Matt Christie leaves Boxing News

[veriton]

That Crolla interview is awful. The Sam Gilley one is pointless this week as his fight is on Oct 18.

Yet zero preview or even mention of tonight's Dazn card featuring Ryan Walsh, Hughie Fury and Maxi Hughes who are all big names in British boxing. That's a shocking omission for the trade paper

[JamesPhilips]

That Crolla interview is awful. The Sam Gilley one is pointless this week as his fight is on Oct 18.

Yet zero preview or even mention of tonight's Dazn card featuring Ryan Walsh, Hughie Fury and Maxi Hughes who are all big names in British boxing. That's a shocking omission for the trade paper

Yup but 2 articles on Rhiannon Dixon (the Crolla one is another Dixon piece). Awful

[SeanBrennan]

That Crolla interview is awful. The Sam Gilley one is pointless this week as his fight is on Oct 18.

Yet zero preview or even mention of tonight's Dazn card featuring Ryan Walsh, Hughie Fury and Maxi Hughes who are all big names in British boxing. That's a shocking omission for the trade paper

I think it's crept away from being a trade paper now, Rob Tebbutt and his pals shine through along with articles that are basically an extension of in-house PR for the main promoters.

[veriton]

I'm hoping it's down to incompetence (a worry in itself) rather than something more nefarious as you're suggesting Sean but if what you're saying proves correct then I'd be straight out as a subscriber.

In 30 plus years of reading BN i cant remember them missing such a decent domestic bill as last night.

Matt Christie must be shocked at what's happening after his great stint at the helm after dixon and abrams

[SeanBrennan]

I'm hoping it's down to incompetence (a worry in itself) rather than something more nefarious as you're suggesting Sean but if what you're saying proves correct then I'd be straight out as a subscriber.

In 30 plus years of reading BN i cant remember them missing such a decent domestic bill as last night.

Matt Christie must be shocked at what's happening after his great stint at the helm after dixon and abrams

I suspect he is. 115 years in publication, reduced to a plaything of a failed actor and a cohort of inadequates.

[JamesPhilips]

I'm hoping it's down to incompetence (a worry in itself) rather than something more nefarious as you're suggesting Sean but if what you're saying proves correct then I'd be straight out as a subscriber.

In 30 plus years of reading BN i cant remember them missing such a decent domestic bill as last night.

Matt Christie must be shocked at what's happening after his great stint at the helm after dixon and abrams

I suspect he is. 115 years in publication, reduced to a plaything of a failed actor and a cohort of inadequates.

They really don’t know what they’re doing do they? What surprises me though is the editor Mark Butcher used to wok for BN in the Harry Mullan days….. I would’ve expected he’d tighten the ship. But maybe he’s just doing what he’s told by the failed actor

[veriton]

Backed the wrong horse anyway, bet they wish they'd done seven pages on Terri Harper now!

[Battlingsiki]

Hey, this is Mark Butcher. Thanks for the comments haha (I'm rolling and covering up like a prime Kevin Johnson, perhaps speaking just as much nonsense). Feedback is always appreciated and never taken personally.

Someone told me about this thread and I just wanted to shine some possibly helpful light because I don’t know what the publishing and journalism background is here.

In 2020, you may remember Boxing Monthly, owned by Kelsey Publishing, ceased publishing and that I worked for BM 2014-2020. Before its purchase by Kelsey, BM wasn’t making stacks of money but was roughly solvent, headed by Graham Houston and energised by freelances like me as a labour of love. Kelsey surprised us by later buying Boxing News and then suddenly killing BM as its competition. I had lined up three credible buyers for BM, including my own business, but Kelsey refused to sell us the rights.

In 2023, Kelsey were looking to urgently sell/remove Boxing News from their portfolio. ID Sports Media essentially stepped in to buy BN and saved ‘the oracle’ from extinction. Boxing News would not be here now but for them. That’s the reality. Love it or hate it.

Later that year, as a publisher, I was brought in to move all the final elements of Boxing News magazine from Kelsey Media to independence. This is not an easy process and comes without the industry discounts and financial considerations given to a major operation like Kelsey.

Matt Christie then leaves for an opportunity with Tris Dixon at Boxing Scene, a big surprise to everyone and we wished him well. I step in further to help/edit as I am a trained, seasoned journalist who has worked in every aspect of the boxing media, while simultaneously running my business. Since April, I have worked seven days a week to produce BN almost singlehandedly alongside my main line of work.

