Matt Christie leaves Boxing News

[mickey1975]

Mark Butcher has left now.

[Coco]

Mark Butcher has left now.

The job is a bit of a poison chalice really.

I think Turki should buy it, he can put in the investment to put things right.

[Deserter]

Mark seemed like a decent man and was pretty transparent about the challenges inherent in the job.
Think this may also mark my exit as a long-term reader, as difficult to envisage the mag doing anything but declining from this point on. The terrible 6-page Rob Tebbutt puff piece on Hearn and Warren this week is probably a sign of things to come.
Sad times.

[Truth42]

I agree. It was a truly appalling 'advertorial'.

[JamesPhilips]

Mark seemed like a decent man and was pretty transparent about the challenges inherent in the job.
Think this may also mark my exit as a long-term reader, as difficult to envisage the mag doing anything but declining from this point on. The terrible 6-page Rob Tebbutt puff piece on Hearn and Warren this week is probably a sign of things to come.
Sad times.

Mark was too real for the publication

[veriton]

If Mark has left then who is next? I was enjoying it again after a bit of a shaky start. It has gone a bit feature heavy but that's understandable if they havent got many writers. Some of the new names are producing quality pieces though (Sean Brown is very good) and the current series by Miles Templeton is brilliant.

[veriton]

Has he actually left? No mention in this week's edition that was in the post today and can't see anything elsewhere either.

[mickey1975]

Has he actually left? No mention in this week's edition that was in the post today and can't see anything elsewhere either.

[mickey1975]

Has he actually left? No mention in this week's edition that was in the post today and can't see anything elsewhere either.

He announced it on X.

[mickey1975]

Mark seemed like a decent man and was pretty transparent about the challenges inherent in the job.
Think this may also mark my exit as a long-term reader, as difficult to envisage the mag doing anything but declining from this point on. The terrible 6-page Rob Tebbutt puff piece on Hearn and Warren this week is probably a sign of things to come.
Sad times.

I'd be out if it wasn't for the ams. Boxing Scene produces much better articles on Brits.

[handsofstone]

I noticed Tebbutt's been quiet on socials for a couple of months

[JamesPhilips]

I noticed Tebbutt's been quiet on socials for a couple of months

The big question is - was he pushed or did he jump?

[TheGoods]

Who have BN tipped for the Boots fight? And who wrote the preview?

[mickey1975]

Who have BN tipped for the Boots fight? And who wrote the preview?

Shaun Brown and tipped Ennis.

[veriton]

Just signed up to X so I could read MBs goodbye, what a shame that is as he'd got BN into a really strong place.

Is BN about to go monthly I wonder? I just can't see how it stays weekly with this amount of staff turnover.

I'll stick with it until the end as couldn't face thinking I'd contributed to its downfall by bailing out when it got tough.

It's been a key part of my life for 40 years and is brilliant every week.

[Gnome]

If Mark has left then who is next? I was enjoying it again after a bit of a shaky start. It has gone a bit feature heavy but that's understandable if they havent got many writers. Some of the new names are producing quality pieces though (Sean Brown is very good) and the current series by Miles Templeton is brilliant.

I really don't understand the whingeing about the magazine. I enjoy it as much now as I ever did. Sure it has scope for improvement but so does every publication.

[coneye]

Think it must be terribly hard for any magazine in todays world , Years ago i had a regular order from my local newsagent , along with a couple of Aussie ones , BN was always months late but i enjoyed the read , Fast forwards a lot of years and the only reading about boxing i now do is on here really , if i wanted the magazine , the local newsagents hav'nt got it , and would'nt bother theres very few boxing mags on the shelfs , its all because to be honest i myself have lost a lot of interest in boxing over the years , mainly through the amount of mismatches all in the name of good management , build the fighter u p, basicly what they mean is , he has'nt got it , but we think he's got a colgate smile the fans will like him , so throw him easy fights and rip the public off .

I can't see how they survive with the internet nowadays

[SeanBrennan]

is the editor even a full time salaried position? I seem to recall Mark was doing it on top of his job or business. Best of luck to Mark.

[Muttley]

is the editor even a full time salaried position? I seem to recall Mark was doing it on top of his job or business. Best of luck to Mark.

It's more than a full time job. Times it by 2 and you are getting warm. The days of 3 or 4 full time staff for a magazine the size of Boxing News are long gone. Nowadays it is common to have 1 full time editor supported by a number of freelance contributors.

[SeanBrennan]

is the editor even a full time salaried position? I seem to recall Mark was doing it on top of his job or business. Best of luck to Mark.

It's more than a full time job. Times it by 2 and you are getting warm. The days of 3 or 4 full time staff for a magazine the size of Boxing News are long gone. Nowadays it is common to have 1 full time editor supported by a number of freelance contributors.

I wasn’t being a nob I totally get it is way more than a full time commitment I mean is it paid enough to just be able to do it and no other income required buddy

[veriton]

Just got this week's issue - Graham Houston has done the Editor's Letter! Happy days!

[Muttley]

is the editor even a full time salaried position? I seem to recall Mark was doing it on top of his job or business. Best of luck to Mark.

It's more than a full time job. Times it by 2 and you are getting warm. The days of 3 or 4 full time staff for a magazine the size of Boxing News are long gone. Nowadays it is common to have 1 full time editor supported by a number of freelance contributors.

I wasn’t being a nob I totally get it is way more than a full time commitment I mean is it paid enough to just be able to do it and no other income required buddy

It is not a question of 'is it paid enough', we all have different levels of what we need to earn to pay our bills. What I mean by full time, times 2 is you need 25 hours in a day and 8 days a week to do the job because it is literally just you doing everything as far as editorial is concerned. of course freelancers contribute but every single word has to be spell checked,fact checked, etc. then the graphics need to be added. And what happens when a fight gets cancelled at the last minute and you have dedicated a page to it? that page needs to be replaced. Family life is non-existent, and then comes the inevitable burn out.

[Jimmy2020]

Claude had just taken over about a month before I stopped buying BN regularly. Nothing personal, I just moved online in '97.

[Rezzer1967]

I always enjoy posters who watch boxing via an IPTV Firestick, don’t buy Boxing News or the Ring, rarely if ever go to the fights and then come on boxing forums , complaining about the quality of the shows, what a rip off DAZN is and how they haven’t read boxing news since the dawn of the internet. I don’t know how the business survives without them.

[Jimmy2020]

I always enjoy posters who watch boxing via an IPTV Firestick, don’t buy Boxing News or the Ring, rarely if ever go to the fights and then come on boxing forums , complaining about the quality of the shows, what a rip off DAZN is and how they haven’t read boxing news since the dawn of the internet. I don’t know how the business survives without them.

I don't have a Firestick but, yes, I don't buy DAZN, buy Boxing News or The Ring but I do buy tickets for shows and train people for free. So I do my bit.

Edit: Your post has got me thinking, so thanks.

Colours to the cross, as much as I enjoy watching a well matched professional fight and the fact I've been dipping in and out on this forum for well over two decades chatting about the sport, I'm not overly concerned about whether promoters, boxers, managers, trainers, streaming platforms and hangers on get paid or they don't. So the survival of "the business" is unimportant to me.

People will fight and decent matches will be put on whether there is professional boxing as we know it or not. I've seen plenty of decent matches in barns that cost nothing to watch and didn't earn the participants a penny and plenty of dross where the participants were being paid millions.