Smith will be a bigger name in 12 months if built right and keeps winning. That's why this fight won't happen. Never even thought it would. Saunders can't sell at all. Smith has potential to once the sky/matchroom machine gets its hands on him. WBSS was kind of hidden when he won by being on itv so less of that promotional power behind it and since then he had one fight at 2am on a ppv. If sky can make brook, whyte and bellew into big names then Smith should be easy.
You would think but Sky and matchroom have had him for years and done **** all with him. I find it baffling how badly managed he has been.
Smith has had 26 fights and is an undefeated British, European and World Champion. Not really too much that could be done regarding the Super Series and its organisation; shame the Braehmer fight fell through but still, decent wins against Skoglund and Groves for him. Hard to understand why you're 'baffled' about his career.
Let's all look forward to three cards of boxthing next week on Thurs, Friday and Sat with the dreaded letters PPV nowhere to be found. Thursday - Matchroom Card in Italy on Sky Friday - Amir Khan on Channel 5 Saturday - Gorman v Dubois/Joyce v Jennings on BT Sport A cracking week for UK boxthing fans
Genuine question, but does anyone know what the attendance was for the BJS v Isufi fight at Stevenage? Just wondering, seeing as he apparently can’t sell a ticket.
Does it occur to you that it took Benson less time than that to type up his tweet? It’s discussion about why a fight a lot of fans want isn’t happening. Sparking discussion is part of his job. If they were fighting, I’m sure there would be more “who do you think will win and why” — but it’s kind of silly to suggest he should put out a “who do you think would win this fight that isn’t happening because one side turned down a 50/50 split with no counter-offer” post without having any discussion about why it isn’t happening. The great thing is if that doesn’t interest you, you can ignore it. If it does — and how many threads and posts have we had from people obviously interested in whether Wilder and AJ should have taken big-money offers to fight each other? — you can join in. The idea that football fans are somehow financially interested and thus into such discussions while boxing fans aren’t strikes me as intellectually dishonest. Find me a group of fans who have an interest in what player is signed for what price because it personally impacts their pocket book. Yet we have people on boxing forums who are “Eddie supporters” or “Haymon supporters” or whatnot who seem quite interested in whether their promoter’s team does well and makes money. I don’t see a difference.
Would you or anyone know how many fights will be shown on the Amir Khan card? Just interested as there is a young Kiwi/Tongan fighter Hemi Ahio on the card which I'm hoping gets televsed.
I dont know why Bjs/Smith don't agree on 60/40 split to the winner. Then we will find out who's got the minerals
The undercard is usually on Spike mate - channel 150 on Sky. Hughie The Skirt Fury a cert to be on TV but not sure about the rest of the card.
Spot on. Do you remember when Hearn was digging his watery US grave by besmirching Haymon and Finkel re the AJ/Wilder negotiations? I think it peaked then. It's the givemesport, bet365, cheeky nandz bantz brigade. As you said, there were dozens nay hundreds of tweets and posts stating things along the line of "why should AJ take the fight for less than 70%". Or, "Wilder deserves (insert x insulting amount). Nothing more. Can't blame Hearn for not taking it". I simply cannot understand that logic as a fight fan. For some reason, Benson wants to drag back this obnoxious, arrogant way of thinking kicking and screaming back into the public consciousness - probably for more followers of a football-stadium twitter pic inclination.
Cos BJS has a gigantically inflated sense of what his drawing power and marketability is combined with an abject fear of losing his 0. Either that or as I am recently starting to suspect, he's checked out of boxing and is now just taking easy pay days while claiming he's doing the opposite.
Benson is an influential boxing media presence. I’m not. My point is that Benson instigating debates about who should be paid more is awful for boxing. It’s none of our business. It may be interesting for some but it leads to a dynamic where fans are satisfied that proposed fights fall through because they think X should be paid less than Y. Again, supporting a football team or any sort of club/team in sport is a totally different circumstance and I shouldn’t have to explain why. I’ve seen my club go into administration so naturally I take a very keen interest in what my team spends on players and what we are spending in terms of wages etc. I’m an actual shareholder as well so I have a personal vested interest. Conversely, if Callum Smith is earning the lion’s share of a purse split, the only people who should be interested and are directly impacted are Smith, his team and his family. No one else benefits or suffers, certainly not fans.
Wouldn’t shock me if Benson was on the Matchroom payroll. Otherwise why the hell would he start such a nonsensical debate?
So does your personal circumstance — your ability to pay rent, have food on the table, plan for retirement — rest on what a football club pays a player? No, I’m quite sure it doesn’t. You can say you’re financially invested but I’m not convinced that it actually impacts your life in any way. Are you suggesting that people caring about reports of player salaries in professional sports are interested because it impacts their personal finances? That’s a load of bull. How much a football player — or NFL, NBA, NHL, MLB player in America — makes has no impact on the fan base. If the player isn’t making that money, does the club issue refunds? Of course not; just means the owners keep it instead of giving it to the players for wages. And because you say you’re not interested doesn’t mean a reporter should not report on it ... obviously others are. A fight isn’t happening despite a 50/50 offer — all he’s doing is saying ‘Do you think this is legit? Should the fight be taken as offered or not?’ How does that bother you in any way? You don’t get to decide what other people care about. If they care what a fighter gets paid (the AJ brigade have made his purses/gates drawn/A-side status their reason for existing for a few years now), that’s their business. If that enhances their caring about the sport, good for boxing. If you don’t care, don’t read it.
