ARE WE HAPPY WITH THE DIRECTION OF THE BOXING NEWS ??

[dalcumly]

Look most of you , I expect , I am an avid reader of the BOXING NEWS . I look forward to getting my copy each week ( sad , I know ) and have done for many years . But , I'm just a little bit concerned about the direction it is taking . Tris Dixon , the new editor , had a hard act to follow in Claude Abrams , and I wish him well , but the significant shift to coverage of foreign fight bills ,and foreign fighters I feel is more to do with profits and marketing than providing the traditional service to the BRITISH boxing public .
Not so long ago Eric Armit had a half page column in which he reported on the results of fights from around the world . This was stopped , apparently , because there was insufficient interest from readers . Now we have full page reports on obscure fights in obscure parts of the world and I'm sue I'm not the only British reader who quickly passes over them . Another issue I have is the last page feature on specific boxers . Last week it was on the washed up and pretty average Vivian Harris . How many readers were particulalrly interested in who Vivian Harris would like to invite to a party - unless of course you were one of the invitees and he was providing the free drink !!
I've read many interesting articles written by Tris Dixon when touring America meeting old time fighters , but I'm afraid he's fast running out of interesting characters worthy of large articles.
Maybe if I was a shareholder in Newsquest ( who I think are the owners ) I would be encouraging the team to set out the magazine to encourage overseas interest , but I am sorry to say , I'm beginning to think the British boxing fan is starting to be short changed .
Am I well off the mark ?

[the truth]

spot on

[whiskey]

It's a big task to pack a magazine full of original and interesting content week in, week out.

Especially as websites are lightening fast in comparison, when breaking news emerges.

I suppose where they can truly deliver, is the seated face-to-face interview and exclusive pictures from a fighter's living room or at their gym as they share their thoughts on their forthcoming fight or whatever. Exclusive content, written in a thoughtful manner that doesn't just break the news, but tells a story.

So long as they dont grab 4 minutes on a phone call for some quotes, flesh it out with quotes from other sources (the web) and pass it off as a column, it will still remain something that people will pay for.

Im a fan and get behind the magazine where I can and I am a subscriber.

But one thing to add, is that a sporting publication can only be as interesting as what is occuring in the sport itself - and we've gone through quite a few baron months of action and even the very best feature writers cannot polish a turd.

[n1ebf]

i don't read it religiously like i used to but I still get it most weeks. True, I generally skip over the "South African" or "Japanese" write ups.........maybe this is why so many of our fighters get billed to be World beaters and then fall short ..... bit like our national football team, cos we spend that much time just talking about ourselves it comes as a shock we some foreigner busts up a British fighter or England get beat by Ukraine etc....

As regards the 60 second interview section, I've always liked it.......so what if Harris is "washed up" as you say. He's been in some big fights and performed at the top level and I would find his insight interesting, plus it only takes 60 seconds.

[n1ebf]

I enjoyed the Shannon Briggs piece this week for instance. He's a foreign fighter.

[Deserter]

I think it's a far stronger proposition based on the issues I've seen to be honest. Some of the feature-writing has been first-class and exactly what is needed in a print title to combat the net. Recent examples of that have been the outstanding pieces on Billy Smith and Jason Booth - first-class journalism that you can't replicate online in that form yet.
I also smell a vested interest here - someone new to the forum who knows enough about publishing to be able to identify Newsquest as the publisher is not your average layman

[dalcumly]

In reply to the chap who thinks I might have a vested interest , I can say in all honesty I'm simply a boxing fan and a BBB of C licence holder who likes to enjoy my British based weekly magazine . I used to be a subscriber and it was Newsquest who you sent the subscriptions to thats how I think they are the owners . But thanks for taking the time to make a comment anyway .

[Deserter]

In reply to the chap who thinks I might have a vested interest , I can say in all honesty I'm simply a boxing fan and a BBB of C licence holder who likes to enjoy my British based weekly magazine . I used to be a subscriber and it was Newsquest who you sent the subscriptions to thats how I think they are the owners . But thanks for taking the time to make a comment anyway .

Apologise if that is the case

[Chris W 1982]

Surely you must be happy with the amount of content that is aimed towards British boxing in the magazine?

The foreign reports are a must read for me as it gives me a chance to study various boxers who are coming through the ranks in places other than Britain. I can remember reading small regular items on Kelly Pavlik before he became a massive name by upsetting Jermain Taylor in an a thriller. It's an ideal way of noting prospects progress as the numerous dvd traders I use are not always able to acquire footage.

