Matt Christie leaves Boxing News

[JamesPhilips]

Hi MW,

Yep, I've previewed Beterbeiv vs Bivol for BN. Very prescient of you.

Re. your references to the Boxing Monthly/Boxing News comings and goings over the years, I started to draft a reply but it quickly morphed into a kind of potted history and, being honest with myself, too much of the "All about me." But I will say this: The wheel seems to have turned full circle in that I am contributing to BN again after having been editor way back in the 1970s. (And a lot of water under the bridge in between.)

Thanks Graham, though safe to say most of us would be very interested in hearing your potted history on how it went for you.
I remember you moved to Canada in the 70s and became their USA correspondence with your double page American update every week and big fight previews.

as I’ve said before I remember reading your Sanchez v Gomez superfight preview, picking Salvador Sanchez to win, and I’m thinking this can’t be right Gomez is 37-0 37 KOs most of them title defencences and a couple of ATG on there - This guy is unbeatable. Needless to say one week later I was converted.

I often wonder what happened to your old colleague Tim Mo, another top class writer, who I think was shortlisted for the booker prize on a novel he wrote after leaving the fight game ( yes he ex was that good ) He all but disappeared, but for such a huge boxing fan surely he still watches it? time to bring him back on board?

In reality Gomez was 32 (32 by KO) with one draw in his debut against Jacinto Fuentes, whose previous fight was a points loss against Eusebio Pedroza! In the rematch, Gomez Kod him.

But still an amazing record.

[Coco]

The Connolly brothers, Tex Hennessy, Mike Gillender, some incredible characters around in those days.

Yes, george zelany, OF Snelling, Barry hugman ( the driving force behind it ) one shot wonder Steve holdsworth, all pictures by action images. All held together by our esteemed editor, Tony Connolly.

I recall Tone showing us the new JC Chavez cover for the next issue and and me saying oh my god that’s exactly the same picture that ring magazine have used. Too late we’d already gone to press It didn’t matter, box monthly was months more up-to-date than the lagging ring magazine, and was much better

Tony Connolly, Bennie, still posts now and then, wish he would post more.
Bob Mee makes the odd appearance

[handsofstone]

Only ever bought a handful of BN over the years but have got every Boxing Monthly from around 2008 until it finished, they're in my folks loft, was genuinely gutted when it finished

[Glass Joe]

Did anyone listen to the opening bell podcast this week?

Sounds like Matt and Alex want to throw the towel as they aren't getting enough Patrons or Sponsors. Which is a shame as i listen to it every Thursday. Said only 1% of listeners subscribe to it. Maybe the podcast would be better suited to something like talksport channel.

I dont think many people make a full-time living from podcasts

[Graham Houston]

Hi MW,

Yep, I've previewed Beterbeiv vs Bivol for BN. Very prescient of you.

Re. your references to the Boxing Monthly/Boxing News comings and goings over the years, I started to draft a reply but it quickly morphed into a kind of potted history and, being honest with myself, too much of the "All about me." But I will say this: The wheel seems to have turned full circle in that I am contributing to BN again after having been editor way back in the 1970s. (And a lot of water under the bridge in between.)

Thanks Graham, though safe to say most of us would be very interested in hearing your potted history on how it went for you.
I remember you moved to Canada in the 70s and became their USA correspondence with your double page American update every week and big fight previews.

as I’ve said before I remember reading your Sanchez v Gomez superfight preview, picking Salvador Sanchez to win, and I’m thinking this can’t be right Gomez is 37-0 37 KOs most of them title defenses and a couple of ATGs on there - This guy is unbeatable. Needless to say one week later I was converted.

I often wonder what happened to your old colleague Tim Mo, another top class writer, who I think was shortlisted for the booker prize on a novel he wrote after leaving the fight game ( yes he ex was that good ) He all but disappeared, but for such a huge boxing fan surely he still watches it? time to bring him back on board?

Tim became a successful novelist (The Monkey King, Sour Sweet etc.) and moved on. But, yes, he did love boxing at one time. I used to go to the big fights in Paris and Tim came along on one trip. Main event was Rodrigo Valdes vs Max Cohen. Tim interviewed Earnie Shavers (who boxed on the undercard) for a BN feature. I think Tim might have been concerned that if he stayed at BN too long he would find it very hard to leave. (He once remarked to me that boxing "is so damned addictive".) I heard that Tim moved to the Philippines some years ago but I don't know whether that is true.