The content of the magazine depends on variables and, again, I don’t want to guess/judge about what you know/don’t know about journalism. We had a Terri Harper feature and she wasn’t available, then another feature dropped out and so the extra Crolla/Dixon piece stepped in as a late, late sub, despite an earlier Rhiannon piece, on a limited timeframe. We’re not wearing Dixon t-shirts, I promise!

When I was a staff writer for Boxing News in the 1990s, there were five journalists working on a 36-page magazine, selling 20,000 a week. Now it’s a very different world and business, and essentially just me producing 52 pages, alongside my business, as long as the interest remains, You can email me at [email protected] at any time and I'll always be accessible and honest. We have an excellent Jack Johnson feature in the next issue, btw.... and a piece on Rhian....

[Coco]

Hey Mark, I remember you saying BN writers earned less than Big Issue writers!
Hopefully they are now paying you enough to keep the wolves from the door!
Anyway, hope you are well and keep up the good work

[Battlingsiki]

Thank you, Coco. Will go to sleep dreaming of those big issue wages.

[veriton]

Thanks Mark for allaying fears about another Dixon love-in this week and the reasons behind last week's double bubble.

It's shocking to hear about Kelsey's behaviour regarding BM as it was a terrible shame when that mag closed. Is there any chance it could be revived now that they are out of boxing entirely?

I dont see how any boxing fan could be without BN, even if there are sometimes things to grumble about, so hope you and the team keep up the good work.

[Coco]

We can be an opinionated lot here, now with have the BN editor posting and not a response!!!!!
It's a funny old world

[prewarboxing]

We can be an opinionated lot here, now with have the BN editor posting and not a response!!!!!
It's a funny old world

Exactly

Miles Templeton

[Battlingsiki]

Thanks Mark for allaying fears about another Dixon love-in this week and the reasons behind last week's double bubble.

It's shocking to hear about Kelsey's behaviour regarding BM as it was a terrible shame when that mag closed. Is there any chance it could be revived now that they are out of boxing entirely?

I dont see how any boxing fan could be without BN, even if there are sometimes things to grumble about, so hope you and the team keep up the good work.

Thank you, Veriton. Not aided by Rhiannon losing either! Just put the new issue to bed and....on to the next.

ID bought the rights to BM, too, so we have the digital archive. It's still a possibility. It could be revived in some form. Unbelievably, Kelsey destroyed all BM's physical assets. Back issues, merch, photos, items of value, everything, Astonishing.

[IRL25]

I have it on subscription and I still enjoy reading it

[Boxerbeetle]

Thanks Mark for allaying fears about another Dixon love-in this week and the reasons behind last week's double bubble.

It's shocking to hear about Kelsey's behaviour regarding BM as it was a terrible shame when that mag closed. Is there any chance it could be revived now that they are out of boxing entirely?

I dont see how any boxing fan could be without BN, even if there are sometimes things to grumble about, so hope you and the team keep up the good work.

Thank you, Veriton. Not aided by Rhiannon losing either! Just put the new issue to bed and....on to the next.

ID bought the rights to BM, too, so we have the digital archive. It's still a possibility. It could be revived in some form. Unbelievably, Kelsey destroyed all BM's physical assets. Back issues, merch, photos, items of value, everything, Astonishing.

I asked you about 10 years ago whether there was any chance of BM mugs ever returning. Think that's been conclusively answered above! Really upsetting to hear everything was destroyed, such a waste.

[SeanBrennan]

Hey, this is Mark Butcher. Thanks for the comments haha (I'm rolling and covering up like a prime Kevin Johnson, perhaps speaking just as much nonsense). Feedback is always appreciated and never taken personally.

Someone told me about this thread and I just wanted to shine some possibly helpful light because I don’t know what the publishing and journalism background is here.

In 2020, you may remember Boxing Monthly, owned by Kelsey Publishing, ceased publishing and that I worked for BM 2014-2020. Before its purchase by Kelsey, BM wasn’t making stacks of money but was roughly solvent, headed by Graham Houston and energised by freelances like me as a labour of love. Kelsey surprised us by later buying Boxing News and then suddenly killing BM as its competition. I had lined up three credible buyers for BM, including my own business, but Kelsey refused to sell us the rights.

