I am a boxing manager: if you have questions about the boxing biz, ask!

[scrap]

Originally Posted by cheech

Any degree would help someone if they were going into a management role. With that said, if I was looking to go into managing boxers I would expect that industry knowledge would be more valuable than a business degree.

It is so , and knowing the right connections to endorse you

[dempsey1234]

Originally Posted by cheech

Yes i was and i have to travel there for a week.. During my travel i wanted to get some gym work in the evening if possible. do you have any middleweight fighters in that area?

Errol Spence, 150 is about the best and he trains @the Maple Avenue Boxing Gym in Dallas. DFW Golden Gloves start in late January, so there should be of sparring @any wt. The Maple Ave Gym has two former fighters as trainers there. Jesus Chavez, former '30 & '35pd world champ, and Derrick James, former lightheavy and cruiserwt. There are many other small gyms but this would be a good place to start. Chavez is known throughout the DFW area, he or Derrick can hook you up.

[dempsey1234]

Originally Posted by scrap

It is so , and knowing the right connections to endorse you

Pro boxing in the states @ the highest levels(Top Rank, GoldenBoy) depends on who you know and who knows you. Depending on the fighters amateur experience the door is open, but only for the very best, and preferably with no newbie's. Newbie's in the business(include managers, money investors lawyers) tend to not know the business and how much is on the table and worst of all try to re-invent the wheel.
So, yes it's who you know and what connections you have.

[dempsey1234]

Originally Posted by Tar Baby

I know experience is very important, but do you think a University Degree would help with the role?

I was thinking of getting into Boxing management

Nothing would prepare you degree-wise for the stuff that goes on in professional boxing, so you would still need that experience and contacts. I believe lawyers, would fit the bill, and they are probably the worst managers cos they tend to over complicate things, so a degree might help but only after years of experience.

[dempsey1234]

Originally Posted by Jdsm

It must be pretty tough hearing some of the slave contracts that boxers sign up to though. I mean, as fans we hear of fighters getting ripped off, but actually seeing the figures must be brutal.

IMO the worst promotional contract's I have seen, are just about slave contracts. Some contract are structured so that the fighter almost has no rights.
For instance most contracts include the minimum amount of purses. lets say $2500, for a four rd fight, so along comes a promoters rep into the dressing before the fight, he tell's you cos the gate or the TV money was not what they were expecting, so if you want to fight tonite, then you are going to have to take a cut in pay, lets say, $1500 less then your minimum. The fighters manager and team say "hey, our contract minimum is $2500. The rep will say yes you are right, but did you read the sentence stating "unless otherwise agreed to", then the boxer's team say, we ain't fighting for that purse, the rep will tell you, if you turn down the fight be aware that this fight counts toward our obligation to you as a fight, we offered you a fight and for whatever reason you turned it down, thats one less fight we are obligated to give you. Guess what more often then not, the fighter accepts the cut.

[dempsey1234]

Originally Posted by Tar Baby

I know experience is very important, but do you think a University Degree would help with the role?

I was thinking of getting into Boxing management

By all means get a university degree but you still need to have the contacts and the experience to do your job. I would say instead of a degree bring in a good lawyer who understands contracts.

[Speechless]

Who are your musical influences?

[dempsey1234]

Originally Posted by dealt_with

It wouldn't surprise me if you at least needed a sports management degree to get started these days, a lot of jobs that you could just get started in back in the day by knocking on the right door now require at least a masters to be competitive..

Not so in boxing, if you are aa smart manager you get somebody with a degree( a lawyer) with experience reading and understanding contracts and the rest is industry knowledge, contacts and experience.
I dont know of any degrees that can prepare you for dealing with a Mayweather or a Bob Arum for instance or someone like that and believe me there are plenty. Or for picking the right opponents or making the right moves that will get your fighter a ranking which leads to a bigger and better payday. Experience not a degree is what is needed.

[dempsey1234]

Originally Posted by Speechless

Who are your musical influences?

I have many, but mostly unknowns like John John Ama Time, great group and music.