[TheGoods]

Did anyone listen to the opening bell podcast this week?

Sounds like Matt and Alex want to throw the towel as they aren't getting enough Patrons or Sponsors. Which is a shame as i listen to it every Thursday. Said only 1% of listeners subscribe to it. Maybe the podcast would be better suited to something like talksport channel.

I dont think many people make a full-time living from podcasts

Yeah listened to it this morning! Was shocking / funny to be fair. Steedman was fuming. I love the pod but he’s tipped AJ and then Rhiannon Dixon to beat Harper in the last few weeks so listeners might be too skint to pay £5 a month if they are rowing in with his picks.

I might shell out actually as there is a good chemistry between the two and a fiver a month in the grand scheme of things these days is f**k all really.

[SeanBrennan]

Only ever bought a handful of BN over the years but have got every Boxing Monthly from around 2008 until it finished, they're in my folks loft, was genuinely gutted when it finished

it was proper meaty as well, I loved it, I remember going to the stands and was gutted there was only The Ring magazine there (the Ring always seemed to be 3 months behind for some reason). I used to love nicking Boxing News when I worked in a paper shop, it was like a newspaper then iirc (circa 1997-2000)

[SeanBrennan]

Did anyone listen to the opening bell podcast this week?

Sounds like Matt and Alex want to throw the towel as they aren't getting enough Patrons or Sponsors. Which is a shame as i listen to it every Thursday. Said only 1% of listeners subscribe to it. Maybe the podcast would be better suited to something like talksport channel.

I dont think many people make a full-time living from podcasts

that is sad to hear.

[veriton]

I enjoyed listening to Matt when he was the editor of BN as he had the inside line on what was going on at BN Towers and the sport in general.

Since he left, he's just another website voice among many so not so interesting unfortunately.

It also sounds like Steedman had been paid via the BN connection before, but now is relying on the generosity of fans to fund his ibiza trips! As much as I love him, my own uk caravan park holidays do induce a bit of a twitch if I think what Alex is asking for my wages to go on.

[Deserter]

Did anyone listen to the opening bell podcast this week?

Sounds like Matt and Alex want to throw the towel as they aren't getting enough Patrons or Sponsors. Which is a shame as i listen to it every Thursday. Said only 1% of listeners subscribe to it. Maybe the podcast would be better suited to something like talksport channel.

I dont think many people make a full-time living from podcasts

that is sad to hear.

I can assure you that less that 1% of podcasters make a full-time living from it - even the successful ones are using it more for marketing purposes, as the bigger the audience the more chance they have of productizing that community.
I really enjoy Matt and Alex when I listen (most weeks), but they're playing in a market where rightly or wrongly 99.9% of people are used to accessing content for free, so getting them to pay in a way that had meaningful scale was always going to be optimistic at best.

[SeanBrennan]

Did anyone listen to the opening bell podcast this week?

Sounds like Matt and Alex want to throw the towel as they aren't getting enough Patrons or Sponsors. Which is a shame as i listen to it every Thursday. Said only 1% of listeners subscribe to it. Maybe the podcast would be better suited to something like talksport channel.

I dont think many people make a full-time living from podcasts

that is sad to hear.

I can assure you that less that 1% of podcasters make a full-time living from it - even the successful ones are using it more for marketing purposes, as the bigger the audience the more chance they have of productizing that community.
I really enjoy Matt and Alex when I listen (most weeks), but they're playing in a market where rightly or wrongly 99.9% of people are used to accessing content for free, so getting them to pay in a way that had meaningful scale was always going to be optimistic at best.

thanks for the context Deserter. It must be galling when the quality of those can't make a living but clapping seals like Stomping Ground can.

[Deserter]

Mark, not expecting a response given potential sensitivities, but Eubank Jr, who at the age of 35, hasn't had a meaningful fight at world level in years, gets the BN front cover - OK, slow news week in terms of scheduled fights etc and you can argue he has crossover appeal, so I get it at a stretch.

But... the interview inside is conducted by Rob Tebbutt and it's as soft and safe as if it had been written by Boxxer's PR team - for example, referencing the big fights that have "eluded" him as if he's been chasing super hard and can't get them. It's a bad look that he gets such an easy ride with no hard questions at all, despite them begging to be asked.