In 2023, Kelsey were looking to urgently sell/remove Boxing News from their portfolio. ID Sports Media essentially stepped in to buy BN and saved ‘the oracle’ from extinction. Boxing News would not be here now but for them. That’s the reality. Love it or hate it.

Later that year, as a publisher, I was brought in to move all the final elements of Boxing News magazine from Kelsey Media to independence. This is not an easy process and comes without the industry discounts and financial considerations given to a major operation like Kelsey.

Matt Christie then leaves for an opportunity with Tris Dixon at Boxing Scene, a big surprise to everyone and we wished him well. I step in further to help/edit as I am a trained, seasoned journalist who has worked in every aspect of the boxing media, while simultaneously running my business. Since April, I have worked seven days a week to produce BN almost singlehandedly alongside my main line of work.

The content of the magazine depends on variables and, again, I don’t want to guess/judge about what you know/don’t know about journalism. We had a Terri Harper feature and she wasn’t available, then another feature dropped out and so the extra Crolla/Dixon piece stepped in as a late, late sub, despite an earlier Rhiannon piece, on a limited timeframe. We’re not wearing Dixon t-shirts, I promise!

When I was a staff writer for Boxing News in the 1990s, there were five journalists working on a 36-page magazine, selling 20,000 a week. Now it’s a very different world and business, and essentially just me producing 52 pages, alongside my business, as long as the interest remains, You can email me at [email protected] at any time and I'll always be accessible and honest. We have an excellent Jack Johnson feature in the next issue, btw.... and a piece on Rhian....

the fact you have taken the time to come on here and post is welcome and humbling. More so is your context about working alongside editing/leading BN. Personally I'm a little embarrassed I've been so snidey with my barbed comments devoid of really knowing the picture. Perhaps another lesson to me to listen more and say less.

[SeanBrennan]

We can be an opinionated lot here, now with have the BN editor posting and not a response!!!!!
It's a funny old world

I can definitely be an overly-opinionated plank. I've just seen the chap has responded and have apologised.

[Graham Houston]

Thanks Mark for allaying fears about another Dixon love-in this week and the reasons behind last week's double bubble.

It's shocking to hear about Kelsey's behaviour regarding BM as it was a terrible shame when that mag closed. Is there any chance it could be revived now that they are out of boxing entirely?

I dont see how any boxing fan could be without BN, even if there are sometimes things to grumble about, so hope you and the team keep up the good work.

Thank you, Veriton. Not aided by Rhiannon losing either! Just put the new issue to bed and....on to the next.

ID bought the rights to BM, too, so we have the digital archive. It's still a possibility. It could be revived in some form. Unbelievably, Kelsey destroyed all BM's physical assets. Back issues, merch, photos, items of value, everything, Astonishing.

That's truly astonishing that Kelsey destroyed all of BM's physical assets. I never knew that. Interestingly, in the April 2020 issue (the last but one issue) an ad appeared headed "WANTED". The advertiser was "someone close to the magazine" who wished to buy a complete collection of BMs from 2008-2019. Would-be sellers were asked to contact [email protected]. That sure wasn't me who placed the ad. The "someone close to the magazine" caught my eye. Could it have been Kelsey itself wishing to buy up the magazines? And for what purpose?

[Flump]

Well done on responding Mark. I've been subscribing since the 80s and that isn't about to change, keep up the good work.

[Coco]

Would-be sellers were asked to contact [email protected].

That's a brain teaser! Who the hell could it be!!

[Deserter]

Hey, this is Mark Butcher. Thanks for the comments haha (I'm rolling and covering up like a prime Kevin Johnson, perhaps speaking just as much nonsense). Feedback is always appreciated and never taken personally.

Someone told me about this thread and I just wanted to shine some possibly helpful light because I don’t know what the publishing and journalism background is here.

In 2020, you may remember Boxing Monthly, owned by Kelsey Publishing, ceased publishing and that I worked for BM 2014-2020. Before its purchase by Kelsey, BM wasn’t making stacks of money but was roughly solvent, headed by Graham Houston and energised by freelances like me as a labour of love. Kelsey surprised us by later buying Boxing News and then suddenly killing BM as its competition. I had lined up three credible buyers for BM, including my own business, but Kelsey refused to sell us the rights.

