Best Promoter in Britain And why

[Johnny Cucumber]

I would expect that sort of paranoia from you as your firmly wedged up one yourself !

[Jamie Sanigar]

It depends how you measure success? From a business perspective the best promoter surely has to be the one with the most TV dates. From those dates he can pay for the best fighters and is earning him and his company profits.

There can always be a conflict with a promoter also trying to manage a fighter. The promoter hat might be thinking yes thats a great fight on paper "a real war for the fans" whilst his manager hat might be thinking "my fighter could lose, we need to find someone easier".

All the major promoters Warren, Henessey, Matchroom, Maloney have all proven to be good promoters over time but spare a thought for the small hall promoters like ourselves, Carl Greaves, PJ and Erroll Johnson, Steve Wood, etc, etc working hard no doubt running around selling tickets, putting posters up, trying to get media interest with a good chance of losing money.

A promoter can really show his worth when he has a poor fight on paper to sell to the public and does it well or when a main event falls out and he is trying to resurect the bill. For example a fight like Groves v Degale sells itself whilst Ricky Burns v Nicky Cook maybe an interesting fight for hardcore boxing fans but its a tougher sell for general public.

I agree with other comments a real indicator of sucess and satisfaction for a promoter is building a fighter from his pro debut all the way to the big time. From our perspective having a boxer like Glenn Catley or Lee Haskins join our boxing club as a kid and train, manage and promote that talent to the top is what makes it all worthwhile.

[jamesmcdonnell]

But you are saying that Matchroom ARE No 1. Not they will be or they might be. And as you point out they "are making the right noises". But that's what they are - noises.

The biggest show they have promoted in recent years was Audley v Sprott.

I went to the Barker v Spada show and saw no great evidence of great or aggressive matchmaking. Indeed the way Matchroom are milking the Evangelou brothers because they are ticket sellers says the opposite.

Merely hating Warren is no reason to say Matchroom are No 1.

Fella, your singling out one example, when I can give 10 examples of what W@rren has done and what damage he has done to boxing.

Does that make him the best promoter? No, no in my book. Its not hate, as he couldn't care less what I think and why should he. I speak as a boxing fan. Boxers should be matched correctly and the money comes in time, which is the direction Matchroom is taking.

That, to me, is much more important than a W@rren fighter fighting in a 90-10% match up. That does nothing for boxing, the fighter development or for me, as a fan.

Depends what you see a promoters job as. A promoters ultimate job, if he wishes to be successful is to get maximum return on investment, for minumum risk. Frank has certainly done this well, and made Hatton, Calzaghe and Hamed (his biggest successes) very rich men into the bargain.

We as fans may not like some of the soft defences (Hatton's pretty poor WBU reign, or Calzaghe's interminable defences of the WBO strap), but the fighters themselves, well, if they don't like it, they can always go elsewhere when the contract is up. The fact is, all three only left when they thought they could negotiate better money elsewhere and felt they didn't need Frank any more.

Fighters can be rather disingenuous, when they claim that they are willing to fight anyone anywhere, all the while accepting nice paydays from their promoter for soft touches.

[earsjohn]

EarsJohn - I have to agree with you, Hennessey failed big time, didn't have him on TV all...... I take it having him fighting on BBC, ITV and Sky and appearing on Question of Sport 2 or 3 times, BBC breakfast News, Local Notts news, Trans World Sport, Worldsport, CBBC Newsround, BBC Sports personalilty and Let's Dance for Comic relief on a Saturday night does'nt count!!!!!!!!


We have to wait and see if Hennessey does get a deal, even if it is one fight to start with least it is better than nothing, least it gives the sport the chance to shine on Terrestrial TV rather than be stuck on sky where you have to pay to watch it.


What has matchroom done???, go and read the post by gobbles above, thats what they have done!!!!!!

Turning up to be interviewed by John Craven is all well and good but it's small beer compared with not having your World Title fight with Jermain Taylor broadcast live anywhere in the UK. which ever way it's cut, Henessey has significant responsibility for that state of affairs.

earsjohn, you need to get your facts right before coming on here and posting, the fight was live in the UK, i watched it on the internet PPV, cannot rememeber the company name. Also it was on ITV the next day. so BBC lets Dance for sport reflief live on BBC 1 Saturday night with 10 million viewers was small beer, so does that make appearing on ringside a panda pop!!!!!!!!!

Ah yes the internet broadcaster whose impact was so effective, its viewers can't even remember its name?

