BoxRec

Hi there I was wondering, with all the name like groves, jeffries, degale, gavin etc being touted as the next coming (i'm not saying I don't think they're good) where does it leave fighters like myself. Obviously I understood when I decided to become a professional that I would have to work hard at certain things in the gym and in the ring being the most important. I also knew the next most important part of getting anywhere in this game is getting good following.
Don't get me wrong I have a lot of "fans" and people that want me to do well but am slightly distressed about how hard it is for someone like myself to get any sort of national advertising i.e newspapers, tv and the like.
Like I said I understood when I started this would be the case but how comes these fighters get so much given to them and a few often still moan about how hard it is and how they get booed when they don't perform.
I wish all fellow boxers the best in their careers and want them to do well I just hope that people like myself get their chances as they deserve. Please feel free to agree or disagree it would be good to hear your views on this matter and whether you think its a problem? I.F.T.K.WOODY

advertising for boxers is terrible atm, i agree only the top prospects seems to get the coverage

People wanna hear what the prospects are up to but I think it would benefit the sport if more boxers git coverage in newspapers etc!!

iftkwoody wrote:People wanna hear what the prospects are up to but I think it would benefit the sport if more boxers git coverage in newspapers etc!!

i think everyone on here would agree, newspapers used to be filled with articlea about domestic fights now there lucky to get a column and even then thats usually wrong

Advertising for boxers is bad!! I had to google your tag for find out who you were and you wrote that

Presumably it's Daniel Woodgate?

Most fighters are in your position. Those who are frequently discussed are olympians of ams of some repute... I once did a series on a now-defunct website which featured up and coming boxers but even they'd had four or five fights, I think you've had one. If you keep winning people will discuss you. In terms of nationals, its a tough task unless your manager/promoter has a column. I mean, how many UK fighters have you read about in the nationals?? I'd guess it would be no more than 10 active fighters, yet how many more fighters than that actually ply their trade? Unfortunately boxing is considered a minority sport by many, perhaps like darts, and its usually the same 4 or 5 darts players who get coverage too. It's a realistic reflection of the papers readership. Mainly football, bit of rugby, F1, and cricket, and then only the biggest names of the other sports. Also, the boxing prospects you mentioned were the among the highest funded fighters in the amateur code, so they would always have a head start when turning over.

Its a tough position to be in, but it is the same for the majority of fighters. Take David Haye for example, he was not really known outside the boxing world until he fought Valuev, yet he'd been a genuine World Champ before that. How often do you see Carl Froch in the papers? Jamie Moore was one of my all time favourite fighters and active on here, but I dont think I ever read about him in the nationals, certainly not very often anyway! The pity is that if any of these fighters were to break the law they would be straight into print, like (scumbag) Henry Castle recently for example.

Step one should be becoming more known within the boxing world, and step two (which most fighters never get to) is to gain the crossover appeal needed for national and television coverage.

Good start for step one is coming on here, having a website would help, as would regularly talking to local papers and boxing websites. Also engaging with the fans on social networking sites like fb/myspace/twitter seems to be a good method of improving a fan base. Step two is usually achieved by winning lots of fights and titles, and then just being lucky.

I for one will be keeping an eye out for you now !! Good luck with the career mate

You've got tons of marketing options, forums, facebook, twitter, myspace etc etc....

As long as you do it intelligently its quite easy to build a fanbase. This is a great place to start with regards to national coverage, keep racking up the wins and speak to Ian or another boxrec writer about an article. BN writers post here too.

My mate was 2-6 as an MMA fighter and he still gets tons of coverage and sponsership just because he is very good at promoting himself- and a fairly good fighter.