In 2023, Kelsey were looking to urgently sell/remove Boxing News from their portfolio. ID Sports Media essentially stepped in to buy BN and saved ‘the oracle’ from extinction. Boxing News would not be here now but for them. That’s the reality. Love it or hate it.

Later that year, as a publisher, I was brought in to move all the final elements of Boxing News magazine from Kelsey Media to independence. This is not an easy process and comes without the industry discounts and financial considerations given to a major operation like Kelsey.

Matt Christie then leaves for an opportunity with Tris Dixon at Boxing Scene, a big surprise to everyone and we wished him well. I step in further to help/edit as I am a trained, seasoned journalist who has worked in every aspect of the boxing media, while simultaneously running my business. Since April, I have worked seven days a week to produce BN almost singlehandedly alongside my main line of work.

The content of the magazine depends on variables and, again, I don’t want to guess/judge about what you know/don’t know about journalism. We had a Terri Harper feature and she wasn’t available, then another feature dropped out and so the extra Crolla/Dixon piece stepped in as a late, late sub, despite an earlier Rhiannon piece, on a limited timeframe. We’re not wearing Dixon t-shirts, I promise!

When I was a staff writer for Boxing News in the 1990s, there were five journalists working on a 36-page magazine, selling 20,000 a week. Now it’s a very different world and business, and essentially just me producing 52 pages, alongside my business, as long as the interest remains, You can email me at [email protected] at any time and I'll always be accessible and honest. We have an excellent Jack Johnson feature in the next issue, btw.... and a piece on Rhian....

Mark, truly a class act to show up on here with this type of spirit and goodwill.

In that same vein, I hope you take these thoughts as constructive feedback from a long-time reader who wants nothing more than the magazine to thrive, not just survive. I'm fully aware these things are subjective, but hopefully there is something of value here:

Fight reports - For me, they're still really rudimentary, bordering on meaningless lists at times - fighter x beat fighter y by 60-54 etc. At a time where you can't compete with online for speed, surely the benefit of having someone there in person is that you get more 'colour' and expert insight, including post-fight quotes and/or insights. For example, if you've got a guy at the York Hall, surely there's an opportunity get more 'behind the scenes' opinions and insights from the various fight figures in attendance. I'd also love to see a quality over quantity approach myself, with more space given to the fights that matter, and the meaningless fights (which you yourself criticised recently) relegated to a simple results box or equivalent.
Interviews - Same here a lot of the time TBH. For example, I read the Hamzah Sheeraz interview and was really looking forward to it, but was left with a lot of unanswered questions considering he's such a budding superstar. For example, the interview references him coming from nowhere.... and then leaves it at that! I want you to shed light on that and tell me more about why he was off the radar in the ams, and early in his pro career who he's sparred with on the way up, when he realised he has serious power and how etc, etc, etc.
In BM one of my favourite features used to be the polls when you got various experts to predict fight outcomes - would love to see that in in BN and presumably there could be smart ways of making it less labour intensive than contacting each individual every time e.g. get 20/30 trade 'faces' appointed to a BN 'advisors' panel at the start of the year and give them an opportunity to send a prediction in for each major fight - would presumably mean you'd get at least 10 for each one wthout having to do a lot of legwork.
Not sure if you've dropped the back page interview, but I feel this could have been good in the right hands, but instead the choice of boxers seemed completely bizarre - seemed almost a 50/50 split between male and female and frequently featured non-British fighters with no clear rationale. Questions were also really lame some of the time. Why couldn't this be something as simple as a Prospect to Watch section. For example, I've been hearing a bit about Cameron Vuong, but don't really know anything about him bar either the odd reference on this forum or a tokenistic fight report in BN - surely wouldn't be too hard to do a 1-pager detailing his fighting style, why he's one to watch, where he's based out of etc. Wouldn't even require investing time in an interview, as presumably this could be written off the top of a reporter's head if he's been following the scene enough?

In essence, while being respectful of bandwidth and financial issues, the one thing BN has is access and I feel this is really under-leveraged at times - you can get the insights and opinions from those in the trade that many others can't, and I feel this competitive advantage is not being fully capitalised on.
Relating to this, I think there should be a stronger focus on the British scene - I'm guessing the vast majority of your copy sales are from the domestic market but there are frequently interviews with overseas fighters that simply don't have the profile to be meaningful to most readers and/or they read like 'puff pieces'. Give me an interview with a British prospect like Hamza Uddin over an Angelo Leo one all day, every day. There are so many characters on the British fight scene and I think giving them more of a platform could be a win-win.
All the best. Will still be buying every week.