I tend not to read BN front to back, the front cover often makes up my mind where I switch my attention first but Tris Dixon's editorial is usually my first destination. His arrival as editor was greeted with concern by myself as he was fairly new to the BN set-up and he made a few slight alterations early on. Since then, the magazine has become a lot better content-wise and I'm failing to find a period in recent times when the quality of interviews has been so high. Danny Flexen's piece on New York deserves the highest accolades and I'll be shocked if there's a better written piece all year.

Matt Christie's style is worthy of praise also but I get the feeling that John Dennen is feeling his way into the job rather than arriving as an established writer. His style is improving massively though.

My only criticism is lack of amateur coverage, I'm a huge fan of the unpaid code and I consider the ABA final night to be the most important on the domestic boxing calender. If BN could maybe dedicate a few more pages to our youngsters then the mag would be pretty faultless.

[dazzer]

very tough call to package a weekly mag must be very hard, i do agree that it is leaning towards american fighters. Would like more interviews with british fighters the j.booth interview was great, i think that was by danny flexen. Even with old british fighters like colin dunne i think that would be a great interview.

maybe make a list of old and present british fighters you would like to see interviewed by boxing news. Maybe someone on here maybe intrested from boxing news

colin dunne, kirkland lang, spencer oliver, crawford ashley, even the journeyman fighters i bet they have some great tales

all in all the mag is doing great roll on thursday

[maninthemiddle]

Despite some good changes to the magazine I have not yet renewed my subscription since May. I've been a subscriber for quite a few years but can get most of the info I want quicker on Boxrec and for free.

The expansion of the internet must be a great concern to publishers, as they cant compete. Saturdays results and often reports are available Sunday morning.....

They are still the best fight reporter on the planet for British shows, but like other posters some of the American and European stuff does only get a fleeting glance.

[orbtastic]

It's called Boxing News, not British News. They've always covered foreign fight results.

Armit's column was pretty obscure, I rarely paid much attention but always read it. I'm far more interested in the actual fight reports for foreign world title fights. That was truer when it was much harder to see these fights pre youtube and private torrent trackers when you had to trade physical tapes etc, but I still read 'em.

Agree that Harris was an odd choice, but don't forget he fought last weekend and they'd already featured Ortiz. Alvarez doesn't interview too well in English, I'd imagine.

Think about the bigger picture - A US friend of mine cancelled his subscription because he said it was too Brit-centric and the reports [of English 8 rounders etc] were far too obscure.

The internet has killed the quick write up/results format, so they have to adapt. I like Boxing Monthly but they're often writing about fights that happened a month ago. Their interviews and previews are of much more interest. They're not in direct competition but they have a lot of cross over.

The letters page could die for me, I skip it. Same with the amas section, never read it.

[dbflex]

This is all really interesting feedback for us so thank you, many of us read the forums regularly. I feel our niche if you like is in having someone ringside for most if not all British fights, covering major foreign attractions and US TV bills which are not available over here, in-depth features and columns by the likes of McRae and Roach and, now and again, we break a bit of news too.

The balance between home and overseas content has long been a bone of contention, with fervent supporters on both sides and we do try to reflect the preferences if the majority. Space constraints do not help.

I sympathise with the amateur fans. I'm no amateurs expert but we all recognise that section has been underrepresented recently, in part due to a lack of action. John Dennen in particular I know is very keen to write more amateur features.

But to sum up I see the quality question like this: before Tris' tenure began, we had Claude, Daniel, Tris, myself and our ever-excellent Art Editor Nick Bond. Now we have retained all bar Claude - inarguably a tough act to follow - and added Dennen and Christie, both superb additions, plus McRae, Bob Mee, Teddy Atlas, Roach and John Scully, all on a regular basis. I think the quality of opinion is unparalleled but I am of course biased.

If anyone wants to ask anything about BN (keep it clean and unlikely to get me sue) I'm happy to try and answer any queries.

[dbflex]

That should have said SUED. you can get me Sue if you like, whoever she might be

[JamesH]

It would be foolish if BN capped their potential readership to the UK so I understand the overseas feature, and as Chris said, it can raise awareness of fighters like Pavlik as they battle to become mainstream.

