British Hype Jobs...

[polecateddy]

Woodhall had to change his style due to a chronic elbow injury I believe, making him more hittable. I think Reid and Woodhall were obviously seen as the next generation. But Calzaghe outshined them.

[Old bones Ian]

I think with Reid and Woodhall you didn't have the publicity machine that Team GB boxers have now.
There was hardly any sponsorship of them, the only time people heard about them was at the Olympics, and then you didn't have the option of choosing which sport to watch, so their fights wouldn't of been so high profile at the Games.
This impacted on the profile when they turned pro.

[polecateddy]

Wasnt the cruiserweight Kelly Oliver built up a bit on terrestrial television, but was more or less instantly forgotten about when Sebastian Rothman exposed him? Spenser Oliver and Patrick Mullings possibly built up the same way at super bantamweight.

[mickey1975]

I've read that about Winstone as well, every professional cockney claimed to be a junior champ!

I remember once before a fight in Basildon, I had some idiot telling me about his amateur career. Apparently he had boxed Kirkland Laing twice, he never laid a glove on him untill he knocked him cold each time with one shot in the last round!

Saying that Georgie Smith was fighting on the same show, he was hugely hyped by Hearns, but then that was Hearns way, same for the Delaney brothers.

I've worked with a few guys who had 3 am fights. 1 win, 1 loss and a draw How original! Can't draw in the ams here! Or at least you didn't used to

Can draw in Germany, not her

[mickey1975]

I know Wharton had terrible hands. Mickey Duff used to have him in Harley Street all the time. Seems to be a curse of a puncher.

[Fray Bentos]

Wasnt the cruiserweight Kelly Oliver built up a bit on terrestrial television, but was more or less instantly forgotten about when Sebastian Rothman exposed him? Spenser Oliver and Patrick Mullings possibly built up the same way at super bantamweight.

Kelly Oliver was a 4 time ABA champion - am I right that he was a 1992 Olympian? He was a hell of an amateur fighter.

[mickey1975]

Oliver was red hot, from Bracebridge

[polecateddy]

As a pro he seemed to do the basics well, and could outbox lesser fighters, but he lacked a punch to make much of a dent at higher levels. Rothman walked him down and wore him out. Rothman was a handy fighter until his chin went.

[banjo]

While not a hype job what was the story behind Robin Reid? These days when an Olympic medalist turns pro, it's a full on jizz fest but Reid just went under radar on undercards to big fights and only headlining small hall stuff and then they basically hung him out to dry sending him to Italy to face Nardiello in a fight he wasn't expected to win.

Other Olympians like Audley, Khan, Degale, Price and Joshua were hyped from the start.

Funnily enough for a gold medallist I thought Degale didnt get much hype

He did at the beginning but his star quickly fell as the British public realised he was a boring fighter and a bit of a tit(certainly in the early days). I'll never forget prior to his debut on the undercard of Skelton vs Rogan he was blathering on about how he's like marmite and you'll either love him or hate but he doesn't care and then after the fight which was a dreary 4 rounder he was nearly in tears at the mixed reaction he got from the crowd.

[Coco]

As a pro he seemed to do the basics well, and could outbox lesser fighters, but he lacked a punch to make much of a dent at higher levels. Rothman walked him down and wore him out. Rothman was a handy fighter until his chin went.

Oliver was top quality as an amateur, tall guy, stood very upright, moved in and out of range lovely with a lot of head movement.

However as a pro he changed his style, walked fighters down more from more of a crouch, looking to take shots on the gloves rather than using his feet.

It didn't work for him

[My Name Is Earl]

Think he's been mentioned but Roman Greenberg was bigged up. Being Jewish had something to do with it.
A few big names of the sport rated him.

[Menty]

The David Price hype was probably the worst of recent times. Even the forum was going into meltdown at how special he was.

Yep. Over at the Doggyhouse I remember some fantasist who claimed to be a doctor, drive rally cars and kept pet spiders, who was all over Price claiming he would KO the Klitschko’s, was faster than Haye etc. Funnily enough he disappeared after Price got flattened by Thompson.

[banjo]

He did at the beginning but his star quickly fell as the British public realised he was a boring fighter and a bit of a tit(certainly in the early days). I'll never forget prior to his debut on the undercard of Skelton vs Rogan he was blathering on about how he's like marmite and you'll either love him or hate but he doesn't care and then after the fight which was a dreary 4 rounder he was nearly in tears at the mixed reaction he got from the crowd.

Lol yeah I guess people didn't warm to him
Also he was never going to get the Audley hype cos big Aud was a heavy (super heavy) and was the first gold since forever for UK. Joshua was just perfectly marketed too and got gold in uk too and also at heavy.
Degale was never gonna get as much hype

I think he tried to be controversial and it didn't work because he isn't really that sort of person so it just came across as cringeworthy. The Groves fight was Degale at his most embarrassing with his "ugly ginger kid" trash talk in the build up to his premature celebrating as the result was announced "and the winner, and still undefeated...." not realising Groves went into the fight undefeated too.

[dookus]

In the years before Audley, it had been so long since we'd had big success in the amateurs internationally that the public for a long time didn't pay much attention. As I remember it, even in the late 90s, most prospects were discussed more in relation to their achievement in the ABAs than international performances.

Hence the lack of hype around Woodhall / Reid etc - a medal here and there wasn't enough success to draw attention back to Olympic boxing. So despite achieving big things for British amateurs of that period, they still had to break into the pro game on the same terms, profile-wise, as those who'd done well domestically.