For example, pretty much every boxing fan would love to know his justification for rejecting being mandatory for Janibek and yet... Rob decides that Janibek is like Lord Voldemort in Harry Potter and he instead wants to spend (waste?) half the feature on Eubank's new found love of poker.

When you place it in the context of Boxxer allegedly getting BN to spike content earlier this year plus the failure of BN to acknowledge The Sunday Times articles regarding allegations of some of Boxxer's business dealings, you can't help but question what's going on right now...

[skanksta]

that is sad to hear.

I can assure you that less that 1% of podcasters make a full-time living from it - even the successful ones are using it more for marketing purposes, as the bigger the audience the more chance they have of productizing that community.
I really enjoy Matt and Alex when I listen (most weeks), but they're playing in a market where rightly or wrongly 99.9% of people are used to accessing content for free, so getting them to pay in a way that had meaningful scale was always going to be optimistic at best.

thanks for the context Deserter. It must be galling when the quality of those can't make a living but clapping seals like Stomping Ground can.

That is a shame - I listen on Spotify.
Do they make anything from that does anyone know ? Think Spotify steals almost everything doesn't it - maybe I could change the way I watch it.. ?
Edit - LISTEN to it !

[SeanBrennan]

I can assure you that less that 1% of podcasters make a full-time living from it - even the successful ones are using it more for marketing purposes, as the bigger the audience the more chance they have of productizing that community.
I really enjoy Matt and Alex when I listen (most weeks), but they're playing in a market where rightly or wrongly 99.9% of people are used to accessing content for free, so getting them to pay in a way that had meaningful scale was always going to be optimistic at best.

thanks for the context Deserter. It must be galling when the quality of those can't make a living but clapping seals like Stomping Ground can.

That is a shame - I listen on Spotify.
Do they make anything from that does anyone know ? Think Spotify steals almost everything doesn't it - maybe I could change the way I watch it.. ?
Edit - LISTEN to it !

I don't know mate, I'm so not clued up on this stuff.

[Deserter]

I can assure you that less that 1% of podcasters make a full-time living from it - even the successful ones are using it more for marketing purposes, as the bigger the audience the more chance they have of productizing that community.
I really enjoy Matt and Alex when I listen (most weeks), but they're playing in a market where rightly or wrongly 99.9% of people are used to accessing content for free, so getting them to pay in a way that had meaningful scale was always going to be optimistic at best.

thanks for the context Deserter. It must be galling when the quality of those can't make a living but clapping seals like Stomping Ground can.

That is a shame - I listen on Spotify.
Do they make anything from that does anyone know ? Think Spotify steals almost everything doesn't it - maybe I could change the way I watch it.. ?
Edit - LISTEN to it !

It's a very, very difficult medium to make money on and that becomes infinitely harder when it's a subject matter like boxing that isn't sexy to advertisers and doesn't have the mass appeal to build large enough numbers to be able to monetize through other means.
In the current climate you could give me a huge budget to make a boxing-related podcast and I wouldn't be able to give you a viable business model in terms of creating a profitable product.

[Boxerbeetle]

Struggling for sponsors? Sounds like they need to reach out to Hanson Lee Recruitment!

Joking aside, hope they succeed with the podcast, I'm a subscriber since the beginning and always enjoy listening. Must admit I've never signed up to a Patreon of any description though, and unlikely any time soon. Feel a bit guilty sometimes, but it's just not something I'd consider doing.

[Battlingsiki]

Mark, not expecting a response given potential sensitivities, but Eubank Jr, who at the age of 35, hasn't had a meaningful fight at world level in years, gets the BN front cover - OK, slow news week in terms of scheduled fights etc and you can argue he has crossover appeal, so I get it at a stretch.

But... the interview inside is conducted by Rob Tebbutt and it's as soft and safe as if it had been written by Boxxer's PR team - for example, referencing the big fights that have "eluded" him as if he's been chasing super hard and can't get them. It's a bad look that he gets such an easy ride with no hard questions at all, despite them begging to be asked.

For example, pretty much every boxing fan would love to know his justification for rejecting being mandatory for Janibek and yet... Rob decides that Janibek is like Lord Voldemort in Harry Potter and he instead wants to spend (waste?) half the feature on Eubank's new found love of poker.

