ste1983 wrote:there does seem to be an increase in lads going from white collar/unlicensed to pro (BBBoC) rather than the traditional route of Am to Pro.
I’m going that route with one of my lads, and money is the pure motivation. Everyone knows that if a lad is unattached to a major promoter, then ticket sales are essential, probably minimum 100 to be considered on the ‘winning’ side of the bill.
Boxing on unlicensed/semi pro shows are giving him a chance to build a fanbase before he turns over. Rightly or wrongly, his mates (the general public, not hardcore fight fans like us), want to attend shows with a more ‘pro’ feel, and are more bothered about having a good night overall than the standard of fights/fighters on show.
I put on my first show earlier in the year, really nice hotel style venue, a section for VIP dinner guests, the boxers had entrances with their own music, style of shorts etc, to give them more of an identity and create a bit of ‘glamour’, which the crowd loved.
The fights were all competitively matched on strict weight/experience terms, which meant there were some great close, back and forth bouts, creating a brilliant atmosphere and buzz. I had loads of friends who had never considered going to a boxing show who loved the whole event and can’t wait to attend another, some even now going to a local gym and genuinely more interested in the sport as a whole.
If these shows are done well, they provide something that amateur shows can’t, whose events have moved on from the smoky working mens clubs that I used to fight on, but still often take place in stale venues, poor lighting, no fighter entrances/individuality etc, which don’t provide a spectacle or a ‘product’ that many find appealing.
The lad that I’m training that wants to go pro is obviously not boxing the calibre of guys he would in the ABA’s etc, but there are decent standard lads on the circuit, and the money he’s earning is allowing us to buy his equipment, keep his supplements/nutrition on point, travel around sparring ‘proper’ pros, which is where his main development is taking place anyway.
The decent unlicensed/semi pro shows are usually around £25 a ticket, and you usually get a minimum of 10 competitive bouts of varying standard, but crucially most of these could be won by the home or away fighter, so are inevitably exciting when both sides are going for the win.
Contrast this with a small hall pro show I went to a few months ago, 6 fights, every home boxer a novice versus a 5-90 odd journeyman who carried the bouts, not doing much and allowing the prospect to get a few shots off. Zero ‘real’ exchanges, zero excitement, zero sport imo.
Every member of the crowd was there to see an individual mate fight, but me and a couple of others just went as fight fans, and it was utter garbage in terms of entertainment and £45 a ticket to boot.
Boxing is in a weird place in this country at the moment, if I’m honest I’d prefer strict amateur, then pro shows, but with the latter filled with better quality fights, and a chance for genuinely decent lads to rise through the ranks if they were good enough, without having to be their own 2 bit promoter and salesman on twitter/facebook etc.
Those days are gone unfortunately, so we better just deal with it.
It’s disheartening sometimes and I sometimes think is it even worth the hassle for a young lad wanting to turn pro these days, but if it’s their dream, they’re gonna go for it, so it’s nice to be able to try to help someone achieve something, amateur/white collar/unlicensed/pro whatever
and most couldn't fight sleep! Fairplay for them for doing it though thinking of doing one myself just to get a bit fitter but kind of think theyre making a mockery of the sport so in two minds.
