Semi pro wtf

[Jeff Thomas]

I got a semi hard-on today. It was like a full hard on but 50% more flaccid.

I think I could use it to defeat some of the guys I have seen on some mma and boxing shows.

[JamieM]

In no way did I mean the fighters were of any standard on these shows, I just meant the whole set up of the show seemed really good with a huge following etc,

[Jeff Thomas]

No I think they do a lot of things right. They benefit from accessibility for competitors who can box other similarly coached novices, and other things like allowing drinking at ringside etc... They can go in any venue. They avoid a lot of costs for insurance and the like and you can run it with very little costs aside from venue, ref and any opponents you have to pay. It's a winning business model, very simple and easy enough to copy if you really wanted to.

I don't think it's a bad thing for the game really it gets the people who buy tickets interested in attending proper shows. I only dislike it when it obstructs potentially good young lads from going down the amateur route but the more I see of amateur boxing and all the shite decisions the more I wonder if its worth the time and effort.

[CiganoBoxer]

I just hope the right level of medical care is provided at these shows.

Well this is the thing , i had a mate that fought on one of these white collar shows put on by Valhalla a Cheltenham based show and its awful ,he knocked this kid out and there was no medical staff ,no ambulance ...its like get knocked out your in the hands of the gods and a taxi driver in smoking diesel vectra taking you the long route to gloucester royal hospital

Yet i have been to other white collar shows that have been run just as good the small pro shows i have been to

[damianhucker1]

I just hope the right level of medical care is provided at these shows.

Well this is the thing , i had a mate that fought on one of these white collar shows put on by Valhalla a Cheltenham based show and its awful ,he knocked this kid out and there was no medical staff ,no ambulance ...its like get knocked out your in the hands of the gods and a taxi driver in smoking diesel vectra taking you the long route to gloucester royal hospital

Yet i have been to other white collar shows that have been run just as good the small pro shows i have been to

Interesting you mentioning Valhalla, they contacted me on facebook yesterday asking questions about my shows.

[Jeff Thomas]

What does it Coast £300 quid for a St. John's sat there for a night -

[damianhucker1]

What does it Coast £300 quid for a St. John's sat there for a night -

I use a private ambulance company who specialise in combat sports rather than St. John, but im fairly sure St John wanted around £650 when i asked them when i first started.
Still , i wouldnt have a show without any emergency services present , not worth the risk, for a couple of hundred quid or so its not worth risking your life and the promoters shouldnt expect you to, if i took lads to box on an away show and no emergency people were there id say the lads werent boxing and that i still expected them to be paid.

[HomicideHenry]

true there is an awful lot of bully boys and bouncers in white colla true there is an awful lot of bully boys and bouncers in white collar boxing but the general mi is appropriate to be called is appropriate to be called semi pro boxing.

[greavsie]

There's no such thing as semi-pro boxing end of

[Manchester Massive]

There's no such thing as semi-pro boxing end of

So what do you call it? They are getting paid, vast majority are not white collar office workers and most aren't novices

[JamieM]

Billy on the fighting Scots page there are white collar boxing fighters fighting out of your gym is there not? and on the post it mentions there semi prob aswell:P is this a dig at them or what? im confused.

[bigped]

Billy on the fighting Scots page there are white collar boxing fighters fighting out of your gym is there not? and on the post it mentions there semi prob aswell:P is this a dig at them or what? im confused.

dont think billy uses that gym anymore mate..

[rubberneck]

i went to a show and the level was that of a 2 fight amateur novice , one fighter looked like a WWF wrestler about 6'4 260 pounds of pure muscle and he was terrible he was fighting a guy that was 2 stone over weight but had obviously done a bit before the unfit guy easily beat the hulk but the hulk got the verdict .

i can see a place for it if say your 27 and want to try boxing ,it would be hard to get a amateur fight so i guess i see why they do it

If people wish to try boxing at an amateur level then age isn't too much of an issue within reason. I started boxing 2 years ago (aged 31) after being a boxing fan for 20 or so years. I'm 33 now. I've only managed to have 2 bouts (1 win) due to picking up injuries here and there (it takes longer to heal the older you get) but getting matched up is not too difficult. I was hoping to have 5 bouts and then call it a day. Four of our competing boxers are 26 or over. I'm glad that I gave it a go as before I didn't fully appreciate the effort, dedication and sacrifice that is required just to compete at the lowest of novice levels.

