Are UK broadcasters abandoning boxing?

[maverick23]

There was a point when allegedly and Sky pretty much covered 95% of what was going on at a decent level in the States, Europe and the UK.

And we all still moaned.

Now there's pap like the BT show last Saturday, foreign fights are all over the place with all kind of costs unless you get a dodgy firestick, and Eddie is trying to tell us the game has changed whilst we look forward to Jazz Dickins vs Kid Galahad and Terri Harper vs TBA.

Jesus.

The fight camp shows are good and they’re excellent compared to the U.K. competition like the majority of BT shows this year. Have BT had one fight better than Dickens/Galahad this year?

Be interesting how Hearn promotes these without Sky to do it.

He needs a good linear TV partner where he can get his content in front of hundreds of thousands/millions of people to promote his shows.

He’s been costing up to BBC with his podcast and he could give them free material (promotional and big fights a few days after they happen) like he did with the Canelo show that was on BbC1 in the days before the Billy Joe fight.

If not BBC then channel 5 or ITV4 may want to do something. They love free content and I’m sure there will be a way for it to work for all involved.

Eddie will always whore himself to any newspaper, podcaster, YouTube channel to push it outside of the hardcore.

[maverick23]

There was a point when allegedly and Sky pretty much covered 95% of what was going on at a decent level in the States, Europe and the UK.

And we all still moaned.

Now there's pap like the BT show last Saturday, foreign fights are all over the place with all kind of costs unless you get a dodgy firestick, and Eddie is trying to tell us the game has changed whilst we look forward to Jazz Dickins vs Kid Galahad and Terri Harper vs TBA.

Jesus.

The fight camp shows are good and they’re excellent compared to the U.K. competition like the majority of BT shows this year. Have BT had one fight better than Dickens/Galahad this year?

Think you've misunderstood my post. It wasn't about wheher FIght Camp is better than BT's output. It's about the hit and miss coverage of boxing and the wide range of channels it's on, plus the general shitness of most of what we are fed.

Loads of our better fighters have retired/gone past their peak and there's not much coming through quickly.

Not a good time for British Boxing.

Agree it’s not a particularly good time for British boxing. I think it’ll be a transitional period for the next 4 years until the Tokyo crop of amateurs are around title level.

Whilst we don’t have massive depth we do arguably have 4 of the top 10 heavyweights in the world and there are still some great fights across the divisions to be made. We just need them to happen and see less fights like BT’s on Saturday where it was being sold more as ‘if he wins this then he fights Yarde again’.

I actually really enjoyed the early Sky shows this year (Warrington show, Kelly/Avanesyan, the Whyte PPV show with Cheeseman/Metcalf) but the last couple were average albeit still a fair bit better than most of the BT stuff.

[peter barlow]

British boxing is in a transitional stage I agree. It will get better.

I do feel though the MTK saga is not over yet, and MTK is now a major power in British/Irish boxing. The BBC Panorama probably scared the shit out of UK broadcasters. Boxing has a PR problem on these islands. That matters with media/broadcasters.

[maverick23]

British boxing is in a transitional stage I agree. It will get better.

I do feel though the MTK saga is not over yet, and MTK is now a major power in British/Irish boxing. The BBC Panorama probably scared the shit out of UK broadcasters. Boxing has a PR problem on these islands. That matters with media/broadcasters.

Agreed but they may just look to work with an intermediary similar to what they did with the Golden Contract. Top Rank would work well with that as they’ve got the history/credibility.

[Ruthless-RKO]

There was a point when allegedly and Sky pretty much covered 95% of what was going on at a decent level in the States, Europe and the UK.

And we all still moaned.

Now there's pap like the BT show last Saturday, foreign fights are all over the place with all kind of costs unless you get a dodgy firestick, and Eddie is trying to tell us the game has changed whilst we look forward to Jazz Dickins vs Kid Galahad and Terri Harper vs TBA.

Jesus.

The fight camp shows are good and they’re excellent compared to the U.K. competition like the majority of BT shows this year. Have BT had one fight better than Dickens/Galahad this year?

Be interesting how Hearn promotes these without Sky to do it.

He’s signing a deal with a free broadcast channel. Which will help promote.

[KiwiRider]

I think the Conlan show will be on Sky. Will likely be their first U.K. show I would have thought.

Yes, I like the idea of that.
Stars are made through good promotion, exciting matchups, and importantly - letting the general public actually watch them.

[coneye]

I think the Conlan show will be on Sky. Will likely be their first U.K. show I would have thought.

