Why don't people like Mick Hennessy?

This sums up how I feel too really. Mick is too good hate but too shite to like. That's my view.

 

I think Mick's eye for talent is extremely good. He's signed a lot of guys who've gone under the radar and he's developed champions. He's good when it comes to developing fighters but it's the TV/Commercial stuff where he struggles to tie companies down for long.

 

As someone said earlier, he is inept.

Managed to balls up the ITV contract with really poor cards.

The Froch Taylor fight being PPV on the internet?! I bet he made nothing off that, should have let ITV have it for next to nothing just for the exposure.

His 'verbal argeement' to have Abraham fight in the UK.

Etc, etc . . . .

 

I think the main reason to sign with Mick was that he had terrestrial TV though. Eubank Senior is continually banging on about the need to be on terrestrial and to fight regularly, I think Hennessy offered an alternative to the Sky/Matchroom or FW/Boxnation option that meant being seen by the general public without subscription.

Now that he no longer has that, it's very hard to see why anyone would see any advantages in fighting for him. I don't wish to be too harsh on him but his last 2/3 shows on C5 weren't exactly riveting or especially competitive, he pulled a master stroke getting Eubank Junior on as the name alone is well known to casuals and the general public but they didn't capitalise on it.

 

It is irrational, some it down to ignorance and hating for the sake of it.

Hennessy built a good stable and put on entertaining shows on ITV4, which I always looked forward to. He then lost his deal - no fault of his own - it was put down to budget cuts. Without a TV deal he did the best he could with his prize fighter, Froch, and putting Froch in the Super Six was the making of him. Hennessy deserves credit for his part in this.

Then we have the Channel 5 deal. That must have taken a lot of persuasion to pull off, as they showed not interest in boxing until then. The Fury fights were all good entertaining fights (apart from Johnson) and he provided exposure for Galahad, Eubank Jr and Degale. Channel 5 were benefiting from a good pipeline of talent from Hennessy and it is very disappointing that they have pulled the plug. Who wouldnt want to see Eubank Jr and Degale etc develop further on terrestial TV. It is bad for boxing, the boxers and for us punters that there is less and less competition for Sky and Hearn. That is no criticism of Sky or Hearn, it is just a much more healthy environment when we have more choice for boxers and boxing coverage, especially with a free to air platform like Channel 5.

 

Froch was on mainstream TV for ages thanks to Fat Mick, pity Frochs personality, or lack of, didn't appeal to the great british public

 

Froch should be a superstar in this country but he is not because of Fat Mick and his crappy promotional skills.

 

Yet Froch, with the exact same personality, did big numbers on Sky. Nothing has changed about him, the only thing which has changed is the promoter. He's now in a position where he can sell out big venues and he can fight on PPV.

 

It had been coming Mick losing his deal his cards were getting worse and worse and doesn't help he doesn't have that much of a stable outside of Fury, DeGale, Kid and Eubank Jr

What I expect was the last straw and killed Hennessy's TV deal was the awful fight between Fury & Johnson before Christmas, That fight absolutely stunk I don't blame Channel 5 ditching Hennessy for that. Ranking wise It was a decent fight but casual fight fans want to be excited not put to sleep

You know things must be bad If 5 are not even considering putting Boxing on 5's other channels I mean even bloody BAMMA has deal on 5* FFS.

 

Exactly. During the itv days who was Froch? A nobody who was known for calling out Calzaghe. Hardly Mick's fault his personality isn't very warming. Irritating is all he was. Now he's a world class fighter, was runner up in the super six, and is a world champion, so a lot of things have changed, Jack. His stock was bound to go up after that. Can't put it all on the promoters. A promoter can only work with what he's got. Fury is pretty well known and IMO is gonna become a superstar. Difference is, he's a character.

 

Why was his stock bound to improve? When Mick had him, he was an undefeated fighter who won his first world title against Pascal in Nottingham. After that, Froch lost and fought 5 of his next 6 fights abroad. His stock was lower when Hearn signed him, than when Hennessy had him beat Pascal for a world title. Hearn picked up a former world champion, with two losses and a dubious decision over Dirrell, who hadn't fought in his home country for 2 years.

Froch's stock fell after the Pascal win, and it wasn't until he beat Bute that it rose to that same level again.

 

Undefeated means nothing if you haven't fought the big names. He was still a nobody who had to prove himself against the best. Since Pascal he's gone on to face the best in the world, and only lost twice. I'm not saying being on Sky hasn't helped him, because it has, but things have changed. Froch is now considered a genuine world class fighter, and the super six has won him respect and fans. It's not just the promoters.

 

Or the fact that he fought in the Super Six and raised his profile that way, nothing to do with his present promoter who has just built on what was there before....and is doing a good job BTW....especially the part where he seems to have convinced a large part of the boxing fraternity that Froch - Kessler is a genuine PPV fight :thumbsup

 

I couldnt have put that better myself:good

 

If Froch had been on Sky throughout the Super 6, you might have a point, but he wasn't. The Abraham fight wasn't shown, the Kessler fight wasn't shown. The only ones which were, were a performance against an old Johnson and then losing a wide decision to Ward, so it's hardly like he built his profile.

Froch was not in a stronger position post-Super 6, than when he went into it. He went into it off the second best win of his career, and came out of the tournament without a title belt and with 2 losses.

Hennessy had Froch when he was young, undefeated and a world champion, yet he did nothing with him. He didn't make him into a draw, despite a great TV deal. Hearn picked up Froch after he had lost his world title, and he made him into a much bigger attraction than Hennessy did, despite having Froch at a less marketable time in his career.