Is British boxing heading for a decline ?

[brilo33]

With BrItish boxing booming a couple of years ago.. now it just seems there’s no money here.. all the big dogs are fighting in USA now. We are left with crap shows.

Also, we don’t even get any decent US shows here.

Bnation are picking up more European fights.

No one has picked up Gervonta Davis’ fight, although that should be ITV4 at least seeing as PBC have a deal with ITV.

Hearn has to be under a ton of pressure. He's alienating the real fanbase to desperately get Americans to care, and they never will.

yea bang on, but also there is also ifltv on youtube lot friday nights, so there not all under one stable,

[Onetimeonly]

Hearn has to be under a ton of pressure. He's alienating the real fanbase to desperately get Americans to care, and they never will.

yea bang on, but also there is also ifltv on youtube lot friday nights, so there not all under one stable,

Still ridiculous to have callum Smith fighting on an undercard in a mismatch at 2am or so your time. You'd think he would be on his way to stardom after the groves fight.

[brilo33]

yea bang on, but also there is also ifltv on youtube lot friday nights, so there not all under one stable,

Still ridiculous to have callum Smith fighting on an undercard in a mismatch at 2am or so your time. You'd think he would be on his way to stardom after the groves fight.

tottaly agree , 2 years ago there was nearly a top british fight on most saturdays, now lucky to have a card at all well you dont nothing on tonight

[brilo33]

yea bang on, but also there is also ifltv on youtube lot friday nights, so there not all under one stable,

Still ridiculous to have callum Smith fighting on an undercard in a mismatch at 2am or so your time. You'd think he would be on his way to stardom after the groves fight.

i was watching the conlan fight last week.it went on espn comentry , the fella had never even heard of smith, untill the other fella said he was the real champ, so yea there is no point putting smith on cards in america they dont care unless he has a mouth to back it up

[Onetimeonly]

Still ridiculous to have callum Smith fighting on an undercard in a mismatch at 2am or so your time. You'd think he would be on his way to stardom after the groves fight.

i was watching the conlan fight last week.it went on espn comentry , the fella had never even heard of smith, untill the other fella said he was the real champ, so yea there is no point putting smith on cards in america they dont care unless he has a mouth to back it up

They don't even care about that. It might not be a top 20 sport here fanwise.

[brilo33]

With BrItish boxing booming a couple of years ago.. now it just seems there’s no money here.. all the big dogs are fighting in USA now. We are left with crap shows.

Also, we don’t even get any decent US shows here.

Bnation are picking up more European fights.

No one has picked up Gervonta Davis’ fight, although that should be ITV4 at least seeing as PBC have a deal with ITV.

Hearn has to be under a ton of pressure. He's alienating the real fanbase to desperately get Americans to care, and they never will.

even denton wilder no one cared about little while back, i bet fury has made him a name , and the americans have got a lot great fighters aswell, which they diddnt 10 years ago, spence crawford charlo,andrade, you have g davis shukar steveinson, celeb plant , i bet most americans would not know who they are

[Onetimeonly]

Hearn has to be under a ton of pressure. He's alienating the real fanbase to desperately get Americans to care, and they never will.

even denton wilder no one cared about little while back, i bet fury has made him a name , and the americans have got a lot great fighters aswell, which they diddnt 10 years ago, spence crawford charlo,andrade, you have g davis shukar steveinson, celeb plant , i bet most americans would not know who they are

Most Americans don't know who wilder and fury are. There were more good fighters fighting here 10 years ago. There is a nice crop of youngsters now.

[brilo33]

even denton wilder no one cared about little while back, i bet fury has made him a name , and the americans have got a lot great fighters aswell, which they diddnt 10 years ago, spence crawford charlo,andrade, you have g davis shukar steveinson, celeb plant , i bet most americans would not know who they are

Most Americans don't know who wilder and fury are. There were more good fighters fighting here 10 years ago. There is a nice crop of youngsters now.

and then they go and hold ruiz v aj 2 in saudi

[keirw]

Hearn has to be under a ton of pressure. He's alienating the real fanbase to desperately get Americans to care, and they never will.

even denton wilder no one cared about little while back, i bet fury has made him a name , and the americans have got a lot great fighters aswell, which they diddnt 10 years ago, spence crawford charlo,andrade, you have g davis shukar steveinson, celeb plant , i bet most americans would not know who they are

That's really sad when you think about it.
Some guys on that list deserve moch more recognition than they get.

