"boxing news" to axe historic column

[misterpunch]

"boxing news" has taken the decision to axe the very long running column "old timers" from its pages. in the UK this page has been a true mine of information and engendered a feeling boxing community and a link to the good bad and indifferent fighters of the past. our sport has an incredible tradition - and we are happily and gratefully tied to its long and complex history. boxing news has decided to cut one strand of that bond. the paper believes it will bring our sport to a bigger audience and therefore sell more copies. nothing wrong in trying to do that but cutting this amazing column is not how to do it.
I ask the members of ex-boxers societies up and down the country to boycott boxing news. the paper's circulation will be genuinely affected if this happens.
I know of many fans young and old who, when they read the magazine, turn first to the "old timers" page.
the decision was discussed at the last LEBA meeting and I think that a boycott needs to be in place to affect a rethink by the editorial team and the publisher who between them have dreamt up this scandalous idea.

thanks for your time

[Bodyshot3]

@misterpunch......I will keep buying the mag because it remains good and the only one of it's type for UK enthusiasts and I suspect that the senior execs who own the title have reviewed it's future more than once. The mag has not attracted big-time advertising for a while now and they've had to inch up the cover price several times; that's really not a good sign! BN must be a break-even operation at best.

But axeing that column is a poor decision for a trade paper that must have a significant proportion of readers from inside the business and it hardly took-up a lot of space and can't have cost them a fortune in writer's fees. Ok, so some of the stuff about ex-fighters having a lovely buffet lunch and game of golf was a bit passé but I personally enjoyed it when they reviewed an old fighter or uncovered a long-forgotten fact.

[misterpunch]

I agree with you - the mag's readership is very low and it's never going to be a big seller. so why try to appeal to a more mainstream clientele? it is almost a trade mag. it needs to retain the readership it presently has, that means the hundreds that get it because it has a column like "old timers" - yes, it can be quaint and parochial, but it also keeps the true fans abreast of the community aspect of our sport, plus an amusing story or two always crops up. the column can take us back to some great british ring battles and reminds readers that boxing has a communal tradition that we respect very much. so, much more than golf and a buffet lunch.

I wont buy it again and i'll advise others not to either

[BoxBuzz]

Then you leave me no choice but to buy an extra copy, to make up the loss.


OK...just kidding. The decision does seem odd.

[Flump]

This is not good, it's been scaled back to half a page already for heaven's sake, what exactly are they going to do with a half page? My Dad only reads it for the old timers section, he's going to feel pretty snubbed, as is any other subscriber of a certain age.

[Caractacus]

Just no repsect for tradition in our culture anymore it seems.

[misterpunch]

to be fair to the editor, I understand that it is the decision of the publisher. however, the editor (is it Tris Dixon?) seems to have rolled over like a puppy.

there is plenty of scope for new features - how about interviewing past champs about their single greatest fights? I'd love to hear from conteh about some of his big duels. colin McMillan will gladly chat interestingly about his career. Sibson would be fascinating about his tilt at hagler. stracey is available to talk about napoles. there are hundreds of old fighters with great stories to tell.
this magazine is just walking towards obsolescence - it needs more fresh ideas, not cutting the ties to our history.

only a boycott will save the column - and ultimately the magazine itself

[scartissue]

I'm afraid this has been marginalized for quite some time. I subscribed for years and absolutely felt giddy when it arrived in the post here on the west side of the pond. They always carried great historic articles and then of course, Ron Olver would run his series 'The Professionals', which I would always be drawn to like a magnet. Wasn't it Ron Olver who used to run the Oldtimers (for some reason I always remember it as 'Time out for oldtimers')? But alas, when the Editor Harry Mullan passed away I saw the historic articles disappearing. The new editor Claude Abrams brought in his own style, but it wasn't for me and without ever missing a week for over 10 years I let my subscription lapse. I guess they know better.

[Bodyshot3]

I am going to stick with Boxing News despite the fact that it is editorially not what it once was.....

.......but that's economics for you, they've got a tiny team of (good) writers trying to cover the UK and global scene and create content for a weekly magazine as well as a digital offering. Meanwhile the circulation is not growing and they don't seem to be creating much revenue from advertising, so with money tight the publisher is highly unlikely to hire more journos. Daniel Herbert seems to write less and less for them these days and so does the excellent Danny Flexen.

I miss all the good global correspondents they used to have like Windor Dobbin from Australia, Pete Moscardi from South Africa and lots of good European guys as well. They did some great features on overseas fighters and some terrific reports on the big and important fights that took place beyond Vegas, Atlantic City and London. Per Ake Persson and Joe Koizumi still contribute from Germany and Japan but the days when you got every big bill from right around the world are long gone.

[misterpunch]

scartissue and bodyshot both make good points but it may be the case that although you'll continue with the mag for now, it will be so boring and rootless that it will put to bed when the readership drops to almost nothing. the old timers column was a very strong reason for buying the mag and its going. ergo, Dixon and his team cant complain when they looking for new work.

its new ideas mixed with tradition that keeps the punters happy, not just reports from the town hall Rochdale on a Wednesday night.

[jackclem]

i don't like any british writing. they always had the letter u after an o. very annoying.

[misterpunch]

fascinating