Page 2 of 2
Posted: 02 Aug 2006, 08:01
by dondada
ABA Boxing wrote:You think the Pro sites have trouble, i dont think i will ever get my monthly Amateur boxing news off the ground.
Getting a coulple of articles a month is near impossible.
So while we are on the subject of looking for writers
http://www.ABABoxing.com are looking for writers who would like to be part of our team, You can tailor your commitment depending on how much you want to do.
We want to cover as much Amateur Boxing from around the World as possible, to create a great International Amateur Boxing site that provides up to date News & Rankings. We welcome your input on anything you like related to Amateur boxing - tournament previews, fighter reports, news, features & interviews.
At this time we offer NO financial compensation for submissions. It's unpaid work for all of us.
Good luck with that, mate. Decent coverage of the Ams definitely required.
Posted: 02 Aug 2006, 08:44
by jamesmcdonnell
ABA Boxing wrote:You think the Pro sites have trouble, i dont think i will ever get my monthly Amateur boxing news off the ground.
Getting a coulple of articles a month is near impossible.
So while we are on the subject of looking for writers
http://www.ABABoxing.com are looking for writers who would like to be part of our team, You can tailor your commitment depending on how much you want to do.
We want to cover as much Amateur Boxing from around the World as possible, to create a great International Amateur Boxing site that provides up to date News & Rankings. We welcome your input on anything you like related to Amateur boxing - tournament previews, fighter reports, news, features & interviews.
At this time we offer NO financial compensation for submissions. It's unpaid work for all of us.
Trouble with amateur boxing is it's almost completely invisible, despite being an on and off boxing journalist for roughly 4 years and writing countless articles, I haven't been to a single amateur show. I mean, where is the bloody advertising for them?
The day when the amateur and professional codes merge is coming, and it's very much needed, the amateur game is dying due to the fact that there is no visibility, and the amateur code has become too different from professional boxing.
Posted: 02 Aug 2006, 09:20
by ABA Boxing
I agree, after contacting 35 Amateur Boxing Associations telling them they could advertise there National & international shows for free on the website, how many replies do you think i got?
I still think there is a place for atleast one internet site that covers World Amateur boxing, a monthly news page that reports on National championships ect. There are enough tournaments in the world to have atleast 10 articles or more amonth, with some pictures!
Amateur boxing does not have the following that pro boxing does, but we are still talking about thousands of amateur boxers, clubs and fans & amateur boxing is the birth place of most of the World pro champions.
A writer from each country with just a snipet of news about Amateur boxing in there country every other month would be a good start.
Do you have any ideas how i might get this off the ground, apart from paying people?
Posted: 02 Aug 2006, 09:35
by Lightsoot
ABA Boxing wrote:I agree, after contacting 35 Amateur Boxing Associations telling them they could advertise there National & international shows for free on the website, how many replies do you think i got?
I still think there is a place for atleast one internet site that covers World Amateur boxing, a monthly news page that reports on National championships ect. There are enough tournaments in the world to have atleast 10 articles or more amonth, with some pictures!
Amateur boxing does not have the following that pro boxing does, but we are still talking about thousands of amateur boxers, clubs and fans & amateur boxing is the birth place of most of the World pro champions.
A writer from each country with just a snipet of news about Amateur boxing in there country every other month would be a good start.
Do you have any ideas how i might get this off the ground, apart from paying people?
Have a dates / show schedule page. Contributors are essentially motivated by free ringside passes.
If they don't know when and where shows are taking place they won't approach you and say "Hey, you know that show in Manchester next month, I'd be interested in covering it for your site if you're interested."
Posted: 02 Aug 2006, 09:35
by Max Molyneux
Terence wrote:I've been to a few and will probably get a bit of stick for this but the fights merge into one another really.
I spar with an amateur lad off and on and he is a very good, nimble southpaw yet we keep stressing to him that the amateur game is a waste of time, when he turns pro he'll have to be worked on to iron out the amateur flaws that rise based on the scoring system.
Another problem is the fact most amateurs routinely complain of being jobbed in places like Liverpool, you ask any amateur coach going for an 'away' fight and pre-show they will be telling their lad to do their best and will then say the lad will get robbed but at least he is getting a fight.
I also spoke to a former highly-rated amateur and he disapproved of the coaching methods, they take you from your own coach and put you with a team who he claims batter you with technical information that is often erroneous. He claims he could work things out himself and doesn't need 30 seconds of jargon between rounds from someone who does not know his day to day attitude and aptitude, nor do they know his habits and how to motivate him. The fighters attitude to country coaches was: "Shut the fook up, rinse my gumshield and pass me some water."
Don't some get jobbed because they refuse to score the punch because of the way it lands? Thats what I've heard as well!
Posted: 02 Aug 2006, 09:36
by jamesmcdonnell
I would potentially be interested in attending some amateur shows if you know where they are. I've no idea where the bloody hell they are myself as no fekker tells anyone about them. The old fart blazer brigade couldn't organise a piss up in a brewery. It's ok with big international tournaments, but how much advertising do we see even for the ABA finals?
