When did this sport become about the promoter rather than the promoted fighter?

Started a thread on the same topic a while ago, some people said it wasn’t that new, promoters were always prominent etc.

Other than the very top levels, you’d struggle to name a promoter prior to the last decade unless you were a real close fan of the sport; now the promoters are more famous than most of their fighters.

 

Promoters like to be the star of the show these days and start wars amongst each other.

It's absolutely pathetic.

 

It’s like years ago during the whole pacquiao v mayweather debacle, for years this site was full of threads about roach/Ariza/Al Haymon rather than the actual fight itself, fanboys obsessed with one fighter rather than boxing as a whole. I personally don’t detest any promoter I think Hearn is alright as is Warren. They have both told many a fib over the years but who hasn’t.

 

Yeah. There's a few characters on here that turn every thread into an into promotion battle, it's chased off a lot of good posters. Sad really.

 

I 100% agree. A lot of people on here have a hatred for Hearn and Matchroom. There was even a thread titled "who will be the next Matchroom fighter to fail a drugs test".

 

TBF There is a lot of undying love for hearn and matchroom and they can do nothing wrong. The only promotion who gets similar love and hate like a cult is PBC. i dont see that many fan boys of warren, top rank or the others.

 

Rightly so, they have revolutionised the face of boxing. In others sports a next generational talent is a 18-23 year old rapidly improving talent who will be a star of the future I.e the next generation. But what they have done is groundbreaking, a 31 year old is now next generation. Any one who disagrees is a hater.

 

Have you seen this forum's support for Warren? It's bizarre considering how poor most of his shows are. Look at his show on September 15. It's about the 4th poor York Hall show this year.

 

If only he could make Nina Hughes (41 years old, 6-0) vs Shannon Courtenay (8-2) he could turn it all around and win fans back from across the world.

 

I have a grudging respect for Warren's longevity and think he's really just the novelty act reeled out so the sons can do business under the bonnet. I have long had respect for the Hearns for building a stable profitable business and frankly I was a mark for Matchroom cards in the Sky days, even if in hindsight they were frequently rotten. I've never taken to Shalom who seems like an imposter being used by Sky to try and stay edgy and relevant.

What I can't stand is how people fall for Matchroom's spin hook line and sinker. The current context with VADA good, UKAD bad is the latest example of trying to mask the fact their fighters are failing tests - and that their positions are often complete reversals of motormouth statements given out in the past (something Hearn readily admits to). Their statements are designed to provoke attention and reaction, are you remotely surprised that people take a bite? You're quite good at it yourself btw.

You might counter that by saying people are swept along by Warren's "low blow" nonsense this week but I think even those with grudging respect can see it's a promotional ruse and even Frank is now suggesting Dubois quit.

It's also not lost on me that this rant proves I listen to promoters too much and kind of proves the point of the thread...

 

I dont see people saying everything Warren does is good and defending everything he does. yeh this card on the 15th is poor and i haven't seen anyone defend it. apart from the leach fight looks decent. Warren still doesn't have cult members like hearn or pbc, for example, you can't stop defending anything or giving props to anything hearn does. Its the same for people hating everything hearn does is stupid and pointless. IMO i think his cards are the best this year, and not because they are good, is because the rest are poorer.

 

tbf in other sports you can start out earlier than boxing. Nxt gen is an excuse to put out a weaker card, with many prospect, at least they dont do as many as warren. boxxer now doing the same but calling it breakthrough so they can get away with it more.

 

Even stranger are the posters who pretend to be 'in the Industry', watching clips of YouTube then passing it off on here pretending they have been told something 'from a source' .
We are all on here to discuss the sport, upcoming fights etc, why not just say 'I've seen on boxing social ' etc, trying to pass it off like your in some sort of inner circle of promoters,fighters, governing body is just plain weird and everyone can see straight through it

I know what you mean, but you don't see 31 year olds headlining 'breakthrough' cards. I have absolutely no problem with these sort of cards, it's great exposure for the fighters and when they aren't terribly mismatched they can be a good watch, but at least but actual next generation talents on the card!

 

To be fair plenty legit journalists do that too, Dan Rafael got caught doing exactly the same the other week. "Per sources" is as good as "Sky sources" when it comes to being reliable.