When you place it in the context of Boxxer allegedly getting BN to spike content earlier this year plus the failure of BN to acknowledge The Sunday Times articles regarding allegations of some of Boxxer's business dealings, you can't help but question what's going on right now...

It's an interesting, initial point. Eubank has traction with casual boxing fans, but he plays boxing and life like poker. Not much is ever given away. The ultimate Marmite boxer. He's not as bad as his detractors believe, but not as good as he thinks.

There is no Boxxer input or influence at BN whatsoever. Very easy answer. I'll play a straight bat always.

[Deserter]

There is no Boxxer input or influence at BN whatsoever. Very easy answer. I'll play a straight bat always.

Mark, thanks for the reply and happy to accept this at face value. In that case, can I simply request as a reader that if 6 pages of BN is given over to an interview with a boxer, then they at least get asked proper questions rather than just get given a promotional piece that insults the reader's knowledge and intelligence.

Sorry if I sound harsh, but just genuinely disappointed - if it wasn't for the brilliant Bunce article this week I'd have genuinely felt ripped off.

[veriton]

Dont see the point about Janibek, Eubank has built his entire career by taking eye catching fights for the most money, he's never shown any interest in traditional routes or belts.

He's the ultimate cash-out boxer so the comparison to poker stands up, in my opinion. If he was asked he likely say that janibek is essentially a nobody and so a high risk/low reward fight and that would be zero surprise to anyone who follows boxing.

Surprised you didnt enjoy the big feature on Jack Johnson and the UK Deserter, where else would we get a piece like that?

[Black Sam Bellamy]

He's traded off his surname his entire career.

[Battlingsiki]

There is no Boxxer input or influence at BN whatsoever. Very easy answer. I'll play a straight bat always.

Mark, thanks for the reply and happy to accept this at face value. In that case, can I simply request as a reader that if 6 pages of BN is given over to an interview with a boxer, then they at least get asked proper questions rather than just get given a promotional piece that insults the reader's knowledge and intelligence.

Sorry if I sound harsh, but just genuinely disappointed - if it wasn't for the brilliant Bunce article this week I'd have genuinely felt ripped off.

As mentioned previously, impossible to tailor a weekly magazine, with so many polarising characters, to everyone's taste. My favourite piece in this issue was the Johnson vs Wells saga.

[Deserter]

Dont see the point about Janibek, Eubank has built his entire career by taking eye catching fights for the most money, he's never shown any interest in traditional routes or belts.

He's the ultimate cash-out boxer so the comparison to poker stands up, in my opinion. If he was asked he likely say that janibek is essentially a nobody and so a high risk/low reward fight and that would be zero surprise to anyone who follows boxing.

Surprised you didnt enjoy the big feature on Jack Johnson and the UK Deserter, where else would we get a piece like that?

Over the past 5 years, Eubank has fought the likes of Marcus Morrison, Wanik Awidjan, Liam Smith, and is now lined up to face Kamil Szeremeta. I'm not sure how you reconcile this with your claim of eye-catching fights.
The reality is that if you strip the surname away, you'll looking at a British title level guy who would be laughed out of the room for the disconnect between his claims and the hard facts of reality. The fact an interview didn't even acknowledge any questions around this (Janibek or otherwise) is farcical, there's no other word for it. As for poker, a passing reference to it is fine, devoting so much real estate to it when there are clear questions to be asked regarding his boxing career is a joke.

As for the Johnson feature, it was interesting for sure, but not enough to overcome the bitter taste left in my mouth as a reader.

[Deserter]

There is no Boxxer input or influence at BN whatsoever. Very easy answer. I'll play a straight bat always.

Mark, thanks for the reply and happy to accept this at face value. In that case, can I simply request as a reader that if 6 pages of BN is given over to an interview with a boxer, then they at least get asked proper questions rather than just get given a promotional piece that insults the reader's knowledge and intelligence.

Sorry if I sound harsh, but just genuinely disappointed - if it wasn't for the brilliant Bunce article this week I'd have genuinely felt ripped off.

As mentioned previously, impossible to tailor a weekly magazine, with so many polarising characters, to everyone's taste. My favourite piece in this issue was the Johnson vs Wells saga.