Also ABAE have started the Masters category which enables boxers aged 34-40 to compete: bouts are over 3x2 mins and only against other masters boxers. Worth a mention is that once you are over 30 you must have a medical every 12 months to keep your ME3 card valid.

[reggaereggae]

I don't know why anyone would care what to call a fight? Semi-pro is a meaningless phrase largely, surely if you're paid, it's professional, if you're not its amateur. And matters are often too complex to label easily.

Eg, is a pro only someone in a licensed BBBC fight? What about the paid 'unlicensed' fights? They are still prizefights.... 'White collar' is a bit of a misnomer - the name originally comes from working office people who wanted to box, but basically now just means a non ABA amateur fight with head guards and belittles the competitors with that label. I have seen some devastating KOs and a couple of quality fights.... I have also seen a lot of shite though.

And what of the Queensberry league?

[el_grande_mauro_mina]

As well the whole "Come see the best scotland has to offer etc"

Is that not just as bad as Pros saying their in a world title fight when its the WBU, WBF etc

This basically.

A lad selling tickets calling himself a 'semi-pro' isn't the biggest pile of bullshit in boxing today, they
are more near the mark in what they are than some of these 'world champions' floating about.

[reggaereggae]

I got a semi hard-on today. It was like a full hard on but 50% more flaccid.

I think I could use it to defeat some of the guys I have seen on some mma and boxing shows.

[stevedoc]

i went to a show and the level was that of a 2 fight amateur novice , one fighter looked like a WWF wrestler about 6'4 260 pounds of pure muscle and he was terrible he was fighting a guy that was 2 stone over weight but had obviously done a bit before the unfit guy easily beat the hulk but the hulk got the verdict .

i can see a place for it if say your 27 and want to try boxing ,it would be hard to get a amateur fight so i guess i see why they do it

If people wish to try boxing at an amateur level then age isn't too much of an issue within reason. I started boxing 2 years ago (aged 31) after being a boxing fan for 20 or so years. I'm 33 now. I've only managed to have 2 bouts (1 win) due to picking up injuries here and there (it takes longer to heal the older you get) but getting matched up is not too difficult. I was hoping to have 5 bouts and then call it a day. Four of our competing boxers are 26 or over. I'm glad that I gave it a go as before I didn't fully appreciate the effort, dedication and sacrifice that is required just to compete at the lowest of novice levels.

Also ABAE have started the Masters category which enables boxers aged 34-40 to compete: bouts are over 3x2 mins and only against other masters boxers. Worth a mention is that once you are over 30 you must have a medical every 12 months to keep your ME3 card valid.

wow i'm a little surprised but glad that you're fighting amateur at 33 .i started at 23 and i was offered either guys with 30 fights that was my age and of course the trainers of 17/18 novices didn't want them to fight a 23 year old man so fights were hard to get at first .
i was thinking the masters sounds like fun i'd give that ago then i realised i'm to old @43.... i'm to old for the old bastards

[rubberneck]

i went to a show and the level was that of a 2 fight amateur novice , one fighter looked like a WWF wrestler about 6'4 260 pounds of pure muscle and he was terrible he was fighting a guy that was 2 stone over weight but had obviously done a bit before the unfit guy easily beat the hulk but the hulk got the verdict .

i can see a place for it if say your 27 and want to try boxing ,it would be hard to get a amateur fight so i guess i see why they do it

If people wish to try boxing at an amateur level then age isn't too much of an issue within reason. I started boxing 2 years ago (aged 31) after being a boxing fan for 20 or so years. I'm 33 now. I've only managed to have 2 bouts (1 win) due to picking up injuries here and there (it takes longer to heal the older you get) but getting matched up is not too difficult. I was hoping to have 5 bouts and then call it a day. Four of our competing boxers are 26 or over. I'm glad that I gave it a go as before I didn't fully appreciate the effort, dedication and sacrifice that is required just to compete at the lowest of novice levels.

Also ABAE have started the Masters category which enables boxers aged 34-40 to compete: bouts are over 3x2 mins and only against other masters boxers. Worth a mention is that once you are over 30 you must have a medical every 12 months to keep your ME3 card valid.

wow i'm a little surprised but glad that you're fighting amateur at 33 .i started at 23 and i was offered either guys with 30 fights that was my age and of course the trainers of 17/18 novices didn't want them to fight a 23 year old man so fights were hard to get at first .
i was thinking the masters sounds like fun i'd give that ago then i realised i'm to old @43.... i'm to old for the old bastards

Blimey, things have changed if you were being offered fights with very experienced opponents for your first few bouts. I think they've made matchmaking a lot more stringent. My first bout was against a lad who'd had 3 bouts. I was matched with a lad who'd had ten bouts (for my 2nd) but the O.I.C. rejected it due to the difference in experience.

