Frànk Wärren: Why Are BBC Shunning Britain's Own Talent?

[Ruthless-RKO]

From Wàrren,

Not so long ago we entered into dialogue with BBC Sport over the potential purchase of radio commentary rights for a night of boxing that surely demands the attention of our national broadcaster.

It is a night with no shortage of British interest, with WBO world middleweight champion Billy Joe Saunders making a defence against his mandatory challenger Willie Monroe jr and leading into probably the most highly anticipated fight of the decade between Gennady Golovkin and Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez – with the winners of the two fights likely to face each other later in the year or early next.

The Las Vegas leg of this fistic treat also includes our national treasure Nicola Adams in her third professional contest, where she will feature on the same card as her partner and fellow boxer Marlen Esparza.

The BBC, apparently for reasons relating to budget and resources , that’s Beeb talk that they’d spent their budget didn’t have the money for the opportunity to showcase these genuine world championship blockbusters – as well as our Golden Girl Nicola – for their listeners.

Having heard the reasons, it was then to my astonishment to learn that BBC Sport – presumably with no small dent to the corporation’s sporting coffers – at short notice found and chose to invest licence payer’s money in the utterly predictable novelty act between Floyd Mayweather and Conor McGregor.

Now I am not knocking that event because it was what it was and we all knew, more or less, how it would play out. It wasn’t a true sporting contest between the two best in the business because they specialise in two different fields.

It was always going to drum up big numbers and it was a costly exercise which generated hundreds of millions for the two headliners. No wonder McGregor appeared to be having quite a party after being the first fighter to be stopped by Mayweather since Ricky Hatton back in 2007.

It wouldn’t have come cheap for the BBC, especially as they doubtless dispatched their usual platoon of foot soldiers to cover proceedings.

The point is with pay-per-view offerings is choice – you either buy it or you don’t. Nobody holds a gun to your head and probably the most satisfied boxing punters on Sunday morning were the ones who chose to go to bed and give it all a miss.

The BBC choosing to buy it on all of our behalves is a scandalous dereliction of responsible duty. Whether we like it or not, we’ve all paid up via the licence fee to help fund a blatant mismatch between two non-nationals.

At the same time the BBC categorically claimed there was nothing left in the pot to cover the exploits of a British world champion and one of the biggest icons in British sport.

The Beeb have showed no interest in Nicola since she illuminated two Olympic Games and became one of the most recognisable and effervescent figures in British sporting society.
We have to ask ourselves if it is to do with gender. Would a male double Olympic gold medallist be ignored in the same way by a publicly funded broadcaster? I think we know the answer to that.

Maybe it is a deep-rooted issue within the corporation. The disparity in pay between male and female talent at the BBC was a cause for national concern recently and the question needs to be asked whether there is a similar bias when it comes to apportioning coverage of elite female athletes.

It is not a question that needs to be asked again internally at the BBC because it is something we have questioned on numerous occasions. So it is an issue I would like to take this opportunity to bring to the attention of our female Sports Minister Tracy Crouch who, as a boxing fan herself, I am sure would be in Nicola’s corner on this one.

I just don’t know how the BBC can justify prioritising a fight between a retired boxer – albeit a celebrated one – and the debut of someone from another sport.

Every one of their experts and commentators derided the fight when it was first announced and everyone in our sport knew full well there was only one outcome.

We are not being after timers. Did anybody with any broad knowledge of combat sport of boxing pick McGregor to win the fight? No, so what was the BBC doing there? It is not as if they cover the UFC.

If they did feel it was so important to give a blow-by-blow account of what was always going to be a non-contest they could have covered it quite adequately via a television feed, like other stations do, instead of spending a fortune on flights, hotels and other expenses.

I want to know how they can justify the costly broadcast of something that in no way enhances British sport and perhaps it will take our sports minister, who has a track record of being happy to pose probing questions, to find out.

Over to you, Minister.

[CaptainSpacerod]

If you're saying the beeb were wrong to cover last weekend's circus fight rather than the best fight of the year ggg v canelo I agree with you. The beeb used to prioritize quality sport over ratings but those days are long gone.

However with regard to Nicola Adams I disagree. Women's sport is shite mate. Nobody's fvcking interested in it no matter how hard the beeb try to push it and boy do they push it. The only sport that is financially viable as a standalone event for women is tennis in which lithe girls with long blonde hair run around in micro skirts stretching and shrieking. Draw your own conclusions.

[TheGingerBomber]

allegedly campaigning for gender equality, he has no bias in this whatsoever...oh wait!
I'm not a dumb bastad that thinks women's sport doesn't deserve the light of day but this fella was on record last year saying women's boxing ain't for him. Now he's moaning because the BBC won't have her fight on commentary. In the words of old leather face, "do me a favour".

He needs to get on with it because he and his company, including his sons, have so much to give the sport of boxing, and if they keep it up they can break the Sky mould, and emerge as the main men in the boxing scene in Britain, can't be feeling hard done by when they've had the benefits in the past.

