The Frank Warren Express !!!!!

We all have a dig at the man, I don't like the way he acts sometimes but the If I was a young boxer I would sign with him in a heart beat, he builds you up well earning good money and if you do the business he usually delivers you a career defining moment with most the chips in your favour.


Talking about last night Frank must of took a right hit to the wallet would you think? The purse bid for this was ridicilous in the first place for an interim title ( another example of Frank backing his fighters ) 500k is alot of money for a fight like this add to that the poor turnout 14-17 thousand I bet Upton Park with policing and security cost a few quid all the other costs involved, then Frank was probably banking on Mitchell doing the business and having a few more big nights with Mitchell headlining in front of huge crowds. Bad night all round.

But just compare Mitchell to Murray, Mitchell in the 135 division for 5 mins and is fighting one of the best fighters in the division for quite a big pay day, while Murray probably been the best fighter in europe in the division for a couple of years now is fighting in some leisure centre earning a couple of grand. Frank is great at what he does. :good

 

He's the best promoter Europe has ever produced..:good

 

there was allot of talent on the show, but only one of the fights was a 50-50.

He is a world class promoter when it comes to making money for himself and boxers, and putting on a big show. But when it comes to making a great fight, I just don't see it.

People give him credit for making Haye vs Enzo but he was forced into that by the 02 as he has promised them Calzaghe vs Woods which fell through.

Also i lay allot of the blame on him for Mitchells defeat on Saturday.

 

I'm not a fan, either professionally or personally.

He makes a lot of mistakes with his matchmaking, leaving people on the shelf etc, building records instead of building fighters - they get by on natural talent rather than being nurtured properly.

Personally..... horrible - or at least outwardly. Always looking to shift the blame onto someone else, and letting his ego get in the way of making rational decisions.

£500k was a ridiculously high bid for this fight, a non-title affair involving a British fighter that had been stuck on undercards getting very little exposure, vs a fighter with a fairly low profile and 2 losses....

As a businessman he's no doubt made a lot of cash through his decision making but I would reserve judgement as to whether he's been good for the sport or not.

 

Bollocks.

How can that be Frank's fault?? He got Mitchell the fight he wanted. The training and how he fights is down to Mitchell and team. Was it Frank's fault Mitchell didn't hold on for dear life to get through the 3rd round like a pro should have done?? No.

 

The argument will be that Michells career was not developed correctly by Warren so he could acquire the skills to beat Kats,

 

I think that the promoter been discussed has brought boxing further than anyone else could of... Look at some of the fights that he has put on for us...:yep

Professional Boxing is not a Sport, it's a brutal business... and at the top of the business only the best survive...:yep I think approaching 30 years promoting fights puts him right up there...:yep

I think that he has been good for the sport...:good

 

yes thats exactly what I mean. He wasnt physically or mentally prepared for World Class due to fighting a poor level of opponent.

If he had been in tougher fights he would have either not got caught by that shot, or known what to do when he was caught.

When Haye went down agaisnt Mormeck he used his expirience from tough fights with Mock, Thompson and Fragomeni.

 

How is 500k a ridiclious price to pay. The fight sold 20,000 tickets, got a huge amount of intrest and probably a large number of viewers on Sky. Also remember he only won the bid by about 20k.

 

£500k is a lot to pay for a fight between two fighters that aren't particularly big names in the UK, plus there's the undercard fights, and other expenses.

Katsidis is a bigger name in Australia than Mitchell is here, that's probably why the bids were so close. I said at the time that Warren would have been best served from a business POV and also financially for Mitchell to have it in Australia. Mitchell only got 20% of the purse, would have got 30% in Oz.

 

Warren wanted to get Mitchell fast tracked to PPV stardom and losing a few quid (if thats what he did) on the Kats fight in order to get Mitchell the win would have been well worth while in the long run.

 

From that perspective, i probably agree with you to a certain extent. but.....Mitchell has had 30 fights to develop ring craft, and learn about survival. And i don't mean just in the ring, but in training and surely talking to other fighters and trainers.
Maybe his build up to this fight wasn't the best in terms of who he has faced, but any british guy who steps up from british to world without going through euro maybe first is going to have a hard time of it.
I called the fight either early Kats win, or mitchell close points for the record.

 

Mitchell might simply never be good enough to operate on that level, but I agree with Rob in regards to some of it being Warrens fault. He has been a pro for 7 years with 32 ****ing fights and yet Saturday night was the first time he has been in with someone better than domestic level.

It is a total farce. He has got into worse and worse habits both in the ring and obviously in regards to preparation too. Why would he have learnt to cover up, move to the side when hurt etc etc when almost everyone he has fought has been way out of their depth?

Look at Haye. Loses in his 10th or 11th pro fight and learns from it. By 25 fights he has unified a division and won a belt at another weight and defended it once.
Warren is the epitome of the culture of "never lose your 0". And it is going to be detrimental to the majority of fighters. Great if you hit gold and get someone of Calzaghes ability who can still turn it on and use his own smarts to come through tough fights after a host of easy ones, but most of his fighters are going to need to be brought along properly.

As a fighter it is obviously a good choice to sign with him financially. He makes his fighters great money (especially if they become a real name) and he does get them big shots eventually. A fighter has to think of their career and security and so money is and should be, very important.

But for fans of the sport, I don't think he is great. And for the development of a fighters career, I don't think he is great. The Prescott loss was the best thing to happen to Khan, but again that was simply an error on Warrens part. He thought Khan would do him and he would still have Khan fighting washed up names or at best defending the title from Koltenik against no hopers in the MEN.

He has done a great job in bringing boxing exposure and making household names and so in one way he has helped the sport as a whole. In another way I find his pathetic, ego insufferable. He uses a column to trash anyone who has had the nerve not to sign with him or the nerve to ever leave him and make a bigger chunk of the money for the risks they are taking in the ring.

 

But that is exactly the point. In your own words he has..."had 30 fights to develop" but has stepped up "from British to world without going through euro".
So his 30 fight development has been a joke. He has been fed guys who he could walk through, where he was expected to get the KO and so has become more and more eager to stand and trade, has only been hurt perhaps once and won by simple grit and standing and firing back.

A loss in his 15th fight or his 20th fight would not have been a big deal, or several highly durable guys earlier that meant he was not seen as a KO artist and did not have to try and live up to that branding, would also have helped.
He went from fighting journeymen (with two exceptions) to a world level puncher who is at his most dangerous for the first few rounds.