Amateur boxing isn't very exciting to watch, the minute anyone gets a nosebleed or takes a few heavy shots it's stopped, and the style of scoring encourages fighter to throw single clean shots as combinations don't get scored properly.
I find the idea of spotting new talent interesting, but it's hard to tell whether stand out amateurs are going to be any good in the pro ranks as it's such a different sport.
Posted: 02 Aug 2006, 09:45
by dondada
ABA Boxing wrote:I agree, after contacting 35 Amateur Boxing Associations telling them they could advertise there National & international shows for free on the website, how many replies do you think i got?
I still think there is a place for atleast one internet site that covers World Amateur boxing, a monthly news page that reports on National championships ect. There are enough tournaments in the world to have atleast 10 articles or more amonth, with some pictures!
Amateur boxing does not have the following that pro boxing does, but we are still talking about thousands of amateur boxers, clubs and fans & amateur boxing is the birth place of most of the World pro champions.
A writer from each country with just a snipet of news about Amateur boxing in there country every other month would be a good start.
Do you have any ideas how i might get this off the ground, apart from paying people?
This doesn't surprise me at all. One of the reasons the sport is in the toilet from a publicity point of view is that the people involved simply don't know what they are doing.
It even happens with pro shows - some happen that are completely below the radar and then the promoter wonders why only 100 people showed up.
It takes a long time to get things off the ground - active, reliable staff are thin on the ground.
I'd write to someone at the ABA and ask for a personal interview to let them know what you could do for them. Amateur shows happen in Sheffield quite often but I don't get to hear about them either.
Posted: 02 Aug 2006, 12:10
by MonkeyBiz
jamesmcdonnell wrote:And you are getting your figures from where exactly?
I said Randall was the main owner, i.e he was the finances man. I think that Doug Fischer and Tom Gerbasi have a share of the business also, though not sure who a fourth man would be.
As for their membership, how could you possibly know for a fact how many members they have? Any figure like that is guesswork as they are not going to reveal their membership. Max is a good site, I wouldn't have written for them if I thought they were shit, but they aren't the biggest site, and aren't very big outside the US which is their major base.
Also, there are only a few who make a full time living from max, most write for other publications (Steve Kim for example), or have other jobs as well, I have spoken to a lot of the writers on there over the years, and believe me, most of them are far from rich.
You were misinformed. I know a rough estimate of the stats. I know several of the top writers on Max and what they make, well above 200.
They write for other publications because the money is good. Why turn down extra work?
They may not be the biggest site, but they without question make the most money by far and look more professional than most of these terrible excuses for boxing websites.
The boxing website market is flooded. A new site every day with the same shit as the next guy. Articles, video, audio, photos, blah blah blah...what else is new? There are only so many websites and so many articles a person is willing to waste his time reading in a single day, which is why so many websites have been duds.
Posted: 02 Aug 2006, 15:08
by stujones
Ian 'Mr' McNeilly wrote:That's true James. I'd almost forgotten about that one. The investment never appeared and it was yet another one which fell by the wayside.
I was going to ask you guys about how that venture was going privately. I know hindsight is a wonderful thing but I'm quite glad I never got involved. The guy seemed almost obsessed with making trans alantic phone calls and when I said I want out he basically said, "good I never wanted you involed in the first place".
Sadly, the guy who warned me about the boxingpress venture, Howard Sitorta, stopped his own boxing site recently - boxingranks.com
Posted: 03 Aug 2006, 05:30
by dondada
stujones wrote:Ian 'Mr' McNeilly wrote:That's true James. I'd almost forgotten about that one. The investment never appeared and it was yet another one which fell by the wayside.
I was going to ask you guys about how that venture was going privately. I know hindsight is a wonderful thing but I'm quite glad I never got involved. The guy seemed almost obsessed with making trans alantic phone calls and when I said I want out he basically said, "good I never wanted you involed in the first place".
Sadly, the guy who warned me about the boxingpress venture, Howard Sitorta, stopped his own boxing site recently - boxingranks.com
James and I never really 'got involved'. We just said we would if he came through. He didn't. End of.
Posted: 03 Aug 2006, 06:22
by stujones
Watching an amateur boxing show is sometimes quite tough. With my old club I'd be ringside supporting the lads on, but I could never watch my coach's son in action - that was because he was 12. I'd have no problem with him sparring but two 12 year old beating the shit into each other was something I never liked watching.
More often than not they would be fight of the night in terms of action.
Some clubs put on quite a performance. There used to be a club in Tenby (before its merger with Whitland) that on their home shows used to have the fighters coming in to music and have the lights going.... really proffesionally done. Others (like in Splott) were not so well done, during my experience.
Amateur Dinner shows were also something that never appealed when I fought and when I watched. I think some of the kids (and I was one) was always happier when their whole family was watching, so that included mothers/sisters etc. Also I saw it frustrated viewing watching guys go for it flat out with people in suits more interested in their food.