Yes, I like the idea of that.
Stars are made through good promotion, exciting matchups, and importantly - letting the general public actually watch them.

Think about it though ,, who would plough there money into boxing , I would'nt , the greed of the promoters , the ridiculous amounts the top echelon are making , Stuff that ,, example ,, if asked who would plough there money into say Fury -Wilder , when you know the amounts there getting paid would almost certainly see you losing money ,, then on top of that , you know some sort of boxing politics , or just out and out games could scupper the show before you even start , but you lose money .
Boxing over the years has got that way the real die hard fans do not make anyone money most are like me , sick to death of mismatchs , guys refusing to fight each other , manipulation of rankings , belts ect by promoters , guys like Billy Joe perfect example , ducking , diving , and then demanding a fortune to defend a belt they should'nt even have .

Boxing , with the jhelp of managers , promoters , has shot itself in the foot ,,, everyone is craving for there slice of the pie , and fooking it right up ,,, look at that ifl tv ,, at first quite good , now i will very rarely watch it ,, i mean who wants to watch , managers who think there more important than fighters , and actually through Kugan have more fame ,,, Guys who's only claim to fame are , changing there name to the same has there , bro , husband , or best freind , continually being interviewed for there expert opinion , and managing boxers , ,

The whole boxing game has become a joke , me i just don't watch it anymore unless its a real big fight ,, and i know thats unlikely to happen in Britain ,, so i don't really watch much british boxing , although in years gone by i could'nt get enough ,, I'll switch on for some of the american shows , they are usually better , but i can't see why anyone would invest money into bringing them to Britain , unless it was the real big names ,,, I still like to watch the local ameteurs though ,

[KiwiRider]

I think the Conlan show will be on Sky. Will likely be their first U.K. show I would have thought.

Yes, I like the idea of that.
Stars are made through good promotion, exciting matchups, and importantly - letting the general public actually watch them.

Think about it though ,, who would plough there money into boxing , I would'nt , the greed of the promoters , the ridiculous amounts the top echelon are making , Stuff that ,, example ,, if asked who would plough there money into say Fury -Wilder , when you know the amounts there getting paid would almost certainly see you losing money ,, then on top of that , you know some sort of boxing politics , or just out and out games could scupper the show before you even start , but you lose money .
Boxing over the years has got that way the real die hard fans do not make anyone money most are like me , sick to death of mismatchs , guys refusing to fight each other , manipulation of rankings , belts ect by promoters , guys like Billy Joe perfect example , ducking , diving , and then demanding a fortune to defend a belt they should'nt even have .

Boxing , with the jhelp of managers , promoters , has shot itself in the foot ,,, everyone is craving for there slice of the pie , and fooking it right up ,,, look at that ifl tv ,, at first quite good , now i will very rarely watch it ,, i mean who wants to watch , managers who think there more important than fighters , and actually through Kugan have more fame ,,, Guys who's only claim to fame are , changing there name to the same has there , bro , husband , or best freind , continually being interviewed for there expert opinion , and managing boxers , ,

The whole boxing game has become a joke , me i just don't watch it anymore unless its a real big fight ,, and i know thats unlikely to happen in Britain ,, so i don't really watch much british boxing , although in years gone by i could'nt get enough ,, I'll switch on for some of the american shows , they are usually better , but i can't see why anyone would invest money into bringing them to Britain , unless it was the real big names ,,, I still like to watch the local ameteurs though ,

Deep breath, hold it, let it out slow. Roll your shoulders, and repeat
Now, I can't really disagree with what you have said. Disturbingly I can only add to it, and also I don't think what you have said is UK-centric either.
I also love the small hall show side of pro boxing. The beers are cheap and they have pies at my local club.
Sure, sometimes the pies (steak and cheese, steak, mince, mince and cheese, potato top and butter chicken I think) can be a bit frozen in the middle if they are having a busy night, but do I need to repeat how cheap the beers are?
The boxing is usually close, raw, and fun to watch. Mmm pies.

[high tower 1]

It feels like the fall of rome at the moment.

Z list celebrity boxing getting all coverage
The 2 biggest heavyweights not fighting
A range of obscure apps spreading out the talent

[Dioufy]

Can you blame UK TV for backing away from Boxing… look at the shit we get served up. The majority of fights are not even interesting to hardcore fans never mind casuals. If we are lucky we get one competitive fight in 4/5 televised fights.
They ain’t going buy rights if viewing figures are shite.
Look at BT‘s show last week… I would’ve turned off after an hour if there was anything else on. I got that bored that even when the main event come on I was only half-watching.

