http://www.fighthype.com/news/article40673.html?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter Mixed views on this, certainly some truth and also a lot of sour grapes. I do think IFL TV has certainly turned into a fan zone in the last 12 months or more. I used to very much enjoy their content but find it unbearable on the most part now.
Kugan Cassius may be a very off key individual who makes his videos too much about him, but he also spent years building a relationship with Hearn. It's not really surprising he gets preferential treatment over Joe random from traditional print media is it?
Yeah Kugan put in hard graft in the early days, not just with matchroom but all over boxing and wouldn't have made a penny back then.
Seem's a little bitter towards Kugan and IFL, as mentioned above he's put in the graft over many years to build relationships... doing the rounds at small hall shows giving young fighters that wouldn't have otherwise got exposure some exposure.
A lot of reporters think because they got a journalism degree and write for some rag as a junior reporter they are the bees knees. I don't really like Kugan but I do respect the graft
Whilst I think the article is good, and shines a light on a lot of things, I had trouble with this paragraph (and in particular the highlighted bit); "The relationship between DAZN promoter of choice, Matchroom’s Eddie Hearn and London-based YouTube boxing channel IFL looks especially troubling under a microscope. IFL co-founder Kugan Cassius is sponsored by MTK Global—a management company that represents fighters doing business with Hearn. So, essentially, one business partner is interviewing another and it’s being passed off as news content. According to several media members contacted for this article, IFL receives unprecedented access to events and is even allowed to film in areas off limits to video recording by other media outlets. " That is a very tenuous link that tells me the author is clearly clutching at straws. MTK sponsors lots and lots of fighters, and I'd say the majority aren't under Matchroom's banner as well. It does seem IFL get preferential treatment, but this link is a load of tosh.
The IFL thing is ridiculous. Yes Hearn uses it as a mouth piece but so what? Things like this have happened throughout media since its birth. I like IFL but tend to skip most Hearn interviews as I know that it will be 30 minutes of spin
Like them or not, IFL get preferential treatment because they went to all the shows 10 years ago and put serious graft in. Had to even ask Hearn and Warren to fund them for £200 a week I believe in order to do so. Their success brought others success such as a lot of copy cat channels on YouTube. Kugan gets unprecedented access, and rightly so. I’ve never minded Kugan either, very pally with most he interviews and when done properly gets decent content.
