

[1southpaw]

Firstly thats bullshizzle and you shouldnt really listen to what the Khans say. Shah said the he wanted to add a "few noughts" onto the purse - did you believe that as well?

Of course the purse was going to be bigger than anything McCloskey recieved before but that is because he has never fought for a world title before, or on PPV or infront of a gate of in excess of 20k. It stands to reason that the purse would be in excess of anything he capatured before.

McCloskeys team were prepared to take the purse but wanted a share of PPVs in Ireland for sales in excess of Khans fight and tickets.

What is Chisora's purse for the Klitchko fight?

Why should they get a share of the PPV money in ireland? Chisora is apparently getting £120k but that could be bull.

But this is what he said about it
"The Americans who went to Germany to fight [the Klitschkos] just went to get paid. I'm not going there just to get paid. They offered me crap money but this is me fighting for the sport I love and the titles I want. What winds me up every day is that they have made the game very, very boring."

Why should be get a share of PPV money from Ireland? Have a wild guess why an Irish fighter should get a share of increased revenue from monies coming from the country that he is from?

If he fights Peterson or Murray or Witter do you think Khan would get more, less or the same PPV buys in Ireland then if he fought McCloskey?

i think if they sold the fight properly in the u.s with all the irish american's i think McCloskey would would earn proper money ????