Then Audley won gold at the Olympics, by which time our last one had been back in 1968(!) That ushered in a new level of attention to the amateur sport. The Team GB setup and medal-based funding (with salaries for fighters) followed. What we have now is a whole upper strata of amateur fighters, with a whole high-profile machine behind them focused on Olympic success.

So these days, among the amateurs, public attention is focused on Team GB. That pool of fighters is where you find Olympic medals and, just as importantly, the exposure that comes. Promoters being attracted to convenience like the rest of us (and the ABAs being much lower-profile than they used to be), it's also where they focus their attention when looking for the next big thing to hype up.

All this means now Team GB's the only game in town, especially given how hard life is for prospects without backing. Good amateurs want to get into the Olympic squad more than anything and promoters gravitate toward that. The result is anyone with a medal (we get way more than we used to) gets the hype because that's where promoters' focus. I get the impression it's much harder to break through from outside that setup these days.

Bad thing, though? I dunno. We seem to be doing pretty well in the pros these days.

[Pugilist-specialist]

Wasnt the cruiserweight Kelly Oliver built up a bit on terrestrial television, but was more or less instantly forgotten about when Sebastian Rothman exposed him?

John Keeton stopped him in Sheffield a couple of years before this.

[rpms]

I think he tried to be controversial and it didn't work because he isn't really that sort of person so it just came across as cringeworthy. The Groves fight was Degale at his most embarrassing with his "ugly ginger kid" trash talk in the build up to his premature celebrating as the result was announced "and the winner, and still undefeated...." not realising Groves went into the fight undefeated too.

That was fookin classic.... I get the feeling degale ain't the sharpest tool in the box lol

Remember "The buture`s fright"

[jameswilson]

That was fookin classic.... I get the feeling degale ain't the sharpest tool in the box lol

Remember "The buture`s fright"

I also remember Adam Booth giving the wanker sign to Deagale and Jimmy Mac after the result was announced too. McDonnell acted like this was out of order despite him being a complete helmet in one of the press conferences where they made the purse bet.

[Coco]

Remember "The buture`s fright"

I also remember Adam Booth giving the wanker sign to Deagale and Jimmy Mac after the result was announced too. McDonnell acted like this was out of order despite him being a complete helmet in one of the press conferences where they made the purse bet.

Jimmy Mac didn't come across well there, I remember also for the conf between Farnell and Takaloo

[stujones]

I can see why people are saying this thread is a tad cruel...most of the boxers noted here can handle themselves....it was probably also a sign of the era and tv rights, more so than the fighter bigging up himself.

Steve Murray, the tree surgeon, got a fair amount of tv coverage...but I think was because he was part of an era where tv fighters were quite sparse and sky were hyping loads on their books.

James Hare was another...although I ripped him to go all the way

[olij999]

I can see why people are saying this thread is a tad cruel...most of the boxers noted here can handle themselves....it was probably also a sign of the era and tv rights, more so than the fighter bigging up himself.

Steve Murray, the tree surgeon, got a fair amount of tv coverage...but I think was because he was part of an era where tv fighters were quite sparse and sky were hyping loads on their books.

James Hare was another...although I ripped him to go all the way

I agree - often it wasn't the boxer's fault or choice that they were given the big build-up. I remember James Hare was nicknamed "Lord of the Manor". Met him briefly when he was working for the Board on his local Area Council - he came across as a thoroughly decent guy. Like you, I expected him to achieve more than he did.

[Billy Da Kid]

Amir Khan
Lee Selby
Terry Flanagan
Paul Butler
David Price
Joey Selkirk
Anthony Ogogo
Frankie Gavin
Ajose Olusegun
Kid Galahad
Anthony Yarde
Frank Buglioni
Ohara Davies
Jamie Cox
Richard Towers
Yassine El Maachi
Lewis Ritson
Derry Matthews
Anthony Small
Adnan Amar
Mitchell Smith
Bradley Saunders
Denton Vassell
Liam Walsh
Gamal Yafai
Ronnie Heffron
Mark Heffron
Paul Appleby
Conrad Cummings
Adam Etches
Michael Maguire
Prince Aaron
Stephen Simmons
Haroon Khan
Haider Ali
Zelfa Barrett
Larry Olubamiwo
John Dignum
Rhys Roberts
John O'Donnell
Larry Ekundayo
Eric Ochieng

[Omerta]

Amir Khan
Lee Selby
Paul Butler
David Price
Joey Selkirk
Anthony Ogogo
Frankie Gavin
Kid Galahad
Anthony Yarde
Frank Buglioni
Richard Towers
Lewis Ritson
Derry Matthews
Adnan Amar
Mitchell Smith
Denton Vassell
Liam Walsh
Gamal Yafai
Ronnie Heffron
Mark Heffron
Conrad Cummings
Adam Etches
Michael Maguire
Prince Aaron
Stephen Simmons
Haroon Khan
Zelfa Barrett
John Dignum

You missed jamie Cox

[Billy Da Kid]

You missed jamie Cox

Oh yeah I'll add him now :), along with a few more I've thought of

[Roco]

What about Steve Roberts

I remember switching tv on one day and he was catching blue marlin on board team matchroom boat in somewhere like Mauritius.

[Omerta]

You missed jamie Cox

Oh yeah I'll add him now :), along with a few more I've thought of

Tommy coyle, the kid with the pony tail Romeo Romero or whatever his name is, Sam Bowen, Brian rose, Anthony fowler, Charlie Edwards