Bringing boxing back to Cardiff

Would love to see more boxing in Cardiff, the only problem is lack of suitable venues.

We have the Cardiff National Arena, which is costly to hire and too big for "small hall" type shows in terms of costs, etc, and you would need relatively big names to headline.
The Millenium Stadium is obviously way too big for your average show, and suitable only for mega events.

The various leisure centres, such as The Star, are ok for minor small hall shows, but would be nowhere near enough to accomodate anything much more than local fighters' supporters.

I know the Ice Rink is quite expensive to hire, and besides it's only a temporary building which is due to close soon so a new building can be built, which obviously means that it will be out of action for a while anyway.

St. David's Hall has been used in the recent past, but I'm not sure how ergonomic this venue is (I didn't attend that particular show), and being of a unique concert hall layout, could prove difficult (and I'm sure it must be a costly venue to hire too). I know of certain promoters who are currently musing over whether to put a show on there in April/May.


So basically, unless you have an arena level type of show, most promoters don't really have many options here. Unfortunately it's either small minor shows or big major shows, nothing really inbetween.

 

i went to the Rees/Watson card in newport, excellent nite and cracking atmosphere.

i'd like to see more boxing back in cardiff/wales. last one i seen in cardiff was at cia Rees/Kotelnik mar 08, wasnt a great turn out tho. as gaz says it is quite a big arena (holds about 6000 i believe). maybe Cardiff City Stadium (concourse - under the stand), i think they've been a few unlicenced shows there?

the more boxing back in cardiff/wales the better as far as i'm concerned!

 

Yep, the Welsh have always supported boxing well and have a rich history for such a small nation.

 

In Wales yeh..?

 

:rofl

There is a distinct lack of world class quality in Wales atm...if Clev improves some then there could be some big nights in Cardiff in a few years.

 

Love to see some shows in Cardiff, as Gaz says its probably due to arena size. I remember watching Robby Regan win his world title at Sofia Gardens which could be another option for a smallish venue.

 

Ah, I forgot about Sofia Gardens - or The Welsh Institute Of Sport as it's commonly known. That is another usable venue.

On the plus side, whilst Cardiff doesn't have any headline names at the moment, it has plenty of young novice pros who are well supported. So a promoter could put on a main event that doesn't necessarily feature a local boxer, but stack the undercard with the local boxers which will ensure good ticket sales.
Gareth Piper, Luke Robinson (debuting early Feb), Frankie Borg, Rhys Saunders and Lee Selby can all sell plenty of tickets locally, as well as boxers from nearby Newport such as Lee Churcher. Stick these on your undercard in and around Cardiff/Newport and you'll do good ticket sales on top of whatever your main event is.

Also boxers who are reasonably local, and are more established names, such as Jason Cook, Gavin Rees etc shift a lot of tickets and are established enough to headline a show.

 

If you're going to do it mate, make sure it's when Cardiff City are home.

That'll boost the numbers.

 

If you don't mind me asking mate, are you with an established promotional outift past or present, or are you starting up a new one?

I know of a prominent Cardiff businessman who has promoted in the Cardiff area in the past and is looking to start doing boxing shows again.

 

Possibly so! :good And even if it isn't, the more the merrier I say!

 

i'm sure before Calzaghe Promotions disbanded, Enzo Cal mentioned the possibility of doing a show at Sophia Gardens.

went to the 3 Calzaghe Prom shows (merthyr and 2 in newport), i know it couldn't have been easy without a tv deal, but to me they pulled the plug far too quickly. this now appears to have created a gap in the market, so hopefully someone will capitalise.

i think i've got an idea who this cardiff businessman is too!

thinking of heading down to newport on 5th feb for George and Dragon Promotion (Bradley Pryce fighting for British title in Brentwood same night i believe).