Boxing News : Adams : Boxing Dying or Being Killed?

Boxing Dying or Being Killed?
By Brian Adams (January 8, 2003)

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It has been reported that ESPN will no longer pay rights fees for fights, making it the responsibility of the promoter to fund shows alone. Yet everyone that has commented on this subject thus far has failed to mention that the only people that will be affected are the boxers themselves.

It has already become difficult for most boxers to get exposure. With the way things will be set up now, only the major promoters will be able to get television dates, leaving behind the small time promoters and their stable of boxers. It may also force promoters to put on bouts that aren’t competitive. If a promoter has a young prospect that he is trying to build, do you actually think that he will risk his financial stake in that prospect? He may just give him an easy walk until it’s time to cash in, and you can’t blame him.

But what about the prospect that is just as good, but may be stuck with a promoter who doesn’t have the money to fund an entire show. He/she gets lost in the shuffle of a much thicker stack now.

Some claim that this is the latest symptom of a dying sport, but I strongly disagree. Boxing is the sport of all sports. Every athlete, whether it is in baseball or football, hockey or golf, idolizes the heavyweight champion of the world. Aside from basketball players (only because of the height), boxers are the most recognized athletes in the world today.

Boxing isn’t dying; it’s people like ESPN that are killing the sport. I also believe that these same promoters had the opportunity to stand up and speak out for their employers (the boxers) in the past and never did. Promoters and managers allowed people like ESPN to control our sport. Now they are worried that sponsorship dollars may not come. Correct me if I’m wrong, but wasn’t it the boxers who were getting corporate dollars from the on-line casinos? Instead of figuring out a way to turn that money into overall sponsorship or partnership money, ESPN chose to ban the tattoos. The managers / promoters did nothing to prevent that from happening because they didn’t view that as money out of their pockets.

Do you all think they feel the same way now?

Boxers are businessmen as well, and some of us/them can make intelligent moves. If on-line casinos weren’t pushed out of the door so soon, don’t you think that could have been an option in terms of sponsorship? Instead of succumbing to the pressure of the network, the promoters should have said in unison, “We will control our own sport and athletes, not you”. For example, if ESPN tells one promoter that his/her boxer isn’t allowed to do a particular thing and that promoter tells ESPN to take his date and shove it, and every other promoter follows the same direction instead of jumping in to take the date for his own agenda, then it would have been a positive step in the right direction. But the competition is too extreme for something like that to happen. There is enough money out there for everyone if it is done right. I can recall Bob Arum and Don King doing business together when they co-promoted the Oscar De La Hoya-Felix Trinidad bout, and it was a huge success.

I ask the promoters how does it feel to be treated like you are special or important to a company and then the next day you get treated the opposite? It’s not a pleasant feeling is it? Well each time you cater to a boxer and then drop him after a loss, the feelings are very similar. I saw this coming almost two years ago. I used to preach through all my interviews that promoters need to stop promoting negativity and fighting and start promoting the good image and boxing.

So we are now left with two networks that will televise bouts nationally on a regular basis, HBO and Showtime. The boxers are going to feel unappreciative because it may seem as if his/her promoter isn’t trying to secure TV dates and it will cause a problem. And let’s face it, without TV a boxer can and will not get the popularity that is needed to earn the proper pay. I read that there should be a summit for promoters. Well, during that summit I suggest all egos get checked at the door, and you all stand together to take the sport back, because it only makes business sense. The television companies need boxing just like boxing needs them. Don’t allow the executives the opportunity to dictate who fights who or who gets paid what. It may be hard for promoters to give up TV time, but it will pay off in the long run if you all stick together. Remember, tomorrow is always more important than today, because the choices that are made today will be the product of tomorrow. So if the promoters continue to fight amongst themselves, boxing will die - not because it should, but because it is being killed.