BoxRec

Just wondering really. A lot has been made this year of "Olympians" being signed up to make their pro debut, but have promotors over-estimated their popular appeal?

In England we have, 6 or 7 of them, with one being a gold medal winner. Even after winning gold De Gale is not the household name that Khan , with his age and style, became very quickly. Plus Khan was the only one who turned pro.

Most boxing fans too will know that it is unlikley that these guys will be in a competative bout for at least two years, so its hard to get massivly excited.

Darren Sutherland is the exception I would say- he is very popular in Ireland, but then he is a likeable guy, and more importantly the only Irish Olympians to turn pro recently.


So yeah- thoughts? There are, in my opinion, already enough "hot prospects" dominating undercards against losing journeymen.

I think so. I couldnt belive Degale got a 1.5m over 2 years deal but Warren has been doing this since before I was born so I'll wait and see

whicker wrote:Just wondering really. A lot has been made this year of "Olympians" being signed up to make their pro debut, but have promotors over-estimated their popular appeal?

In England we have, 6 or 7 of them, with one being a gold medal winner. Even after winning gold De Gale is not the household name that Khan , with his age and style, became very quickly. Plus Khan was the only one who turned pro.

Most boxing fans too will know that it is unlikley that these guys will be in a competative bout for at least two years, so its hard to get massivly excited.

Darren Sutherland is the exception I would say- he is very popular in Ireland, but then he is a likeable guy, and more importantly the only Irish Olympians to turn pro recently.


So yeah- thoughts? There are, in my opinion, already enough "hot prospects" dominating undercards against losing journeymen.

I agree with your statement, Darren Suthreland has the whole of Ireland behind him plus the Yanks love a fighting I.rishman as well as all the Irish in the Uk. Tony J. all so has a great following as he from the North East for tonight fight he has sold over 400 tickets in less than 31/2 weeksNot just because there with are company we real believe that these 2 are most popular of the new kid on the block. But only time will tell and the reaction of you the boxing fans.

alot of people have started to realise that they will be one sided fights because of khan
my GF's uncle was 100% positive that khan would be a world champ last year and said that khan must be head and shoulders above everyone or he wouldnt blast em out easy (hes not a big boxing fan)
so he didnt realise khan was being match soft but now he knows it (thanks to me and prescott) and so isnt assed about olympians anymore

FtmPress wrote: Tony J. all so has a great following as he from the North East for tonight fight he has sold over 400 tickets in less than 31/2 weeks

Good point there- These fights may well be popular locally, I'm sure the same could be said for David Price in Liverpool too- I'm sure he will see quite a few tickets for his debut.

I'm just unsure of the national appeal in England of these fighters "En Masse."

whicker wrote:

FtmPress wrote: Tony J. all so has a great following as he from the North East for tonight fight he has sold over 400 tickets in less than 31/2 weeks

Good point there- These fights may well be popular locally, I'm sure the same could be said for David Price in Liverpool too- I'm sure he will see quite a few tickets for his debut.

I'm just unsure of the national appeal in England of these fighters "En Masse."

You have to build at local level first was Hatton not build in Manchester first before he became a national hero if handle right any one of these can become big news.

I'm not even too sure how popular Price is in Liverpool. I guess he probably has something of a hardcore following but I haven't heard anyone even talking about him.

in liverpool the 2 main boxers are paul smith jr and derry mathews although we will get behind all the scouse boxers

FtmPress wrote:
You have to build at local level first was Hatton not build in Manchester first before he became a national hero if handle right any one of these can become big news.

Yes, but guys like Khan and Harrison were already household names DUE to their success in the Olympics. I don't think this can be said about any of the current crop of boxers.

Khan especially was known nationwide after the Olympics. The only Olympian to emerge like that this time was a Swimmer, Rebecca Adlington.

this guys need to be on terrestrial against half decent opps

whatever you say about Khan the fact is the majority of his fights were entertaining at an early stage..whether that was because Khan was limited defensively dsnt matter...it should be a gamble sometimes

id like to see Gary Sykes move along up...hes probably one of the most talented out there.

The thing with Degale and especially Gavin is I don't think their styles are going to be exciting the general public to fill big arenas and build a large fanbase. Khan always went for a knockout and pretty much everyone could see his handspeed was something special, they might not be so quick to appreciate Gavin's style of boxing. Best thing for Degale may be to become everything Sutherland isn't a build a rivalry, constantly reminding people who won in the Olympics.

Saunders will be different as I think people were impressed with him in the Olympics and we won't be under the same spotlight as the other 2. Also I imagine he has a ready made Gipsy fanbase. Get some top fights on for him in Hertfordshire!

Lenny wrote: Best thing for Degale may be to become everything Sutherland isn't a build a rivalry, constantly reminding people who won in the Olympics.