You shouldn't be worrying about targetting national press yet anyway, you have to sell tickets to local people- so local press is sufficient for what the press is most useful for. IMO anyway. All the best.

weird that you want to project yourself but you dont mention your name or weight division?.... bizarre !! ....

cheers everyone I wasn't actually looking for this to publicise myself just wanted to know views of people on this topic as like jamesh said I have only had one pro fight and I also had a very limited amateur career having had only 21 fights but am very proud to have got to the aba quarter finals. by the way james yes I am Daniel Woodgate I'm a light heavy/super middle and have had one pro bout I didn't start boxing till I was 22 but still feel I have the ability to go far in the game in other words i got the skills to pay the bills ha ha. cheers for all your feedback how do you advertise on here do you mean to just post and reply to posts? thanks WOODY

iftkwoody wrote:cheers everyone I wasn't actually looking for this to publicise myself just wanted to know views of people on this topic as like jamesh said I have only had one pro fight and I also had a very limited amateur career having had only 21 fights but am very proud to have got to the aba quarter finals. by the way james yes I am Daniel Woodgate I'm a light heavy/super middle and have had one pro bout I didn't start boxing till I was 22 but still feel I have the ability to go far in the game in other words i got the skills to pay the bills ha ha. cheers for all your feedback how do you advertise on here do you mean to just post and reply to posts? thanks WOODY

yeah and let us know about your up coming fights and how your getting on in training etc

cheers james as i am advertising myself now lol i am on facebook i.f.t.k woody and twitter iftkwoody anyone who would like to see how i'm getting on please follow or join me. WOODY

Have a winning run, then do a Tony Jeffries, and you will get TONS of publicity. No, seriously, the very best of luck to you.

Jeff Thomas wrote:You've got tons of marketing options, forums, facebook, twitter, myspace etc etc....

As long as you do it intelligently its quite easy to build a fanbase. This is a great place to start with regards to national coverage, keep racking up the wins and speak to Ian or another boxrec writer about an article. BN writers post here too.

My mate was 2-6 as an MMA fighter and he still gets tons of coverage and sponsership just because he is very good at promoting himself- and a fairly good fighter.

One person that has used social networking as a way of promoting himself is Big Larry. Always keeps his fans updated as to what he is doing with regards his fights and training plus he posts any articles that were published. Even a few of my casual boxing mates know who he is.

Facebook, Twitter, Boxrec is definitely a great way to get your name 'out there'. Start locally and build your name up.

iftkwoody wrote:cheers james as i am advertising myself now lol i am on facebook i.f.t.k woody and twitter iftkwoody anyone who would like to see how i'm getting on please follow or join me. WOODY

Have just joined your page. Make sure you keep us up to date on here and you're likely to find a following straight away! To be honest it sounds like you're making the right moves...

bennie wrote:Have a winning run, then do a Tony Jeffries, and you will get TONS of publicity. No, seriously, the very best of luck to you.

...or join Anthony Small one of his marches!

Lol cheers James I know they say that any publicity is good but I wanna try keep it to good publicity for now at least ha ha!!

Just added you on facebook.

Keep us informed with the career.

Just added you to facebook as well. Hope you let us all know how things are going. :-)

One suggestion, just treat it like any other job, and get on with it- if you are good enough, the publicity will find you!

whicker wrote:One suggestion, just treat it like any other job, and get on with it- if you are good enough, the publicity will find you!

you mean how witter became huge?

JamesH wrote:

bennie wrote:Have a winning run, then do a Tony Jeffries, and you will get TONS of publicity. No, seriously, the very best of luck to you.

...or join Anthony Small one of his marches!

iftkwoody wrote:cheers everyone I wasn't actually looking for this to publicise myself just wanted to know views of people on this topic as like jamesh said I have only had one pro fight and I also had a very limited amateur career having had only 21 fights but am very proud to have got to the aba quarter finals. by the way james yes I am Daniel Woodgate I'm a light heavy/super middle and have had one pro bout I didn't start boxing till I was 22 but still feel I have the ability to go far in the game in other words i got the skills to pay the bills ha ha. cheers for all your feedback how do you advertise on here do you mean to just post and reply to posts? thanks WOODY

Good luck with it mate and just put yourself about is the only advice I have..

will do cheers bomber.

think youve earned a few followers on here already

Just looked you up and saw you fought in Crawley! I'm staying in Haywards Heath at the moment and can't believe they have promotions in Crawley would be handy for me saves getting the last train back from london!!! Who promoted you there and are there any fights coming up? For you and Crawley???