[Battlingsiki]

I have it on subscription and I still enjoy reading it

Thank you kindly. The support is really appreciated.

[Battlingsiki]

Thanks Mark for allaying fears about another Dixon love-in this week and the reasons behind last week's double bubble.

It's shocking to hear about Kelsey's behaviour regarding BM as it was a terrible shame when that mag closed. Is there any chance it could be revived now that they are out of boxing entirely?

I dont see how any boxing fan could be without BN, even if there are sometimes things to grumble about, so hope you and the team keep up the good work.

Thank you, Veriton. Not aided by Rhiannon losing either! Just put the new issue to bed and....on to the next.

ID bought the rights to BM, too, so we have the digital archive. It's still a possibility. It could be revived in some form. Unbelievably, Kelsey destroyed all BM's physical assets. Back issues, merch, photos, items of value, everything, Astonishing.

I asked you about 10 years ago whether there was any chance of BM mugs ever returning. Think that's been conclusively answered above! Really upsetting to hear everything was destroyed, such a waste.

It's a shame. There was considerable boxing memorabilia, merchandise in the old BM office near Victoria Park (including a Naseem Hamed head mug!), but Kelsey don't like paying for storage. They also routinely binned Boxing News back issues to save storage costs.

[Battlingsiki]

Hey, this is Mark Butcher. Thanks for the comments haha (I'm rolling and covering up like a prime Kevin Johnson, perhaps speaking just as much nonsense). Feedback is always appreciated and never taken personally.

Someone told me about this thread and I just wanted to shine some possibly helpful light because I don’t know what the publishing and journalism background is here.

In 2020, you may remember Boxing Monthly, owned by Kelsey Publishing, ceased publishing and that I worked for BM 2014-2020. Before its purchase by Kelsey, BM wasn’t making stacks of money but was roughly solvent, headed by Graham Houston and energised by freelances like me as a labour of love. Kelsey surprised us by later buying Boxing News and then suddenly killing BM as its competition. I had lined up three credible buyers for BM, including my own business, but Kelsey refused to sell us the rights.

In 2023, Kelsey were looking to urgently sell/remove Boxing News from their portfolio. ID Sports Media essentially stepped in to buy BN and saved ‘the oracle’ from extinction. Boxing News would not be here now but for them. That’s the reality. Love it or hate it.

Later that year, as a publisher, I was brought in to move all the final elements of Boxing News magazine from Kelsey Media to independence. This is not an easy process and comes without the industry discounts and financial considerations given to a major operation like Kelsey.

Matt Christie then leaves for an opportunity with Tris Dixon at Boxing Scene, a big surprise to everyone and we wished him well. I step in further to help/edit as I am a trained, seasoned journalist who has worked in every aspect of the boxing media, while simultaneously running my business. Since April, I have worked seven days a week to produce BN almost singlehandedly alongside my main line of work.

The content of the magazine depends on variables and, again, I don’t want to guess/judge about what you know/don’t know about journalism. We had a Terri Harper feature and she wasn’t available, then another feature dropped out and so the extra Crolla/Dixon piece stepped in as a late, late sub, despite an earlier Rhiannon piece, on a limited timeframe. We’re not wearing Dixon t-shirts, I promise!

When I was a staff writer for Boxing News in the 1990s, there were five journalists working on a 36-page magazine, selling 20,000 a week. Now it’s a very different world and business, and essentially just me producing 52 pages, alongside my business, as long as the interest remains, You can email me at [email protected] at any time and I'll always be accessible and honest. We have an excellent Jack Johnson feature in the next issue, btw.... and a piece on Rhian....

the fact you have taken the time to come on here and post is welcome and humbling. More so is your context about working alongside editing/leading BN. Personally I'm a little embarrassed I've been so snidey with my barbed comments devoid of really knowing the picture. Perhaps another lesson to me to listen more and say less.

No problem at all, Sean. Appreciate how it must look from the outside so it's understandable. Given the limited timeframe and print deadlines, it's more helter skelter than a monthly. Not everything makes it over the line in time. Fighter availability has also decreased in recent times.