I'd love to see this build up too, but I just can't see there being a fight between these two for a longggg time.

whicker wrote:

FtmPress wrote:
You have to build at local level first was Hatton not build in Manchester first before he became a national hero if handle right any one of these can become big news.

Yes, but guys like Khan and Harrison were already household names DUE to their success in the Olympics. I don't think this can be said about any of the current crop of boxers.

Khan especially was known nationwide after the Olympics. The only Olympian to emerge like that this time was a Swimmer, Rebecca Adlington.

Not forgetting Chris Hoy the cyclist.

Fighting on Sky isnt going to help their appeal

Harrison and Khan, both with higher national profiles from the outset fought on terrestial TV

That was a miscalculation from Frank but then I guess if terrestial isn't putting up the paper he has to go somewhere

I think Harrisons appeal came from him being a heavyweight and the general public felt that he'd be the next big thing in the heavyweight division.

As for Khan at the beginning he was seen as a wonderkid(which Brits love by the way ie. Rooney, Owen, Hamilton) and he was quite a polite likeable young man although his attitude has changed since about halfway through his career.

The styles wont matter too much at this momemnt opf time

Both Degale and Gavin are backfoot counterpunchiing southpaws and as long as the opponent is dopey enough to come forward in straight lines they can be made to look a million dollars

We know that their first ten or so opponents will be dopey enough to play into their hands so I think they can ecite the crowd. When it will be become problematic is when you get a boxer who makes them lead, but that won't happen for a couple of years yet

whicker wrote:

Lenny wrote: Best thing for Degale may be to become everything Sutherland isn't a build a rivalry, constantly reminding people who won in the Olympics.

I'd love to see this build up too, but I just can't see there being a fight between these two for a longggg time.

There seems to be a bigger rivalry between George Groves and Degale. Groves is a good 'smack' talker and will help promote the rivalry quite well, as illustrated in Buncey's Boxing hour a few weeks ago.

banjo wrote:

whicker wrote:

FtmPress wrote:
You have to build at local level first was Hatton not build in Manchester first before he became a national hero if handle right any one of these can become big news.

Yes, but guys like Khan and Harrison were already household names DUE to their success in the Olympics. I don't think this can be said about any of the current crop of boxers.

Khan especially was known nationwide after the Olympics. The only Olympian to emerge like that this time was a Swimmer, Rebecca Adlington.

Not forgetting Chris Hoy the cyclist.

Chris Hoy is slightly different though as he was also a success at the previous Olympics too.

The "Wonderkid" of the Olympics was Tom Daley, that young diver.

Harrison was a huge flamboyant heavyweight and our only hope, and Amir was a 17 year old babyboy who was quiet & pretty shy in interviews, plus certain stars seemed to allign for him regarding the mood of the British public.

We sent a batch off to Beijing and some of them had a bad rep, none were particularly likeable or engaging, and DeGale came across as a bit of a prick.

The downfall of Harrison and Khan also makes these boys less interesting.

FtmPress wrote:I agree with your statement, Darren Suthreland has the whole of Ireland behind him plus the Yanks love a fighting Irishman as well as all the Irish in the Uk

Which equates to more bills in Ireland please Frank

Its a problem with the journalists - simplistic view I absolutely agree - but I have banged on about it for years - if we had genuine enthusiasm within the journalistic ranks for boxing instead of them just wanting to turn up to Frank W arren shows then maybe the sport could be written about more and thus the hype in "The Olympians" would increase!!! - if the media writes about you - you become a name - if they
aint interested then the boxer and boxing is f*cked.

The journalists nut huggers on here will bleat on about how its the editors fault as they do not want boxing articles in their papers!!! - b*llocks!!!

Well, four debuts this weekend all very popular. It will be interesting too see how these guy's careers go over the next few months and years (especiallyDe Gale). Saunder's and Sutherland at this very early stage seem the brightest stars, with Gavin and Jeffries having a lot of popular appeal too.

All looking good.

I can see Frank using each one to headline FFN with a shit supporting bill.

WildWaylon wrote:I can see Frank using each one to headline FFN with a shit supporting bill.

Not yet, though. Friday Fight Night does require a Commonwealth, British, European (or prizefighter) title, and these boxers obviously are not at this level.

I don't really enjoy watching too many fighters at the very beginning of their careers.

Not starting or nuffink but no-one (cue calls of "Oleg Maskaev! Rafa Marquez! Pete Rademacher!") gets involved in a decent scrap until a couple of years after they've turned pro. If I see a bloke on the way up is in with a guy who I know/have at least heard of then I show some interest, but honestly until then I kind of feel a bit blank to the wholesale bigging up & the wholesale condemnation that fans like to indulge in whilst the boys in question practice getting their records looking nice & shiny.

I know it's a fight fans' fave past-time but I have trouble getting into it, meself.