[Black Sam Bellamy]

The product is crap, who wants to watch it, apart from the diehards ?

[jamesmcdonnell]

The product is crap, who wants to watch it, apart from the diehards ?

To be honest, these days I almost never get excited about boxing, the actual top level events that are really good fights is the minority, most are a massive letdown.

The last really exciting big name fight that I recall being broadcast was probably Joshua v Klitshko.

Fury's win over wilder was emphatic, but it was very one sided.

Canelo's probably the best value in terms of a marquee name these days, even if his fights aren't always thrilling, he's quality to watch, and generally get the job done.

Overall, boxing is crap compared to other major sports. It's as simple as that.

[CaptainSpacerod]

The general consensus is that boxing has had its day.

The Warren card at the weekend was a shambles. Fury not fighting Joshua has damaged the sport here and the Wilder cancellation now, and I'm a Fury supporter.

The weekend Warren card is the perfect example of what’s wrong with boxing. Lyndon and Yarde were both down to fight relative nobodies rather than fight a rematch - why ? Whose fault is that - is it all down to Frankie or do the two boxers need to take responsibility ?

[Black Sam Bellamy]

The general consensus is that boxing has had its day.

The Warren card at the weekend was a shambles. Fury not fighting Joshua has damaged the sport here and the Wilder cancellation now, and I'm a Fury supporter.

The weekend Warren card is the perfect example of what’s wrong with boxing. Lyndon and Yarde were both down to fight relative nobodies rather than fight a rematch - why ? Whose fault is that - is it all down to Frankie or do the two boxers need to take responsibility ?

My presumption is that without a paying crowd, promoters cannot make decent fights work, financially. Boxers expecting too much money, or decent money at least, and the income from broadcasting doesn't cover. Hence why they're not being made.

[coneye]

The Warren card at the weekend was a shambles. Fury not fighting Joshua has damaged the sport here and the Wilder cancellation now, and I'm a Fury supporter.

The weekend Warren card is the perfect example of what’s wrong with boxing. Lyndon and Yarde were both down to fight relative nobodies rather than fight a rematch - why ? Whose fault is that - is it all down to Frankie or do the two boxers need to take responsibility ?

My presumption is that without a paying crowd, promoters cannot make decent fights work, financially. Boxers expecting too much money, or decent money at least, and the income from broadcasting doesn't cover. Hence why they're not being made.

Nail on the head , Money is a big issue Hearn has said on numerous occasions , you need to put a lot of these fights on ppv even if there not ppv fights just to pay the money they want ... Now fair enough all sports have superstars who are always going to command and recieve top dollar ,,, But putting Canelo , Fury , Joshua and the like aside ,, how can a promoter pay the likes of Yarde and Lyndon , enough money to cover a years wages when they only fight a couple times a year , not just them but lots of others ,, days gone by guys fought whenever they could , now British level fighters want to be full time profesionals , with there well paid manager there trainer , there conditioner , there diatiscn , ect ect ect and to do that they need good dollars when they fight , but unfortunately there just not good enough or exciting enough to draw the crowds ,, perfect example is Lyndon and Yarde , now having easy nights , who is silly enough to pay good money to watch these guys get an easy win .

Course you can't blame the boxers , especielly when they see someone like Connor Benn , flashing around in his sports car , telling itv how well he's doing , how he's a ppv star , and all along everyone knows he's a koala (protected species ).

Promoters have done it to themselves , theve made 90% of boxing mismatches , always looking for a star not a good fight I hate womens boxing but not long ago watched two women give the best fight of the night with ones face looking 100 times worse than BJS , who by the way still has'nt shown any x rays of the plate that was put in you know the one where he was took to hospital , had the plate and flew home all within 4-5 days

[zeroprobe]

I don't really agree with the topic.

There has never been so much access to boxing now. Mainstream TV is fading.
Sure you will never get the old days of the pure concentration of viewing figures because there were only 4 channels.

Now we have.

Frank - BT
Top Rank - Sky
Matchroom - DAZN

If you want boxing it is there although it can get costly.

[peter barlow]

Castano Charlo announced on fite TV @
$9.99.

Nobody will be paying that. Will try get on YouTube Sunday.

[CaptainSpacerod]

The Warren card at the weekend was a shambles. Fury not fighting Joshua has damaged the sport here and the Wilder cancellation now, and I'm a Fury supporter.

The weekend Warren card is the perfect example of what’s wrong with boxing. Lyndon and Yarde were both down to fight relative nobodies rather than fight a rematch - why ? Whose fault is that - is it all down to Frankie or do the two boxers need to take responsibility ?

