eddie hearns thus far has been smoke and mirrors

People do get carried away. When Froch-Kessler was announced as a PPV people were posting up supporting cards that were only going to lead to disapointment.

The main event has to be PPV to make money, it pretty much sells the card on its own to the casual fan and Hearn is going to cough up money on top of that to make sure theres a great undercard on the same night as the Champions League Final? All wishful thinking and no logic.

 

You mean Jack? :good

We should never become fans of any promoter. In the end they are all the same, the way some go about things is different to others but they're all in it to make money.

That was/is the main reason there is an anti-Hearn element on here. Because 'fans' of his were taking it too far with the #newage and saviour bull****.

I fear the Eddie experiment is going to end up a bit like Haye on here. Initially as a 'can do no wrong', 'breath of fresh air' type figure who doesn't deliver what he promises or doesn't do things the people on here would like them to and as a result end up being hated.

 

Was it Jack? I don't tend to agree with him too often on this issue! ;-)

 

Happens all the time Ishy. The new guy or underdog is seen as a bit of fresh air, has no previous to taint his reputation and can make promises that people want to believe. Whereas the old guard have baggage that only a spending a few years in boxing lying and cheating can give you and people tend not to believe a word they say.

Thats how Frankie got his start in top class boxing, shook up the old clique of Duff, Jarvis and Astaire by putting on great shows and challenging the status quo. Hearn might turn out slightly different but I don't think they'll be too much difference, other than a natural modernizing of promotions, in the long run.

 

Nah, just checked. It was you Ishy you are quoted in Robs post on Page 1. I think Jacks post is too optimistic regarding Hearn and, unfortunately, the future of boxing in general in this country.

 

Not to mention the praise for Prizefighter, I'm still waiting for proof that it brings in casual fans?

 

:good

I hadn't posted in this thread and thought you had got me mixed up with someone else. Hadn't realised Rob had quoted me from elsewhere.

 

I think that was brilliant to be honest. The way he touched on it in the last iFilm interview too.

If, as he says, they tried loads of others and Gonzalez was the highest ranked guy they could get because of the reasons stated then that's fair enough. I'm afraid the Bellew fight as chief support isn't going to get anyone chomping at the bit after the first fight but you can see why Eddie's made it. It's just a bit annoying for people who are going that were promised a 'stacked card' to watch from their £70 nose bleed seats.

 

Boxing is one of the hardest sports to get right every time for a promoter. Hearn can't be responsible for match ups not living up to their status on paper, Bellew/Chilemba is a good example and the rematch really does need to happen after an inconclusive and unsatisfactory result the first time around. People are slating it and in all honesty the first fight was dull as dishwater but maybe it will be a different story second time around.

The Froch/Kessler under card honestly isn't as bad as is being made out. I have a ticket for it and I am not horrified at the under card, it could have been better but ultimately the main event is the one we all want to see and why I purchased the ticket. Sometimes, for reasons that Rob has explained, it's hard to get a good opponent in and in defence of Hearn he has had an awful lot on his plate recently signing Burns and all the fall out from that as well as other signings. He's clearly tried and it hasn't come off for Groves on this card but maybe it will in future.

You can only judge after a given time period and it's a bit harsh to kick off until we've looked at the overall cards since Hearn became Sky number 1. Naturally all the love Hearn was getting winds some people up particularly after some mediocre cards and many will also feel that Hearn getting the fighters like Burns and Mitchell etc. has robbed them of seeing those guys on Boxnation cards which now almost cease to exist. I'll bite my tongue on criticising him too much at present and reassess the situation later on in the year.

One thing I would say regarding his comments that the tickets all sold out, I think it's a given that the majority or at least a sizable amount of those went to touts. I tried for ages and so did others and there was no joy but hundreds available for 3/4 times the value on re-sale sites. Hearn needs to do something about that, it's a small minority that attend these events and them having to pay 3 times the value means that there is less money for these fans overall to spend on boxing. That increase may mean they buy tickets for one show a year instead of three, it's eating into his market and also insulting to fans that it goes on. There was a thread on ESB recently where a decent guy was re-selling his tickets for face value then some other **** pipes up selling his cheapest available £60 tickets for £180 each. To put that in perspective, I paid £125 face value for a space in a box at the 02 just outside ringside with a private bar in it. It's scandalous that someone should have to pay £180 to sit in row Z to watch this and more responsibility should be taken by the promoters to stop fans getting ripped off. If Eddie Hearn does something about that, then I will know he actually cares about his customers and doesn't just say the right things and smarm it up in his interviews!

 

It's bloody annoying and I was so pissed off after an hour of trying to get tickets I tweeted Hearn moaning about them already being on Viagogo, but realistically that (probably) isn't his fault. Unless Matchroom are supplying these reselling sites direct on the quiet, which does happen for other events, there's nothing he can do about people buying legitimately then chucking them straight online. Unfortunately it's totally legal.

I saw the documentary on Seatwave and Viagogo made a year ago quite recently, the government were debating regulating the ticket reselling industry in order to impose price ceilings but decided not to bother in the end, no doubt after some pretty expensive lobbying and schmoozing. Without anything legal in place, the average paying customer is ****ed unfortunately.

Of course, if Matchroom have supplied them direct like Livenation were doing in the doc., so both parties can make a bit of, easy mega profit then they are absolute ****s.

 

I'm not so sure either. Its not a great way of gauging opinion but I have a few friends casually into boxing and its never Prizefighter they bring up. Always the "normal" cards.

 

If every prizefighter was like the one in Wolves, they would be fine.

 

Jonny/ Pablo. As soon as a ~20,000 seater stadium has sold out showing boxing in this country in under 48 hours then you can be pretty sure the touts have steamed into it rather than its genuinely sold out.

 

I personally don't buy the line that they are powerless, it's their event, they can do what they want with the ticketing, there are a number of things they could introduce to stop it from happening. A loyalty scheme similar to the England football set up, selling the tickets directly, capping how many hospitality companies can snap them up etc. As well as making people bring their purchase cards with them to prove they bought the tickets themselves and not off a parasite semi criminal outside the venue ripping off fans.

Effectively, if they sell the tickets they probably don't care either way but that just shows that they don't really have the fans interests at heart and I am a firm believer that if you treat people well they will show loyalty in the long run and if Eddie Hearn is "new age" then this is the perfect way to show it. He would get such props for it and it would really go to show that he is not simply a money man and cares about the followers of the sport.

 

Even the viewing figures are patchy at best, Some prizefighters do a little bit better than a low quality card but is trounced by a good card or good fight.

At least with a low to mid quality card, the fighters are either learning their trade or taking steps up the ladder, having some half arsed tournament shouldn't be getting in the way of that and using up the valuable tv dates.