Welcome to another edition of Magno’s Bulging Mail Sack, a tradition here at FightHype that routinely rattles cages, rocks boats, and way too often hurts tough guys’ feelings. This week, we have comments/questions regarding Eubank-Benn and boxing media.
Questions, Re: Boxing Media
Hi Paul,
Long-time reader, first-time writing in. I saw your recent piece quoting an anonymous boxing writer as saying “Nobody’s figured out how to monetize good journalism in boxing” and wanted to ask if you agree with that?
If Ring Magazine is so compromised (and Boxing News in the UK doesn’t count as producing good journalism), surely this is the ideal time to take advantage of a gap in the market?
I get the sense that boxing journalists are resigned to boxing being a niche sport without community and I wonder if that’s why there’s a reticence to swing big on joining forces and launching a new independent outlet.
Compare boxing to baseball or football, where passionate fans have created incredibly detailed databases about the history of their sports and have even spun those stats into profitable businesses. Compare it to the world of video games, where people have monetized good journalism by launching worker-owned co-operatives such as Aftermath.site.
I don’t think it’s that nobody has figured out how to do these things in boxing. If Nat Fleischer could do it over 100 years ago, what’s to say that it couldn’t be done today? If the Boxing Writers Association of America is an irredeemable mess, who’s stopping you or anyone else from starting a new group to be a standard-bearer and to give out industry awards? Has nobody figured this out or is it that nobody really wants to do it?
Boxing is a tough sport to love. But there are people who love it, and there are plenty of people who love it so much that they’ll part with money to support its existence and improvement.
My cynical suspicion is that many boxing journalists (much like promoters and sanctioning bodies) are happier keeping 100% of a small amount of money than splitting a much larger pile of money with others.
My hope is that by banding together it wouldn’t be left to Iceman John Scully raising money for ex-fighters on his own. Compare boxing to the world of comic books, where The Hero Initiative looks out for their pros who are struggling with their health/financial problems.
Who could possibly champion the future-proofing of boxing other than an independent media outlet supported by, and representing, the fans?
All the best,
– Mo
Hey Mo.
I absolutely do believe that there’s a market for true independent boxing media right now. I think fans are sick of the junk and promotion-as-news passed off as journalism these days. They are so sick of it that boxing media, in general, now carries so little weight with them.
The media has damaged itself so completely that fans have learned to just tune them out and pick at what they feel is of importance. Because of that, there would be a fight to get a free press initiative rolling and established among the fandom.
There’d actually be fights on several fronts as the establishment media, funded by those with a vested interest in keeping the status quo, would come after a true independent press. A “real” journalistic outfit would also struggle to have access to fighters, promotions, and other industry people because, by its very nature, an independent news company would, quite frequently, post things that industry people would not like posted. Boxing business would much rather do their public relations through media they own or can manipulate.
Still, real reporters find sources and independent journalism is still very doable, even without easy access.
So, that takes us to the next problem with trying to establish a “real” boxing news outfit.
How many “real” journalists are actually out there and, of the few out there, how many would choose to go down the hard, thankless, much lower paying, and remarkably not-glamorous road associated with being “real?”
Most everyone in this business is doing this as a second job, where the only real perks are the glamour involved with rubbing elbows with boxing celebrities and getting to be fight night celebs, themselves, with press access. Being “real” would make them pariahs or, maybe I should say, it would make them feel like they might become pariahs.
When an establishment media dweeb comes after me, it’s always with one of three attacks: 1) Industry big shots don’t like you/don’t respect you/don’t even know who you are; 2) You probably don’t make any money doing what you do; 3) You’re never at ringside. That’s very telling when it comes to what they prioritize relative to doing their job and it says a lot about why they choose to be convenient idiots.
I’ve tried on a few occasions to create some sort of independent media network of writers and media voices, but nothing has ever come from those efforts. It doesn’t even come close to getting off the ground. Okay, I’m willing to accept that maybe I’m not a palatable unifying voice for such a movement. Fine. But there has, literally, been no effort whatsoever to create such an initiative by anyone else, at any other time. Zero.
So, what does that tell you? To me, it says that we just don’t have the soldiers to fight this war. I hope to be proven wrong.
Fans are also to blame for the sad state of boxing media, though. They don’t really support independent media. Even those who complain about a compromised, biased media will still click on links and share media from establishment media over independent media.
What can I say? I think we’re mostly a hapless lot, with the few gems sprinkled far apart. The worst part is that future generations coming into the business will know nothing other than industry-sponsored media whose ultimate goal is to sell an event and not to enlighten, educate, or fight for what’s right.
Again, please, prove me wrong.
Eubank-Benn Prediction
Hi Paul.
Chris Eubank Jr. vs. Conor Benn is almost here. I have Eubank because of his size and edge in experience. Who do you have and why?
– Dennis
Hey Dennis.
Honestly, deeply, truly…I couldn’t care less about baby Eubank vs. baby Benn. I seriously have zero interest and I may not even watch it live if I have better things to do on a Saturday afternoon (and I would say “better” could be something as mundane as doing laundry). I sure as hell won’t be paying for it.
I think Eubank-Benn is just as phony and manufactured as Jake Paul vs. Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. It’s just weightless fluff.
If I have to pick a winner, though, I might go with Eubank as well, for the same reasons you mentioned– if it’s a legit boxing match. But it’s most likely not going to be really legit, though, and it’s probably going to end in some contrived controversy that leads to a second sucker grab via rematch.
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