BoxRec

journeymen are getting much more financially from boxing than winning small hall fighters, who often have to pay to get a fight.

the 10-0 (0) #442 in the world may get an ego boost from his padded record, but the 2-87 dude has the cash to show for his career

You position yourself for better paydays in the professional ring, not in sparring. You may learn more and improve your skill set more in good sparring sessions than in fighting a pushover, but at the end of the day you do actually need to fight. Let’s not pretend like fans haven’t made glossy records more important than they should be. “Back in the day” all time greats used to fight pushovers all the time to keep busy because they realized than earning money was what made their careers a career.

it matters to an extent and depends on a fighter's situation. at a certain point extra padding does nothing for someone's value and many fighters who pad their record never get their cash in either. plus if you're building up your records on guys who are basically paid to lose without resistence it can hurt someone's development and ultimately make them less able to achieve bigger money in the future

but more to the specific point that was made, it's just wrong to depict it as a situation where fighting small hall is selling/getting paid for your brain cells, while sparring is giving them away for free. for many small hall guys they are actually paying themselves, not getting paid to fight or fighting for free

It’s also disingenuous to pretend small hall fighters are getting sparring at a level to greatly advance their skill sets. No need to make this deeper than it really is: my original comment is that it makes more sense to box frequently than to just spar instead. If someone decides to box professionally, boxing professionally would obviously be the better choice than practicing.

I know how small hall shows work. I don’t really see many scenarios where having less wins is better than having more in terms of earning power.

i'd expect them to get much better sparring than the level they deal with in fights. even a decent local amateur giving it a go in sparring would top a 2-100 journeyman covering up 100 percent by far

if you know how small hall works why did you make the comment about its better to get paid? that's not how it works, many of these guys fight for free or have to pay themselves

Right, you’re talking about improving a skill set, which is why sparring is a necessary evil. No matter how many great sparring sessions you have, you do still need to fight. For the average small hall fighter, being 16-0 is a better position to find a good payday than being 5-0. It’s not really that hard to understand as it’s been the model for many years now.

it's an investment when you're basically purchasing your wins. it may pay off because people like your inflated win column and you have the connecittons to actually get the bigger fights made, you may break even, you may end up in a worse spot financially because you had to pay for wins and then couldnt land a cash out fight. you could also have ended up in a better spot if you'd taken tougher fights, maybe lost a couple, but improved and been able to capitalize on an opportunity at some point

as a fan, i find the 40-36 x3 cards dreadful and i dont think they help the guys develop their abilities

All fair points. Choosing boxing as a career is a gamble. You could get badly injured sparring and be in the same position. I definitely favor more frequent fighting as a way to position yourself for more.

I am not a fan of padding records, but as a business model it seems one of the “safer” ways to earn money in the sport, even if it means putting yourself in a spot to take a beating or two for a years worth of middle class money.

punchoutsb wrote: ↑19 Feb 2023, 23:25 It’s also disingenuous to pretend small hall fighters are getting sparring at a level to greatly advance their skill sets. No need to make this deeper than it really is: my original comment is that it makes more sense to box frequently than to just spar instead. If someone decides to box professionally, boxing professionally would obviously be the better choice than practicing.

I know how small hall shows work. I don’t really see many scenarios where having less wins is better than having more in terms of earning power.

A lot of small hall fighters spar very good fighters. So do amateurs. It's not a big pond, most will know each other in and around their weights and have done rounds with them.

mickey1975 wrote: ↑20 Feb 2023, 10:28

punchoutsb wrote: ↑19 Feb 2023, 23:25 It’s also disingenuous to pretend small hall fighters are getting sparring at a level to greatly advance their skill sets. No need to make this deeper than it really is: my original comment is that it makes more sense to box frequently than to just spar instead. If someone decides to box professionally, boxing professionally would obviously be the better choice than practicing.

I know how small hall shows work. I don’t really see many scenarios where having less wins is better than having more in terms of earning power.

A lot of small hall fighters spar very good fighters. So do amateurs. It's not a big pond, most will know each other in and around their weights and have done rounds with them.

Agreed.