My presumption is that without a paying crowd, promoters cannot make decent fights work, financially. Boxers expecting too much money, or decent money at least, and the income from broadcasting doesn't cover. Hence why they're not being made.

It’s a real conundrum isn’t it. Clearly everyone wants their slice of the pie and it’s understandable that fighters don’t wanna jeopardise future earnings by being matched tough and losing. We as fans are probably equally to blame given that we howl and moan at any fight being PPV other than the absolute mega fights but it seems as though boxing can’’t generate the revenue to make quality fights viable without some element of PPV be it a one off payment or a subscription channel.

[CaptainSpacerod]

Nail on the head , Money is a big issue Hearn has said on numerous occasions , you need to put a lot of these fights on ppv even if there not ppv fights just to pay the money they want ... Now fair enough all sports have superstars who are always going to command and recieve top dollar ,,, But putting Canelo , Fury , Joshua and the like aside ,, how can a promoter pay the likes of Yarde and Lyndon , enough money to cover a years wages when they only fight a couple times a year , not just them but lots of others ,, days gone by guys fought whenever they could , now British level fighters want to be full time profesionals , with there well paid manager there trainer , there conditioner , there diatiscn , ect ect ect and to do that they need good dollars when they fight , but unfortunately there just not good enough or exciting enough to draw the crowds ,, perfect example is Lyndon and Yarde , now having easy nights , who is silly enough to pay good money to watch these guys get an easy win .

Course you can't blame the boxers , especielly when they see someone like Connor Benn , flashing around in his sports car , telling itv how well he's doing , how he's a ppv star , and all along everyone knows he's a koala (protected species ).

Promoters have done it to themselves , theve made 90% of boxing mismatches , always looking for a star not a good fight I hate womens boxing but not long ago watched two women give the best fight of the night with ones face looking 100 times worse than BJS , who by the way still has'nt shown any x rays of the plate that was put in you know the one where he was took to hospital , had the plate and flew home all within 4-5 days

Good comments as always Coneye

[maverick23]

The weekend Warren card is the perfect example of what’s wrong with boxing. Lyndon and Yarde were both down to fight relative nobodies rather than fight a rematch - why ? Whose fault is that - is it all down to Frankie or do the two boxers need to take responsibility ?

My presumption is that without a paying crowd, promoters cannot make decent fights work, financially. Boxers expecting too much money, or decent money at least, and the income from broadcasting doesn't cover. Hence why they're not being made.

It’s a real conundrum isn’t it. Clearly everyone wants their slice of the pie and it’s understandable that fighters don’t wanna jeopardise future earnings by being matched tough and losing. We as fans are probably equally to blame given that we howl and moan at any fight being PPV other than the absolute mega fights but it seems as though boxing can’’t generate the revenue to make quality fights viable without some element of PPV be it a one off payment or a subscription channel.

It’s not like Yarde or Arthur are big draws though. Neither have sold several thousand tickets in the past and they managed to get the first fight away with no fans.

This time they would have had 1,000 fans so c.£50,000 of additional income compared to their first fight.

Promoters need to take responsibility. They shouldn’t be willing to promote fights like this where the fights aren’t likely to be competitive, no-ones heard of the opponent and the narrative is who the fighter will fight next. It happened for the bulk of Joe Calzaghe’s championship reign and there’s a reason he didn’t even draw in Wales until after he beat Lacy.

Broadcasters also need the ability to say no. BT, for example, don’t have loads of boxing on TV so the quality should be consistently good. Saturday’s show would have likely driven poor numbers and they should be saying to Frank that he needs to show fights that people actually want to see. There wasn’t one fight on Saturday that I genuinely wanted to watch and I hadn’t heard of one of the main opponents before they were announced.

[Wee Tommy]

The product is crap, who wants to watch it, apart from the diehards ?

To be honest, these days I almost never get excited about boxing, the actual top level events that are really good fights is the minority, most are a massive letdown.

The last really exciting big name fight that I recall being broadcast was probably Joshua v Klitshko.

Fury's win over wilder was emphatic, but it was very one sided.

Canelo's probably the best value in terms of a marquee name these days, even if his fights aren't always thrilling, he's quality to watch, and generally get the job done.

Overall, boxing is crap compared to other major sports. It's as simple as that.

Agree with this 100%. It’s the worst run major sport in the world. It’s needs completely overhauled.

[jamesmcdonnell]

Boxers have become far too greedy, they all want PPV money, despite the fact the vast majority can't draw flies to shite.

