Boxxer under pressure from Sky ?

To be fair to them they were in a difficult position following their promoter leaving them high and dry. Okolie looked to be on the up, there were signs in his latest appearances that he could start being a more exciting proposition and, crucially, they had already invested significant amounts in building him up to their audience. Couple that with the liklihood that he would move to heavyweight, which is the most lucrative class and Sky had plenty of reasons to keep Okolie with them and deny him to the competition. Of course, seeing him revert to type, resume clinching and failing to throw and capping it off with a loss to a domestic rival was not in the script, but I can see why Sky gambled on him.

 

Because they felt moving Riak to mandatory and Jai having a smaller promoter put them in the driving seat on purse bids. They drove the fight down to purse bids and Jai put himself in a stronger position by signing with Matchroom.

plan was to get Okolie to move to heavy, cbs vs masternak and Jai vs Riakporhe then cbs vs Riakporhe in a unification.

Boxxer as per panicked and pulled their guy out knowing they couldn’t get it on Sky once Matchroom became involved. They keep positioning fights not expecting the smaller fighter to put up a fight or working with other promoters the way they say they do.

 

The more I hear about Boxxer, it sounds like one of two things is true (over and above them being very inexperienced):

1 - Sky, and Adam Smith in particular, were more involved in the past than Matchroom would like to admit and without that support then Boxxer is flapping in the wind trying to get stuff done

2 - The reverse - Sky and Smith had an inflated self-importance (Smith was probably the second-most-interviewed person on the YouTube channels after Hearn) and so Boxxer was onto plums to begin with, other than a rush of help and money from Sky to compete with Matchroom.

My money's on the latter to be honest but wonder what others think.

 

I think Adam Smith was absolutely key. To be clear, I'm no insider here. But reading the beans, this is my opinion:

i) Boxing only stayed on Sky because of Adam Smith's advocacy
ii) A condition of this was that Adam Smith took Boxxer under his wing, because Sky's top priority for their new boxing promoter was control. The was was to ensure Boxxer's success was symbiotic with Sky's, not separate.

The thing that I always think of was before Brook-Khan. There was a big delay before the ringwalks because of a glove dispute.

Smith was absent from the commentary box during that wait. I can't remember whether they said this on air, or if I heard it from an interview - but Smith was in the dressing room trying to settle the dispute. After that, he came back and called the fight. This clearly suggests he was instrumental behind the scenes helping the promoter.

Notable that since Smith's absence, Sky's boxing output is less regular and they've embarked on the Paris / Rzeszow co-promotional events instead of hosting domestic cards.

I don't know what the reason is for his absence (we've probably all seen the same rumours), but I think it's been felt massively. Whatever he's doing I hope he's doing OK.

 

Maybe that's correct, we'll never know unless anyone has better knowledge. But at the end of the day Sky don't pay unless it suits their strategy so I guess they funded Boxxer initially but expect the business to wash its face with that money and fly by itself afterwards. From what @Trafford implies, the money's dried up through some questionable decisions and Sky won't help out unless there's a good reason.

Presumably Boxxer were under orders to build up the stable for 2-3 PPV fights a year, and if not for Eubank Jr and Brook-Khan they've kind of blown it.

 

Definitely seems like matchroom are the ones struggling now.

 

I was true though. The problem being, despite those boxers probably being seen (on TV at least) more than most DAZN fighters, that makes almost zero difference in setting up the big fights they want. Sky won't keep cash reserves sitting for promotions and purse bids, and if Boxxer hasn't got the working capital then their model falls apart pretty quickly.

The one thing you can't take away from Matchroom is that it's a good business on solid foundations. Those who go on about Frank Smith's capabilities forget he's basically operating a well-oiled machine with the founders next door when needed.

 

Do we have a figure for the number of DAZN UK subscribers?

Some claim millions while others claim a few hundred.

The only thing I can add is that I still don't know anybody outside myself that subscribes to DAZN UK.

 

Recent estimates were down to 3 figures.

 

You not seen the Next Gen card next month?

 

Is it headlined by another raw, fresh young 31 year old talent?

 

I have a group of friends who watch all the boxing on TV. When something is on Sky or BT/TNT, there's always someone who subscribes or bought the PPV so they'll host people to come round. When it's on DAZN they all sit at home finding a stream. One of them has IPTV and gets it that way. Not one of them (me aside) has ever paid for DAZN and they're not planning to.

More often than not if there's a DAZN fight on, outside of someone like AJ, they don't even know it's on until I tell them. Last Sat night one of them was about to put Wood-Warrington on the radio because they'd heard the BBC advertise it, didn't even know it was on TV.

 

28 year old vs 33 year old