[cheech]

Originally Posted by dempsey1234

Errol Spence, 150 is about the best and he trains @the Maple Avenue Boxing Gym in Dallas. DFW Golden Gloves start in late January, so there should be of sparring @any wt. The Maple Ave Gym has two former fighters as trainers there. Jesus Chavez, former '30 & '35pd world champ, and Derrick James, former lightheavy and cruiserwt. There are many other small gyms but this would be a good place to start. Chavez is known throughout the DFW area, he or Derrick can hook you up.

Thanks... I think this will work perfect.

[Thracian]

What about options? Signing a fighter indefinitely?

Also what do you think of the boxing model vs UFC model?

[Jdsm]

Originally Posted by dempsey1234

IMO the worst promotional contract's I have seen, are just about slave contracts. Some contract are structured so that the fighter almost has no rights.
For instance most contracts include the minimum amount of purses. lets say $2500, for a four rd fight, so along comes a promoters rep into the dressing before the fight, he tell's you cos the gate or the TV money was not what they were expecting, so if you want to fight tonite, then you are going to have to take a cut in pay, lets say, $1500 less then your minimum. The fighters manager and team say "hey, our contract minimum is $2500. The rep will say yes you are right, but did you read the sentence stating "unless otherwise agreed to", then the boxer's team say, we ain't fighting for that purse, the rep will tell you, if you turn down the fight be aware that this fight counts toward our obligation to you as a fight, we offered you a fight and for whatever reason you turned it down, thats one less fight we are obligated to give you. Guess what more often then not, the fighter accepts the cut.

That doesn't surprise me, unfortunately. I think one of the most known cases of a boxer being ripped off is Tyson. I have had some interaction with a boxer who was trained by Cus around that time (not going to say who) and he told me that the way King got to Tyson was by essentially poisoning (not literally) all of Tyson's friends before going to Tyson himself.

[ezzard_charles]

Lots of people often talk about promoters taking cuts out of the fighters purses, whilst some people say the promoters make their money exclusively on profits after all expenses are paid. So do promoters actually take cuts of the fighters purses? If so, what percentage is this cut? And do they take cuts out of all the fighters purses or just the main event/big name fighters?

[dempsey1234]

Originally Posted by Thracian

What about options? Signing a fighter indefinitely?

Also what do you think of the boxing model vs UFC model?

Just about every state has a boxing/mma commission, the maximum amount of time a boxer can be signed for is 5yrs. I cant say anything the UK, I dont know but would like to. The options have conditions and obligations that have to be met in order for them to kick in. The promoter and manager feel if they are doing their job and meeting all their obligations and a fighter gets to the promiseland they should share in that pie. The option's are negotiable a manager or promoter are each jockeying for position to get the best deal they can. Most people think they should only sign for three years with no options. The only fighters getting those deals are the very elite.
I really dont follow MMA but from what I know and have seen, the ones making the money are the promoters. I have seen checks as low as $100US, wait til those MMA's guy's wiseup and get better deals for themselves. They truly deserve it, for all their training and pain they have to endure.
I dont know if there are MMA managers, I would think the UFC and other MMA promoters want to keep it that way.

[dempsey1234]

Originally Posted by Jdsm

That doesn't surprise me, unfortunately. I think one of the most known cases of a boxer being ripped off is Tyson. I have had some interaction with a boxer who was trained by Cus around that time (not going to say who) and he told me that the way King got to Tyson was by essentially poisoning (not literally) all of Tyson's friends before going to Tyson himself.

You have no idea, when Tyson money is involved fergitboutit. What happened to Tyson was he was played and there was nobody around Tyson strong enough to keep the sharks away. King, was a street guy who knew how to get to a fighters mind, especially a black fighter, or any poorfighter. Had Cus lived he would have tried to save Tyson, but you cant save Tyson from himself. The tragic thing is that the two guys who were instrumental in Tyson's career from the time he was 13, was Jimmy Jacobs and Cus and they died way to early.