There will always be something’s that can be improved based on personal preference, but they are very minor in the scheme of things, for example I think the letters section belongs near the back of the mag. Overall though, I'm happy with the 'refresh'. I find my relationship with BN and BM follows the same peaks and troughs as my relationship with boxing, at times certain things pee me off, but all in all, it's a much better world with than without.

I'd say I was dubious when Claude left, no disrespect to the current incumbents but I just enjoyed his work. However, the magazine has improved and I'm tempted to re-subscribe which I haven't done since before Claude left, so for me they're doing something right. I definitely like the guest columnist section, and as has been said, some of the features have been nothing short of excellent.

[Chris W 1982]

The letters page is one of the highlights of the mag. Such a shame it can't be four pages long.

Readers views have always been important to myself and I am guilty of sending in the occassional note to BN. I think the sport's circumstances will often determine the value of the letters section as boxing, especially in the summer months, can go through a period of hibernation where hot topics are generally not there to be discussed.

As I've stated in previous threads, the anticipation of buying BN when a certain promoter banned the mag from his shows around late 2003 was essential viewing for all BN fans. The letters page then was flicked to instantly as both sides fought dilligently until the other embarrasingly submitted (Just some dramatic effect)

I remember one reader's letter insisting that the promoter and Claude Abram settle their differences in the ring. I heard a rumour that Claude insisted on a 60-40 split and his opponent must be subject to blood tests on the day of the fight. Them two items were the major stumbling blocks.

Letter's page back then meant more to me than anything that could have appeared on the front page.

[Chris W 1982]

After not missing an issue for around 8 years, I'm still none the wiser to why I haven't purchased an annual subscription.

[orbtastic]

I've been reading regularly for nearly 20 years, it took me nearly 15 to get a sub going.

Claude was a very good writer, I used to like his balance and sly sarcasm. He had a tough time taking over from Mullen, but he was around for years before that anyway so it's not like he replaced him one day.

Mullen's writing was excellent but time moves on, no sense sticking in the past.

[telboy66]

I have been reading BN since the 50s & originally was only interested in British & American boxers, but have over the years become more interested in the so called obscure foreign boxers so that when from time to time one comes to this country to fight one of ours I have at least some knowledge rather than rely on some promoters publicity hand out telling how great such & such weight champ of Latvia is I know different.
the letters page is my second port of call after the editorial, for me boxing news has been & always will be the bible

[mickey1975]

After not missing an issue for around 8 years, I'm still none the wiser to why I haven't purchased an annual subscription.

You would have saved a lot of money.I took up an offer a couple of years ago and it worked out i paid about a quid an issue.As for the paper,well,the internet has definetley made it less important.Just about all the news items we will have all read about online.I still like it for the interviews and British reports.Im not bothered about the previews,i think Claude is greatly missed here as he was an excellent judge,but the more knowledgeable on here could call a fight as well as the current writers.Herbet is very good on the ams but i have always thought that section is biased towards London and Repton in particular.

[dbflex]

We try to offer different perspectives on news stories and speak exclusively to the key players to offer something more than just breaking news. I think the ams comment was harsh, especially given how regularly Messrs Bozeat (Midlands), Donald (Scotland) and Myler (Ireland) contribute to that section.

[gasman]

One thing I would love to see more print space afforded to are the undercard reports on good bills in the UK and Ireland. Often these are covered in one or two lines per undercard fight - which barely tells you more than was is documented on boxrec. For the most part these undercard fights are not shown on tv, so I am very interested to gain more insights into how these fights have developed with analysis of the performances of these prospects.

[Coco]

I am a regular reader, always have been and think the BN is in good hands

[dbflex]

One thing I would love to see more print space afforded to are the undercard reports on good bills in the UK and Ireland. Often these are covered in one or two lines per undercard fight - which barely tells you more than was is documented on boxrec. For the most part these undercard fights are not shown on tv, so I am very interested to gain more insights into how these fights have developed with analysis of the performances of these prospects.

It's a valid point. Space constraints hurt us there, especially now we carry more feature content. We will try but covering every UK bill makes this harder.

[tonyevs]

Tris Dixon is doing a very good job., He has done one or two little changes - and they seem to be working.

I have often critisized the amount of pictures, advertisements and amateur content. Though I guess there are some who like that ...

I certainly find there is more to read since Tris Dixon took over from Claude Abrams. It isn`t perfect, but..