[billy nelson]

Billy on the fighting Scots page there are white collar boxing fighters fighting out of your gym is there not? and on the post it mentions there semi prob aswell:P is this a dig at them or what? im confused.

That's not were I train anymore mate back in Stepps, I believe that gym trains white collar fighters don't know who trains them though

[daviddee]

Billy on the fighting Scots page there are white collar boxing fighters fighting out of your gym is there not? and on the post it mentions there semi prob aswell:P is this a dig at them or what? im confused.

That's not were I train anymore mate back in Stepps, I believe that gym trains white collar fighters don't know who trains them though

That's a shame Billy is a very nice gym.. I thought it was yours? What's the story with the name? Fighting Scots gym is that not yours also?? Any timescale on a announcement for Ricky?? Heard he was doing a exhibition at the Gorbals next week

[billy nelson]

My gym is called the fighting scots professional gym the one in Mossend is just the fighting scots gym
Ricky is out Feb 8th as far as were aware in the Hydro in Glasgow, ive heard the arena in supberb

[SAPFO]

There's no such thing as semi-pro boxing end of

So what do you call it? They are getting paid, vast majority are not white collar office workers and most aren't novices

There are some in the pro game that are snobby towards the white collar/unlicensed game, yet attend the shows. There is a market for the boxing hobbyist, just as there is for Sunday League footy, snooker, golf, and any other sports people like to try. There is no such thing as semi-pro in boxing though, IMO there are 4 types of boxing. Pro, Am, White Collar, Unlicensed.

My experience of two of these are below..

There is a small gym here in Birmingham ran by an ex-pro, with an experienced coach on hand, that stays true to the white collar code, and targets primarily while collar workers although there is a healthy mix of us non white collar lads in there. The shows are ran professionally and are fully insured (over 700 people attended a recent show), with a medical, and all the essential medical assistance at hand that you would expect at a pro show. They match fighters fairly and against lads in the same gym who they can monitor, they make sure you only use a limited range of 16oz gloves for safety, a headguard, a box, a gumsheild, and they also make sure you are capable of defending yourself before letting you even spar, let alone fight on one their shows. The fights are scored the same as the Ams, and they are not training you to kill your opponent, they teach you to box, or in my case they try This is white collar at it's best (& safest), and it works very well. As for the pay, you are worth what you earn in this game at any level.

The above is in contrast to "Unlicensed" shows I have attended where I have watched two lads face-off with 14oz gloves on (who have never before set eyes on each other btw), then as they retreated to their corners before the first bell, the gloves were swapped for 10oz. The fight lasted about 20 seconds. These are basically 500 people, 20 fighters, a few bouncers and that's it, no medical, no St John's, no insurance, no clue who the feck you will be fighting, no weight-ins, no basics. It may as well be in a circus tent. Yes it makes money, and there are many copying the formula now, but it will all end in tears when charges are brought against these "promoters" when somebody gets seriously hurt. This is a bad case of Unlicensed, although there are probably well ran outfits out there, I have not seen one yet.


If you wanted to live the dream, which one would you choose?

[amirah]

What is your take on the queensbury league billy?

[Coco]

I'm semi pregnant

[damianhucker1]

I'm semi pregnant

You know full well that doesnt make sense

Its not even a proper comparison, some people are too stubborn to change their opinions .

In all reality the unlicensed lads have as much right to call themselves pro's as those licensed by the board, the BBBoC cant decide who is a pro and who isnt, they can only decide who is sanctioned by themselves.

some of you guys that dont like the semi pro tag would be up in arms if they all decided to call themselves pro, no doubt there will be people who disagree with this post but at the end of the day theres a few people who need to get off their high horse and realise these lads have as much right to earn a living as anyone else, in most other countries they would be pro, the only difference is we have a stricter board here, not that im saying that its not a good thing, just that a few people need to open their eyes a bit and realise they are just being stubborn and failing to acknowledge something because of their own personal view, which obviously matters very little on the grand scheme of things.