Boxers desperate for a step up, whilst the Sky sched is sh!t

[Chambers2]

I've just looked through the 'Sky Boxing Schedule' thread and it's grim viewing, especially considering we have a number of boxers who are desperate for a move up in class. The obvious one that springs to mind is Kell Brook who's been stagnating for years and hasn't fought anyone near his class yet, he's going the same way John Murray did with Hennessey towards then of his time there.

It's frustrating to see a succession of poor matches when alot of our better fighters are twiddling their thumbs, If I was Kell Brook I'd be fcuking sceething. It's unlikely Kells next fight would be for a title, do Sky still have a philosophy that a title HAS to be on offer on a Saturday night main event?

Martin Murray was another that automatically sprung to mind, Darren Barker

[earsjohn]

Is this Sky or is it Warren? Specifcally in the case of Brook and Murray.

Warren was given April 2nd when he secured Cleverly v Braehmer and it looked like Mitchell v Murray was in play. It was also going to be on normal Sky. A couple of short weeks later and Cleverly has moved to May 21st to head off a potential Haye fight, April 2nd has been kept by Warren and rather than a couple of decent headliners with the usual range of prospects v no chance of winning fighters, we are left with Murray v Spains No 2 and the usual range of prospects v no chance of winning fighters.

I could abide a dodgy headline and even a card deep with prospects if there was at least one or two competitive fights somewhere in between, but looking at Warrens current modus operandi for non box office, it is a laughably low risk approach.

Kell Brook will be kept in the shed until May 21st, when he'll no doubt be given another chance to shine by defending his Commonwealth belt against someone probably nicknamed The Rock of Accra, and this will continue until the WBO Welter belt is vacated by Manny and then Kell will get a shot, probably against a bought in opponent and he'll move up to headline his own Box Office shows as Britains Great Welterweight Champion brought to you by allegedly Promotions.

[Glyn Leach]

Maybe the Cleverly card was shifted to 21 May because Haye's PPV was going to be delayed to 2 July? Certainly, 21 May was regarded as a Sky PPV date and without Haye to fill it, the only Sky-contracted promoter who could come up with anything Sky could sell as a PPV is Warren, with one of his strength-in-depth shows. TV gives the dates, promoters can't demand when their shows go on TV.

[Chambers2]

Yeah it's definitely a Sky and Warren (+ other promoters) issue not just Sky as it may have read, but Sky should be pressurising it's promoters to put on more competitive matches.

I'm sure the strong majority of fight fans would much prefer to see Lyons Vs Wale (i.e. an even match-up) rather than Brook Vs The Rock of Accra (who was "brought up fighting for food on the hard streets of Accra"). This is why I was a fan of Mick Hennesseys promoting as he always looked to put on competitive fights whenever possible, not just the main event either

The current Sky schedule looks like a card from the late 90's early 2000's, but instead of WBU belts we get the same fights rebranded as Commonwealth fights. Anyone remember Scott Harrison Vs Kedebe or Alex Arthur Vs Kizza??

[Glyn Leach]

The Lion of Accra, true African warrior, grew up idolising Azumah Nelson, used to wash Ike Quartey's car

[Chambers2]

Maybe the Cleverly card was shifted to 21 May because Haye's PPV was going to be delayed to 2 July? Certainly, 21 May was regarded as a Sky PPV date and without Haye to fill it, the only Sky-contracted promoter who could come up with anything Sky could sell as a PPV is Warren, with one of his strength-in-depth shows. TV gives the dates, promoters can't demand when their shows go on TV.

Some people criticised Warrens 'strength-in-depth shows' predictably saying the fights weren't worthy of PPV, but I was a BIG fan of the Magnificent 7 with competitive fights throughout the bill, but is Warren now saving all these competitive fights for PPV whilst dropping the quality for normal Saturdays??


(Not too sure why I started this thread, but I feel alot better now I've had a good old moan)

[earsjohn]

Maybe the Cleverly card was shifted to 21 May because Haye's PPV was going to be delayed to 2 July? Certainly, 21 May was regarded as a Sky PPV date and without Haye to fill it, the only Sky-contracted promoter who could come up with anything Sky could sell as a PPV is Warren, with one of his strength-in-depth shows. TV gives the dates, promoters can't demand when their shows go on TV.

Oh I get that, but it just irks that a fight that was set to go on normal Sky (Clev v Braehmer) is now going on SBO. I can't see a great deal going on the undercard that will make it a significantly more PPV worthy night than originally planned.

And which came first - did Warren take the May 21st date, forcing Haye to look at alternatives; or could Haye not fulfil the date so conceded it, allowing Warren to sidle in and take it.

And are Hayemaker contracted to Sky? I thought it was a fight by fight deal. Surely a similar arrangement could be reached with, ooh I don't know, say, Carl Froch / Hennessey. Maybe Froch could line up a fight for 21st May, maybe against a durable, world level opponent in the semi finals of a long running boxing tournament set to crown the number one at Super middleweight? Oh? He has already?