Mark, you're clearly a decent honourable guy, so again, place my answer in wider context of respecting your operating environment and I'm going to continue to support the mag by buying every week, but you and I both know that's a smart evasion of the criticism.
As per the points I made to Veriton, this wasn't an interview as you and I know them to be, it was a puff piece. Now whether that was because of an explicit or tacit agreement, I don't know, but as someone who did the hard nine yards as a journalist and editor back in the day, I would have been hauled over the coals for not seeking to at least explore the disconnect between Eubank Jr's stated aspirations and the reality of his career over the past 5 years.
As I said way further back - you guys have unique access (when it's granted) and much like you mentioned that being able to get ringside seats for a big fight is a privilege not a right, by the same token the privilege of getting that access shouldn't be wasted with only tabling the type of softball questions that a PR would script themselves.
Rant over :) Thanks for allowing me to have my take... hopefully the next issue will be a cracking Bivol vs Betterbiev preview rather than 6 pages on Sonny Edwards telling us how he's taken up Padel

[JamesPhilips]

Mark, thanks for the reply and happy to accept this at face value. In that case, can I simply request as a reader that if 6 pages of BN is given over to an interview with a boxer, then they at least get asked proper questions rather than just get given a promotional piece that insults the reader's knowledge and intelligence.

Sorry if I sound harsh, but just genuinely disappointed - if it wasn't for the brilliant Bunce article this week I'd have genuinely felt ripped off.

As mentioned previously, impossible to tailor a weekly magazine, with so many polarising characters, to everyone's taste. My favourite piece in this issue was the Johnson vs Wells saga.

Mark, you're clearly a decent honourable guy, so again, place my answer in wider context of respecting your operating environment and I'm going to continue to support the mag by buying every week, but you and I both know that's a smart evasion of the criticism.
As per the points I made to Veriton, this wasn't an interview as you and I know them to be, it was a puff piece. Now whether that was because of an explicit or tacit agreement, I don't know, but as someone who did the hard nine yards as a journalist and editor back in the day, I would have been hauled over the coals for not seeking to at least explore the disconnect between Eubank Jr's stated aspirations and the reality of his career over the past 5 years.
As I said way further back - you guys have unique access (when it's granted) and much like you mentioned that being able to get ringside seats for a big fight is a privilege not a right, by the same token the privilege of getting that access shouldn't be wasted with only tabling the type of softball questions that a PR would script themselves.
Rant over :) Thanks for allowing me to have my take... hopefully the next issue will be a cracking Bivol vs Betterbiev preview rather than 6 pages on Sonny Edwards telling us how he's taken up Padel

Also why waste so much ink and pages on GQ style shots of Eubank that looked virtually identical, and add nothing to the story?

[Battlingsiki]

Mark, thanks for the reply and happy to accept this at face value. In that case, can I simply request as a reader that if 6 pages of BN is given over to an interview with a boxer, then they at least get asked proper questions rather than just get given a promotional piece that insults the reader's knowledge and intelligence.

Sorry if I sound harsh, but just genuinely disappointed - if it wasn't for the brilliant Bunce article this week I'd have genuinely felt ripped off.

As mentioned previously, impossible to tailor a weekly magazine, with so many polarising characters, to everyone's taste. My favourite piece in this issue was the Johnson vs Wells saga.

Mark, you're clearly a decent honourable guy, so again, place my answer in wider context of respecting your operating environment and I'm going to continue to support the mag by buying every week, but you and I both know that's a smart evasion of the criticism.
As per the points I made to Veriton, this wasn't an interview as you and I know them to be, it was a puff piece. Now whether that was because of an explicit or tacit agreement, I don't know, but as someone who did the hard nine yards as a journalist and editor back in the day, I would have been hauled over the coals for not seeking to at least explore the disconnect between Eubank Jr's stated aspirations and the reality of his career over the past 5 years.
As I said way further back - you guys have unique access (when it's granted) and much like you mentioned that being able to get ringside seats for a big fight is a privilege not a right, by the same token the privilege of getting that access shouldn't be wasted with only tabling the type of softball questions that a PR would script themselves.
Rant over :) Thanks for allowing me to have my take... hopefully the next issue will be a cracking Bivol vs Betterbiev preview rather than 6 pages on Sonny Edwards telling us how he's taken up Padel

Who told you about the Sunny Padel six-pager? Haha. No worries. The feedback is valuable and support appreciated.