[handsofstone]

There's still a lot of great fights getting made but the elite ones being swerved cant help but frustrate the strongest of boxing fans


And thats the main reason why i love seeing the likes of Jake and Logan Paul, KSI boiling piss on a daily basis, boxing deserves it

[afcpaul]

Josh Taylor's undisputed fight not being shown on British TV is surely a wake up call.
Now Hearn has gone to Dazn, Sky are offering very little boxing now with just Joshua and a few Top rank cards and probably a few more freak show exhibitions.

I note now the big undisputed fight this weekend Castano Vs Charlo has no UK broadcaster. Pacquiao Vs Spence next month has no UK broadcaster either. 2 of the biggest American fights this year.

The Conlan Doheny card in Belfast has no UK/Irish broadcaster either, despite being shown on ESPN in America. Very unusual.

I wonder have we now gone full circle from fights available on terrestrial to not even available on big budget operations like Sky, BT, Dazn etc.

I would have expected Sky to get these, previously allegedly would have. As for DAZN it's a shame with their big budget they seem only interested in Matchroom fighters. Will have to offer more to get subscribers

The Josh Taylor fight not being on a linear TV network was stupid although it potentially makes more sense now that Bob has signed with Sky that he didn’t want it on BT. Also greed though as they wouldn’t have made much money at all from it being on Fite TV. It’s not a PPV fight given the lack of U.K. promotion Taylor’s had in the U.K. and time of fight.

It’s a shame Castano/Charlo isn’t on over here but the only people who’d watch are proper boxing fans. As good as a fight it is, unless it’s available to get fairly cheaply, it wouldn’t be worth it for Sky. It’s not like either have been on U.K. TV loads in the past so few people would be interested. I’m disappointed allegedly aren’t getting any of these shows though as people, for some reason, are still paying for it and I’ve been getting it as part of my BT subs.

I think the Conlan show will be on Sky. Will likely be their first U.K. show I would have thought.

The Castano/Charlo fight would generate very few additional subs for DAZN U.K. so I can understand them not going for it particularly when their goal seems to be being the sole broadcaster of shows worldwide.

It’s a shame they didn’t continue the PBC deal with Channel 5. I enjoyed them having the LSC/Tank fight on there.

In relation to B/Nation does anyone know what the situation is there, I haven't been a subscriber in years but I'm surprised its still on the Sky EPG without a live fight since 2019 supposedly? Is Frank still involved or who is keeping it on, very strange situation. I believe its part of Premier Sports package.

Yes, I get this with premier sports. Is there room for a revamped b/nation?. Weekly Saturday night small hall promotions?.

[maverick23]

The Josh Taylor fight not being on a linear TV network was stupid although it potentially makes more sense now that Bob has signed with Sky that he didn’t want it on BT. Also greed though as they wouldn’t have made much money at all from it being on Fite TV. It’s not a PPV fight given the lack of U.K. promotion Taylor’s had in the U.K. and time of fight.

It’s a shame Castano/Charlo isn’t on over here but the only people who’d watch are proper boxing fans. As good as a fight it is, unless it’s available to get fairly cheaply, it wouldn’t be worth it for Sky. It’s not like either have been on U.K. TV loads in the past so few people would be interested. I’m disappointed allegedly aren’t getting any of these shows though as people, for some reason, are still paying for it and I’ve been getting it as part of my BT subs.

I think the Conlan show will be on Sky. Will likely be their first U.K. show I would have thought.

The Castano/Charlo fight would generate very few additional subs for DAZN U.K. so I can understand them not going for it particularly when their goal seems to be being the sole broadcaster of shows worldwide.

It’s a shame they didn’t continue the PBC deal with Channel 5. I enjoyed them having the LSC/Tank fight on there.

In relation to B/Nation does anyone know what the situation is there, I haven't been a subscriber in years but I'm surprised its still on the Sky EPG without a live fight since 2019 supposedly? Is Frank still involved or who is keeping it on, very strange situation. I believe its part of Premier Sports package.

Yes, I get this with premier sports. Is there room for a revamped b/nation?. Weekly Saturday night small hall promotions?.

I don’t think so. I’d be amazed if 5,000 subscribe to Fight Zone.

Small hall shows are usually filled with prospects vs journeymen with an average main event. I’ve been to quite a few and I could count on one hand the good fights I’ve seen.

People think of small hall shows being Macklin/Moore but in reality that was a great fight on paper and in reality that wasn’t well promoted. If it had FWarren (early 2000s FW anyway) or Eddie promoting then it wouldn’t have been in a leisure centre.

I’d like to see allegedly make more of a play for the overseas fights and/or do a deal with MTK.