[Chambers2]

Maybe the Cleverly card was shifted to 21 May because Haye's PPV was going to be delayed to 2 July? Certainly, 21 May was regarded as a Sky PPV date and without Haye to fill it, the only Sky-contracted promoter who could come up with anything Sky could sell as a PPV is Warren, with one of his strength-in-depth shows. TV gives the dates, promoters can't demand when their shows go on TV.

Oh I get that, but it just irks that a fight that was set to go on normal Sky (Clev v Braehmer) is now going on SBO. I can't see a great deal going on the undercard that will make it a significantly more PPV worthy night than originally planned.

And which came first - did Warren take the May 21st date, forcing Haye to look at alternatives; or could Haye not fulfil the date so conceded it, allowing Warren to sidle in and take it.

And are Hayemaker contracted to Sky? I thought it was a fight by fight deal. Surely a similar arrangement could be reached with, ooh I don't know, say, Carl Froch / Hennessey. Maybe Froch could line up a fight for 21st May, maybe against a durable, world level opponent in the semi finals of a long running boxing tournament set to crown the number one at Super middleweight? Oh? He has already?

Froch-Johnson and Clev-Braehmer double-header for 21/5..... sounds good to me

[Glyn Leach]

I think you'd have to look at who is the market force John, Haye or Warren. I'd say Haye has more clout with Sky at the moment, but he doesn't want to fight on 21 May anymore as Wlad will be available on 2 July. Currently, the only single fighters Sky can build a PPV around are Khan and Haye — and often their PPVs are built around their names alone, before an opponent is even named, which has obvious implications on quality control. The April date was set aside for Khan, before McCloskey was named as the opponent, and May was for Haye, versus whoever. They might as well be opening supermarkets, the PPVs are sold on their names alone, their 'star power', rather than the quality of their matches. Obviously I think this is fundamentally wrong, but that's not the issue here.

Aside from Haye and Khan, Sky has the Warren stable as its third PPV option. Warren has a bunch of fighters on the brink of world class, but to get them the breakthrough fights costs money. The likes of Cleverly, Brook, Murray and DeGale are all at the stage where we want to see them in world title fights or something very close to that level. But meaningful fights are relatively expensive, as we learned from Kevin Mitchell's demands to fight John Murray. My understanding is that Sky pays a certain amount per regular fight night, as per contract, and that amount does not appear to cover the pay demands of two world class fighters plus an undercard. That leaves Warren with the option of putting the more meaningful fights together on PPVs or bringing in The Lion of Accra or The Raging Bull of Madrid as opponents for his bigger names on regular fight nights.

I think someone once posted that a regular fight night gets around £100,000, I don't know if that's correct. As we know, Paul McCloskey, a voluntary opponent, will be getting about twice that amount to challenge Khan, who will be getting an awful lot more. That would seem to explain why the bigger names on Warren's books have their more meaningful fights on PPVs rather than regular fight nights — their own wage expectations, as per contract no doubt, are high in relation to what Sky pays per regular show and then there is a visiting world champion who will want paying as well.

The market appears to have become stupidly inflated. Aside from promoters asking the fighters to fight for less than their contract states, or Sky paying promoters more than their contracts state, I don't know what the way around it is.

[mickey1975]

Maybe the Cleverly card was shifted to 21 May because Haye's PPV was going to be delayed to 2 July? Certainly, 21 May was regarded as a Sky PPV date and without Haye to fill it, the only Sky-contracted promoter who could come up with anything Sky could sell as a PPV is Warren, with one of his strength-in-depth shows. TV gives the dates, promoters can't demand when their shows go on TV.

Oh I get that, but it just irks that a fight that was set to go on normal Sky (Clev v Braehmer) is now going on SBO. I can't see a great deal going on the undercard that will make it a significantly more PPV worthy night than originally planned.

And which came first - did Warren take the May 21st date, forcing Haye to look at alternatives; or could Haye not fulfil the date so conceded it, allowing Warren to sidle in and take it.

And are Hayemaker contracted to Sky? I thought it was a fight by fight deal. Surely a similar arrangement could be reached with, ooh I don't know, say, Carl Froch / Hennessey. Maybe Froch could line up a fight for 21st May, maybe against a durable, world level opponent in the semi finals of a long running boxing tournament set to crown the number one at Super middleweight? Oh? He has already?

Today's BN says Warren is trying to get DeGale-Groves as chief support on May 21st.He has a verbal contract with Dave Coldwell apparently...

[Camcas]

TBH if you get Degale-Groves, Cleverly-Braehmer, Froch-Johnson and Brook on same show that is PPV worthy

[Dan Dares]

How about Chisora Fury on the May 21st card?

[Chambers2]

TBH if you get Degale-Groves, Cleverly-Braehmer, Froch-Johnson and Brook on same show that is PPV worthy

Agreed

[Yes We Can]

How about Chisora Fury on the May 21st card?

How can that happen so soon after the Wlad fight??? Let's face fcts its likely to be a very one sided beat down, so i would be suprosed to see Chisora back out more than once this year....certainly not straigh into what is a dangerous fight.