We don't have half the world class fighters the Americans have, but our promoters and sports channels do a good job of ramming certain fighters down people's throats.

Boxing probably isn't even one of the top 5 most popular sport in the UK, but random football/rugby/cricket fans will know the names and faces of a fair few (mostly British) fighters.

[brilo33]

even denton wilder no one cared about little while back, i bet fury has made him a name , and the americans have got a lot great fighters aswell, which they diddnt 10 years ago, spence crawford charlo,andrade, you have g davis shukar steveinson, celeb plant , i bet most americans would not know who they are

That's really sad when you think about it.
Some guys on that list deserve moch more recognition than they get.

We don't have half the world class fighters the Americans have, but our promoters and sports channels do a good job of ramming certain fighters down people's throats.

Boxing probably isn't even one of the top 5 most popular sport in the UK, but random football/rugby/cricket fans will know the names and faces of a fair few (mostly British) fighters.

to be fair keirw ,i was not having pop at are own fighters, as times in the usa will always dictated fights so your talking 5am . i was more getting at i think british n american kind of going throught the same thing, i think there is to many organizations

[Gnome]

If they have the British title to be contested between area champs, I think that would build interest. Also, they should make the commonwealth belt more significant by having more worthy challengers - you see Australian and Canadian challengers less and less, and I can't remember the last time a kiwi fought for the belt.

Having a British or commonwealth champion fight for a world title would be more significant.

[ewenhay]

If they have the British title to be contested between area champs, I think that would build interest. Also, they should make the commonwealth belt more significant by having more worthy challengers - you see Australian and Canadian challengers less and less, and I can't remember the last time a kiwi fought for the belt.

We need to get area, national and British titles back on free to air TV to build fighters up properly.

Those fights are completely wasted on Sky.

[iestynvenables]

i just want competitive fights whatever the level.

[JimStone]

The decline will come because 18 to 30 year olds don't have any money to buy tickets.

[Ruthless-RKO]

The decline will come because 18 to 30 year olds don't have any money to buy tickets.

Then will feel robbed that they have to pay an extra £20 to watch the fight at home.

[rd350lc]

The decline will come because 18 to 30 year olds don't have any money to buy tickets.

You see a fair few of them at premiership footy matches.

[rd350lc]

If they have the British title to be contested between area champs, I think that would build interest. Also, they should make the commonwealth belt more significant by having more worthy challengers - you see Australian and Canadian challengers less and less, and I can't remember the last time a kiwi fought for the belt.

We need to get area, national and British titles back on free to air TV to build fighters up properly.

Those fights are completely wasted on Sky.

Totally agree with this , when I was a lad British title fights were a big thing .

[Joel2]

I think we are waiting for dazn to come over here and really boost the market. It’s needed because boxing in Britain is waning in popularity. As for upcoming stars, Warrington, sunny Edwards, Charlie Edwards, Fitzgerald, buatsi, Okolie, dubois, docherty looks great,and more. Also, fighters like mundo BJS Joshua Whyte fury yafai Warrington c Edwards have many huge world level fights left in them. Hardly any will be on these shores

[Noxy]

No

[Stuartd75]

I know this is a controversial view but I honestly believe that Eddie Hearn will be the death of the sport in this country. He has done a fantastic job of growing the sport and increased the quality of promotions in this country but his success will ultimately be to the detriment of the sport for a number of reasons.

FIrstly, his success has led to other promoters being unable to compete. In the last couple of weeks alone he has effectively killed off Mick Hennessey and outside of Warren there're very few other promotes that can work effectively beyond British level without his support and it kills the careers of good young fighters that don't have promotional qualities he requires. Look at Chris Jenkins as an example. He is a bona-fide British Champion and he can't get a fight and there are plenty of others.

Secondly, the gulf between Matchroom and Queensberry means that the big interpromotional match ups just never happen at domestic level. Yarde -Buatsi could be a domestic rivalry that eventually plays out on a global stage but it simply will never happen for the British title because both promoters afraid of their stars losing to the others star. Unfortunately the risk levels are such that trying to marinate them for so long eventually means the probability is such that one will slip up and we are going to end up with a lot more Khan-Brook and Hatton-Witter scenarios I think.

Finally, Matchroom success has led them to overstretch themselves. So much has been invested in this Dazn deal that Hearn effectively gave up 4 or 5 Saturday fight night main events for the Joshua msg bill alone. The PPVs have become so important that the other nights become so much weaker and then, incredibly, when he has the chance to give a significant boost to one of his two main markets (here or the States) he decides to go to Saudi. Then Hearn has the audacity to talk about a responsibility to build in other areas whilst the UK hasn't had more than a 2 or 3 Saturday fight nights all year worth the name.