[moogie101]

The BBC's choice to cover Floyd vs. Conor was because it was a HUGE event not because it was a genuine 50.50 fight, something that the rumoured PPV buyrates seems to back up. Fwank seems bitter just like DeLaHoya because he didn't get any money from the fight, if B*allegedly & BT Sports would have somehow got the rights to broadcast it I'm sure there'd have been a different attitude towards the fight.

Love that Fwank is using gender politics here just because the Beeb won't give him money to cover his events. Billy Joe had the opportunity to become a big name but has squandered it since the Enbanks Jr win. GGG vs. Alvarez whilst a great fight is still a battle of relative unknowns amongst the casuals over here, those fans that give a damn will be watching on B*allegedly anyway.

More importantly in an era where there is much boxing coverage available via so many channels & cough"illegally"cough on this new fangled internet thing who the hell is listening to a boxing fight on the radio???

[3132DW]

The BBC's choice to cover Floyd vs. Conor was because it was a HUGE event not because it was a genuine 50.50 fight, something that the rumoured PPV buyrates seems to back up. Fwank seems bitter just like DeLaHoya because he didn't get any money from the fight, if B*allegedly & BT Sports would have somehow got the rights to broadcast it I'm sure there'd have been a different attitude towards the fight.

Love that Fwank is using gender politics here just because the Beeb won't give him money to cover his events. Billy Joe had the opportunity to become a big name but has squandered it since the Enbanks Jr win. GGG vs. Alvarez whilst a great fight is still a battle of relative unknowns amongst the casuals over here, those fans that give a damn will be watching on B*allegedly anyway.

More importantly in an era where there is much boxing coverage available via so many channels & cough"illegally"cough on this new fangled internet thing who the hell is listening to a boxing fight on the radio???

It's even more ironic as he mocked women's boxing for ages - then seen Taylor etc....and signed Adams so he had a women on books for BT (Ex Olympian/Well Known)

[chinarich]

The Beeb have covered Adams' pro debut on live text commentary as well as her other fights so there is interest, War Ren is just sour that they are not paying him for radio rights!

[dirk2686]

Warren just sounds bitter. McGregor v Mayweather was never a contest but it was a huge event - it made sense given public interest that the BBC would send a team to Vegas. Beyond that the costs involved mean other than absolute megafights of the Mayweather Pacquiao variety you don't realistically get radio commentary for fights involving non-domestic boxers. And even then, if they're fighting in America they need to be massive names anyway.

Adams is a million miles from that level, GGG Canelo isn't anywhere near a Mayweather Pacquiao size event and Saunders is a paper champion leisure centre fighter that the public either don't know about or, if they do, dislike.

Boxing promotion is about knowing the value of your product and increasing its profile. Warren seems to badly misjudge the former and struggle with the latter.

[veriton]

Saunders is a paper champion leisure centre fighter that the public either don't know about or, if they do, dislike.

fair comment. but saunders said he signed for canelo and ggg in the past, with him trying to fight ggg in kazakhstan and then the mafia man got nicked. things just havent fallen his way - i dont get the feeling with him that i get with flanagan. i think saunders could genuinely beat the elite men in the division if he stays busy and stays focused. it seems the ingles have got him back in the game again.

on a totally different note, did anyone see the rocky kelly article in boxing news this week? good read but it also contains the sentence "he also holds the record for noggins, the outlawed practice of throwing coins in the ring"

[dirk2686]

Saunders is a paper champion leisure centre fighter that the public either don't know about or, if they do, dislike.

fair comment. but saunders said he signed for canelo and ggg in the past, with him trying to fight ggg in kazakhstan and then the mafia man got nicked. things just havent fallen his way - i dont get the feeling with him that i get with flanagan. i think saunders could genuinely beat the elite men in the division if he stays busy and stays focused. it seems the ingles have got him back in the game again.

on a totally different note, did anyone see the rocky kelly article in boxing news this week? good read but it also contains the sentence "he also holds the record for noggins, the outlawed practice of throwing coins in the ring"

I simply don't believe Saunders I'm afraid. If he says he's signed to fight the big names I'll need more evidence than that. His career post Lee has fallen to pieces and I'm not convinced it's purely a bad luck story.

[Andrew]

Saunders is a paper champion leisure centre fighter that the public either don't know about or, if they do, dislike.

fair comment. but saunders said he signed for canelo and ggg in the past, with him trying to fight ggg in kazakhstan and then the mafia man got nicked. things just havent fallen his way - i dont get the feeling with him that i get with flanagan. i think saunders could genuinely beat the elite men in the division if he stays busy and stays focused. it seems the ingles have got him back in the game again.

on a totally different note, did anyone see the rocky kelly article in boxing news this week? good read but it also contains the sentence "he also holds the record for noggins, the outlawed practice of throwing coins in the ring"

Saunders turned down the fight with GGG at the start of last year for a career high purse.

This is fact.