BoxRec

Macca lost his fight to Haye. Rees lost to Kotelnik, also by stoppage. Arthur and Lockett are considerable underdogs going in to challenges against Guzman and Pavlik. Anything could happen when Calzaghe and Woods (the only non Warren fighter mentioned here) go to America next month.

I don't want to look defeatist, but what would it take for Setanta to jack it in or water their coverage down? Thanks to Setanta, and the climate of competition they have created, there are good fight cards every week. But would it really take that much to make things go downhill in terms of our access to boxing on TV?

UK boxing had 7 world champs not long ago, so it was easy to see why Setanta got on board. Now we have 5. Apart from Calzaghe, Setanta with Warren inadvertantly helped "promote" Haye into stardom - a non "house" fighter.

I suppose continued success for Calzaghe, big things for Khan, or the prospect of getting future David Haye fights would be enough to keep things afloat?

Opinions...

I hope not, didnt they start the coverage to get the Hatton fight? They stuck by it with many top US cards before they added any Brit fighters. Hopefully they got a good return on their investment and keep it up.

They will have Khan for a few fights (wont they?) so that will keep subscriptions up and keep the boxing coming. Its a very good thing they have US cards and Brit cards because anyone that subscribes for Brit cards will get into the US cards and that will help boxing grow

Autobarn wrote:Macca lost his fight to Haye. Rees lost to Kotelnik, also by stoppage. Arthur and Lockett are considerable underdogs going in to challenges against Guzman and Pavlik. Anything could happen when Calzaghe and Woods (the only non Warren fighter mentioned here) go to America next month.

I don't want to look defeatist, but what would it take for Setanta to jack it in or water their coverage down? Thanks to Setanta, and the climate of competition they have created, there are good fight cards every week. But would it really take that much to make things go downhill in terms of our access to boxing on TV?

UK boxing had 7 world champs not long ago, so it was easy to see why Setanta got on board. Now we have 5. Apart from Calzaghe, Setanta with Warren inadvertantly helped "promote" Haye into stardom - a non "house" fighter.

I suppose continued success for Calzaghe, big things for Khan, or the prospect of getting future David Haye fights would be enough to keep things afloat?

Opinions...

If we lose all out World Champs then still think Setanta will stick with boxing AS LONG AS WE GET DECENT DOMESTIC FIGHTS and some decent overseas action!

PLUS, if they stop showing boxing I would imagine 90% of us will canel.

Autobarn - You have a point about a lot of "our lads" losing at the top level but for me we have plenty to look forward to

Joe Calzaghe - albeit in my opinion until the end of the year then he will be gone.

David Haye - if matched correctly at heavyweight the hype will increase over the next couple of years into a frenzy

Clinton Woods - Massive fight against Tarver - who knows when Clinton will decide to retire.

Carl Froch - I am betting my house on him being massive - said it since his debut!!!

Amir Kham
Kevin Mitchell can make a splash
Jamie Moore can still have a say on the European scene
Alex Arthur same as Jamie Moore.

Then we have the amateur lads - when will they go pro - they will make waves if they do well in the Olympics!!!

Sure, but what if the Warren house fighters continue to have a poor run of success in world title fights? They're 0-2 in the last 2 fights right now. With Arthur and Lockett they could easily be 0-4 even if our lads put in massive efforts and lose exciting fights.

Would Setanta pull the plug?

i think so long as Calzaghe and Khan do well, Setanta will know they're on to a good thing. It would be a bonus if they can put on Calzaghe-Woods big domestic fight - hinging on both men winning next month. That's the kind of thing the Uk viewers like watching IMO.

Setanta will not pull the plug on Mr W arren in my view as long as he has got Amir Khan, Kevin Mitchell and a couple of others to top the bill.

I will say again - watch out for the Olympics - see how good our lads do - and then watch the promoters make their moves and possibly get improved TV contracts on the basis of who they sign and how well they have done at the games - look what happened to Khan.

Personally, I think Jamie Moore can win a world title at 154.

Apart from Spinks and Forrest, I can't see any other decent fighters at 154. Ouma stunk in his last fight and Kamarzin lost.

Spud wrote:Setanta will not pull the plug on Mr W arren in my view as long as he has got Amir Khan, Kevin Mitchell and a couple of others to top the bill.

I will say again - watch out for the Olympics - see how good our lads do - and then watch the promoters make their moves and possibly get improved TV contracts on the basis of who they sign and how well they have done at the games - look what happened to Khan.

but khan is on itv..... is he gonna stay there or am i missing something !!

Spud wrote:Setanta will not pull the plug on Mr W arren in my view as long as he has got Amir Khan, Kevin Mitchell and a couple of others to top the bill.

I will say again - watch out for the Olympics - see how good our lads do - and then watch the promoters make their moves and possibly get improved TV contracts on the basis of who they sign and how well they have done at the games - look what happened to Khan.

Definitely, Frankie Gavin, Joe Murray etc. Depending on the level of success there could be another Khan-level phenomenon. With that in mind things do look promising and promoters & networks will have something to get excited about.

rhino222 wrote:

Spud wrote:Setanta will not pull the plug on Mr W arren in my view as long as he has got Amir Khan, Kevin Mitchell and a couple of others to top the bill.