We have the fighters there is no doubt about that. Just off the top of my head - Callum Smith, Charlie and Sunny Edwards, Kal Yafai, Josh Warrington, AJ, Fury, Dubois, Luke Campbell, Conlan, Eubank Jr, Josh Taylor, Josh Kelly, both Selbys, BJ Saunders, Yarde, Ryder, Joe Joyce, whyte are all capable of challenging at the top level and headlining whilst you still have fighters like Crolla, Coyle, frampton, Liam Smith, Ricky Burns, Terry Flanagan who have a big night in them still and we haven't mentioned the next gen type fighters or women like Katie Taylor, Hannah Rankin, Nicola Adams, Sav Marshall and Terri Harper who have roles to play in smaller venues or undercards. If all of this talent was fighting primarily in the UK or Ireland and there was no politics we would have enough cracking cards on Sky and BT to fill up a year with enough left over for allegedly and IFL to still have quality to cover.

Of course it's not only Hearn/Matchroom fault. Warren has to take his blame too but if everyone worked together we could easily have an amazing domestic scene and plenty of room for the big international nights and World title fights but they won't and instead we will lose another 3 or 4 potential headline slots to Saudi Arabia in December!!

[stujones]

I agree Stuart - a big issue is the money these fledging services are offering and therefore the counter offer..... Look at Fury - ESPN cannot afford him to lose which I think is a big reason for his last 2 opponents.

[dbf]

If AJ loses again its a big problem for Hearn and Sky. Barney Francis who was a big boxing fan has changed roles at Sky and is no longer MD of Sky Sports so will have less if any say. Hearn had a good relationship with him and I don;t know if his successor is as fussed about boxing. If they are not then it could put more pressure on Hearn to produce better quality fights.

[Ruthless-RKO]

We’ll see a documentary in a few years.

Matchroom: The Rise and Fall of BrItish Boxing.

Tbh, it might be on a decline, but it’s always gonna be up and down. In a few years it will be up again. When BrItish boxers start doing well, they always want to explore USA. Happens all the time.

[northern]

It is the sad but honest truth of boxing really. After some very good years and some even better names through the last few years, these great boxers are still human, they age and the wear and tear of a few of the fights we all loved have taken their tole on them.

We've had a lot of good years out of the big names from the UK. just a few examples i can mention are:
*Carl Frampton and his pair of matches with Santa Cruz,
*Anthony Crolla and his matches with Jorge Linares,
*Billy Joe saunders and his up and down world title matches or the drama behind them,
*the 2008 olympians Degale went on to world title glory and we had some great memories from David prive and Tony Jefferies,
*the 2012 olympians Joshua, Adams and Campbell are all competing for world titles.
*Even looking away from all that you have had boxers like Martin Murrray, Ricky Burns, Frankie Gavin and Derek Chisora just to name a few.

Time moves on for them like it does all of us, saying that though there are a few names to keep an eye out for the next frew years:
*2016 olympians - Joe joyce is Commonwealth and WBA(gold) champion & Joshua Buatsi is a former British champion and now world contender.
*Next years 2020 olympians - bags of potential there.
*Daniel Dubois is current british champion and looks almost certain to face Joyce with commonwealth and british titles
*Josh warrington is finally a world champion and he carries a natural feel good factor to all of his fights in Leeds.
*Lee selby is now campaigning at lightweight and looks set to continue
*Chris Eubanks jr will always grab attention, his father will make sure of that.
*Josh Kelly and it's only a matter of time before he goes for world titles.
*Women's boxing is taking off here in the UK and looks set to stay for a long time.
*Old verterans like Khan, Brook, Murray, Smith (liam), Chisora and Gavin are still competing and will never let down.
*the UK still almost controls the Super middleweight titles with Callum smith (WBC Diamond), Billy Joe saunders (WBO) and Chris Eubanks Jr (IBO) all holding a varsion of the world title.

[KiwiRider]

I agree Stuart - a big issue is the money these fledging services are offering and therefore the counter offer..... Look at Fury - ESPN cannot afford him to lose which I think is a big reason for his last 2 opponents.

Same here.
Squeezing out the smaller players, then taking your foot of the gas when you have a dominant market share is the curse of a monopoly.