[h smithy]

Turning up to be interviewed by John Craven is all well and good but it's small beer compared with not having your World Title fight with Jermain Taylor broadcast live anywhere in the UK. which ever way it's cut, Henessey has significant responsibility for that state of affairs.

earsjohn, you need to get your facts right before coming on here and posting, the fight was live in the UK, i watched it on the internet PPV, cannot rememeber the company name. Also it was on ITV the next day. so BBC lets Dance for sport reflief live on BBC 1 Saturday night with 10 million viewers was small beer, so does that make appearing on ringside a panda pop!!!!!!!!!

Ah yes the internet broadcaster whose impact was so effective, its viewers can't even remember its name?

It wasn't the best move but least it was still shown live for us froch fans to watch.

I see you keep commenting on certain things but not there are things you keep distancing yourself from like the fact that Froch has been on TV prior to hooking up with his new promoter and they haven't as yet really made any significant headway.

[gobbles]

But you are saying that Matchroom ARE No 1. Not they will be or they might be. And as you point out they "are making the right noises". But that's what they are - noises.

The biggest show they have promoted in recent years was Audley v Sprott.

I went to the Barker v Spada show and saw no great evidence of great or aggressive matchmaking. Indeed the way Matchroom are milking the Evangelou brothers because they are ticket sellers says the opposite.

Merely hating Warren is no reason to say Matchroom are No 1.

Fella, your singling out one example, when I can give 10 examples of what W@rren has done and what damage he has done to boxing.

Does that make him the best promoter? No, no in my book. Its not hate, as he couldn't care less what I think and why should he. I speak as a boxing fan. Boxers should be matched correctly and the money comes in time, which is the direction Matchroom is taking.

That, to me, is much more important than a W@rren fighter fighting in a 90-10% match up. That does nothing for boxing, the fighter development or for me, as a fan.

I really hope Matchroom do start putting on big shows and become a force in boxing again. However, they haven't done that yet

[big lennox]

Has allegedly given Calzaghe his money back yet? That was a disgraceful affair, I thought.

[nelsoninfour]

I would expect that sort of paranoia from you as your firmly wedged up one yourself !

Are you the man who brought ecoli cucumbers into this country then?
Not rat shagging for me prefer sheep they dont knaw your cock when sucking you off.

[Ezzard]

Is there a book/study of the history of boxing promoters?

Ezzard, read this book http://www.abebooks.co.uk/servlet/Searc ... cm_ven=aff.

It is very good and can be picked up for a few quid. No e-version yet otherwise I'd have grabbed you a copy.

For US promotional insight try The Black Lights or Life and Crimes of Don King. But imagine a guy like yourself will have grabbed those two already.

As for the thread question. They are all doing a good job at the moment. Mick Hennessy getting Fury-Chisora onto Channel 5 is an inspired move and if the station markets the fight right they should get decent viewing figures. Good work by Hennessy. it is a sign of the times that he probably tried to do the same with Froch but to no avail

The O2 show was a big show and has been overlooked. The thread question is very open. As people have pointed out already.

Cheers mate... Will get a copy...

[twenty six]

The Promotion field is not an attractive place to be right now.
Like most businesses it is becoming increasingly difficult to deliver the product with the right quality to attract the punters, and to make a profit.
Sky have realised that they have almost a monopoly on boxing, so as a consequence have reduced what they are prepared to pay for the product, and at the same time demanded an increase in quality.
The maths are pretty simple - but it's an art form making it work.
I have to appaud all the Promotors working the small hall shows - it must be hellish making a profit.
I don't think it's telling tales out of school, but Maloney did say for instance he made a stonking loss when Jamie Moore headlined against Rhodes.
As a punter that was a great night's boxing, but as a Promotor, plaudits don't pay the bills.
A serious question.
Of our top six UK Promotors, how many would sell up and pack it in, if the deal was right ?

[Johnny Cucumber]

The Promotion field is not an attractive place to be right now.
Like most businesses it is becoming increasingly difficult to deliver the product with the right quality to attract the punters, and to make a profit.
Sky have realised that they have almost a monopoly on boxing, so as a consequence have reduced what they are prepared to pay for the product, and at the same time demanded an increase in quality.
The maths are pretty simple - but it's an art form making it work.
I have to appaud all the Promotors working the small hall shows - it must be hellish making a profit.
I don't think it's telling tales out of school, but Maloney did say for instance he made a stonking loss when Jamie Moore headlined against Rhodes.
As a punter that was a great night's boxing, but as a Promotor, plaudits don't pay the bills.
A serious question.
Of our top six UK Promotors, how many would sell up and pack it in, if the deal was right ?

Quality and sensible post this one, just about sums British Boxing up at the moment in my opinion.