I will say again - watch out for the Olympics - see how good our lads do - and then watch the promoters make their moves and possibly get improved TV contracts on the basis of who they sign and how well they have done at the games - look what happened to Khan.

but khan is on itv..... is he gonna stay there or am i missing something !!

i think he's going to setanta when the itv deal expires

I think TV companies view success in terms of viewing figures, not in terms of how many Brits are "champs". I don't believe the two are necessarily related. Hatton, Macca, Rees all lost. AAA, Lockett, Woods and even Joe C may all lose. So what! They were all in great matchups with top quality fighters. Will the viewers who saw them lose tune in for their comeback fights? Of course. Much rather this than Brits defending meaningless baubles against no-hopers. SN and Setanta have gone up in my estimation. Long may it continue!

Good point. However, what if this all makes Warren go back into cautious mode where his fighters are holding paper titles and having knockover opponents brought in? Making the quality level dribble down the drain...

Everything seems great at the moment but boxing is like anything, with its peaks and its dips. Good things are transient, leading to misery and all that...

Things have been bad in the past. ie almost everything Sky showed in the years leading up to Hatton-Tszyu.

rhino222 wrote:

Spud wrote:Setanta will not pull the plug on Mr W arren in my view as long as he has got Amir Khan, Kevin Mitchell and a couple of others to top the bill.

I will say again - watch out for the Olympics - see how good our lads do - and then watch the promoters make their moves and possibly get improved TV contracts on the basis of who they sign and how well they have done at the games - look what happened to Khan.

but khan is on itv..... is he gonna stay there or am i missing something !!

Rhino - I am not sure how accurate the information is - but I thought Amir Khan's deal with ITV and Mr W arren was up for renewal this June - or certainly something like that.

Spud wrote:

rhino222 wrote:

Spud wrote:Setanta will not pull the plug on Mr W arren in my view as long as he has got Amir Khan, Kevin Mitchell and a couple of others to top the bill.

I will say again - watch out for the Olympics - see how good our lads do - and then watch the promoters make their moves and possibly get improved TV contracts on the basis of who they sign and how well they have done at the games - look what happened to Khan.

but khan is on itv..... is he gonna stay there or am i missing something !!

Rhino - I am not sure how accurate the information is - but I thought Amir Khan's deal with ITV and Mr W arren was up for renewal this June - or certainly something like that.

End of June. New ITV head of sport is not a big fan of Boxing either apparently, and is looking to cut down the budget as viewing figures aren't great according to him.

We had a thread on it here a while back, I believe Setanta broke the story. Something about not being prepared to build Khan into the next Nas, only to see him leave for another channel.

Autobarn wrote:Good point. However, what if this all makes Warren go back into cautious mode where his fighters are holding paper titles and having knockover opponents brought in? Making the quality level dribble down the drain...

Everything seems great at the moment but boxing is like anything, with its peaks and its dips. Good things are transient, leading to misery and all that...

Things have been bad in the past. ie almost everything Sky showed in the years leading up to Hatton-Tszyu.

What you say is very true, but I'm trying to be optimistic. I just get the feeling that boxing as a whole is on the ascendancy and that's down to great fights being made. With TV airtime at a premium and competition from MMA, televised boxing can no longer feature hopeless mismatches. The TV companies and the promoters are currently delivering the goods and nothing less should be acceptable.

Chesh,

I absolutely agree the promoters need to put on quality shows - but a small point for you - I honestly think MMA/Cage Rage/UFC and the euphoria behind it is levelling now and as such - boxing will still remain ahead of it.

Spud wrote:Chesh,

I absolutely agree the promoters need to put on quality shows - but a small point for you - I honestly think MMA/Cage Rage/UFC and the euphoria behind it is levelling now and as such - boxing will still remain ahead of it.

Sorry mate, UFC is so far away regarding PPV numbers it's truly frightening.

Excluding Mayweather v DLH and Mayweather v Hatton, the top 10 PPV buys were UFC. Thats not even including WEC or Elite XC, just one brand!

I think boxing has at least another 2 years of quality like last year before it can make a serious dent in MMA, and IMO it still hasn't learnt to put on 2-4 quality undercard fights, which is something UFC thrives on.

One thing I have noticed, though, is that in the U.S. bars have started to put up posters for boxing PPVs alongside UFC posters.

Spud wrote:Chesh,

I absolutely agree the promoters need to put on quality shows - but a small point for you - I honestly think MMA/Cage Rage/UFC and the euphoria behind it is levelling now and as such - boxing will still remain ahead of it.

The only reason that the euphoria behind MMA was seen to plateau (by boxing fans), is because boxing pulled out all of the stops and had a great year.

I think as long as Setanta has Khan, he keeps winning and people keep watching, boxing on Setanta will be ok.

I think Haye's got a decent chance at heavyweight, Khan's perceived value/potential is lower than it's reality so he's a good bet ... as for the rest, Arthur, Mitchell, Froch, Skelton, etc. They don't have a hope at the top level, but as long as we see interesting match-ups and risk taking, I think we'll do just fine.

it should be all about haye for setanta- they have the chance to hype him up and chart his progress to superstardom.

Whether they will, or accordingly whether this pathetic British public full of losers will take to Haye even if he becomes the heavyweight champ, is yet to be seen.