Introduction to The Business of Boxing Blog
What this is and why I'm doing this.
When looking at the comments section on various boxing websites, I noticed that some fans were making posts that show how hard the business side of the sport is to understand. Fans frequently forget which promoters have which fighters under contract, do not look at fighters with the context of their resume, and call for fights that would be difficult to make for various reasons. It’s not just fans who face this challenge. Reporters and commentators on live television broadcasts, podcast hosts and guests, and YouTubers also occasionally forget information when discussing current events or guessing what the next steps could be for various fighters. It’s not just a challenge for fans and the media. When revising the WBC’s rankings during this year’s annual convention, Mauricio Sulaimán, the president of the WBC, was unaware that Liam Smith, a former titleholder, had changed promoters and had a boxing match under his new promotional contract. When one of the guys whose job is to provide some semblance of structure to the sport of boxing has trouble keeping track of all pertinent information, it’s more of an issue with the sport than anything else.
Boxing is a hard sport to follow. It lacks the structure and transparency that other sports have. The international nature of the competition makes it hard for a single entity to come in and provide a structure that all stakeholders would find useful. I’m not going to provide that structure, but I can write about boxing and do the research to allow for a more informed discussion and debate about current events and issues in the sport of boxing. I plan to provide thoughtful commentary and substantive analysis of the business and politics of the sport. I plan to discuss upcoming events, though I don’t plan on doing post-fight recaps. It would be logistically challenging for one person to do, too repetitive to distinguish myself from other boxing websites, and I do not have the financial means to afford pay-per-view events. I’ll still write previews for events, even if I know I will not watch them. I am based in the United States. While this affects my perspective, I will try to be conscious of the interests of international readers.
I should also disclose that I am not a reporter (though I have great respect for them), so this blog is unlikely to report on breaking news. I have no ties to any promoter, network, manager, or fighter. I am simply a fan who has worked to understand the sport, and I am happy to use my analytical skills and passion for writing to help others understand boxing. I hope my work on this blog will help provide some understanding of the business and politics of boxing and provide informative and entertaining content.