With 80,000 fight fans filling the English national stadium; boxing in the UK is becoming the envy of other countries around the world. That night in May when Carl Froch & George Groves squared off in a much anticipate rematch just showed how far British boxing had come since the gap left behind by Joe Calzaghe & Ricky Hatton made the casual fan disinterested. Headed up by the countries top promoter Eddie Hearn, the Froch Groves II card was sold to the masses resulting in the biggest grossing fight in British history, but how? Just think about it, if they fought, would a contentious refereeing decision in a fight between Andre Ward & J’Leon Love at Madison Square Garden lead a whole nation to call for a re-match then fill Giants Stadium in New York? Not a chance on earth. And it’s exactly the same situation. From the first fight Groves was a 19-0 British prospect taking on his country’s P4P best in Froch, if the 18-0 Love took on the WORLD P4P Top three fighter in Ward, would it captivate a nation in similar fashion?
Granted, America is a totally different market, it’s a huge country with multiple world champions at different weight classes. The pond of talent is so vast it is almost taken for granted. And a real problem is, if it isn’t taken for granted you have to pay top Dollar to watch the elite. While a Mayweather fight on Showtime PPV will set you back $64.99 to watch in standard definition & an extra 10 bucks to see the glisten of Mayweathers shorts more clear in HD, you can watch the same fight in full HD for £12 on Boxnation. Not only that, the £12 is a subscription for a full month of Boxing both domestically (mainly Frank Warren promoted cards) and most of the top fights from all over the world.
If it’s not on Boxnation, it is on Sky Sports. And I think you can really look at Sky’s coverage for the reason British boxing has made a comeback in the UK. Before Boxnation was formed Sky Sports’ boxing coverage was shared between multiple promoters. Promoters such as Frank Warren, David Coldwell, Mick Hennesey, Frank Maloney (Now Kellie, long story…) and Eddie Hearn shared TV dates. This lead to the output by some of these promoters being very sub-standard, most cards being held in half empty gymnasiums with the atmosphere of a funeral. None of the promoters had a duty to give sky customers a product that was unbelievable, as this would leave a financial loss at the end of the show with no guarantee when the next date is they have on the channel. Sky’s head of Boxing Adam Smith knew it was time for change and gave Matchroom Boxing’s Eddie Hearn all 20 dates available on the channel. With the duty of bringing a outstanding product to living rooms on a Saturday night across the country with the guarantee of building the fighters exclusively on the channel knowing exactly the dates they could all fight on TV.
This frees Matchroom up to even make small losses on shows to build fighters reputations and get them in position to fight for World titles where bigger arenas can be sold out and grudges can build. Take Tony Bellew vs Nathan Cleverly for example. Over the past three months the two British cruiserweights have fought different opponents on the same card wetting the appetite of a fight between the two. The fight get’s built on the channel and eventually happens resulting in a sold out arena and a boost in viewers knowing a big fight is happening. It’s even allowed fighters like Brian Rose to fight in world title eliminators at home to gain a mandatory position with a governing body and eventually earning a life changing opportunity and money. If the dates and money weren’t available for Brian Rose he could have easily stayed as an undercard act fighting at British or European level, and that is no disrespect to him, but the risk for reward wouldn’t have even existed.
Over the weekend the resurgence of British boxing peeked. Kell Brook became world champion setting up a domestic clash with Amir Khan in the future. This is a fight that can be built bigger than Froch v Groves II was. Khan is a world star already who needs no introduction to the general British public, mix that with a world champion in Kell and we’ve got a stadium sell out and PPV on our hands again.
It’s not just the champions either; Britain has a stupendously good pool of talent ready to emerge. Carl Frampton takes on Kiko Martinez for the IBF strap in Belfast which could add his name along with Carl Froch and Kell Brook (Jamie McDonnell & Scott Quigg also hold versions of the WBA belt at their own weight classes) on the list of world champions Britain have. London 2012 medalists lead the charge with Anthony Joshua tearing through the heavyweight division, Luke Cambell showing his potential as a pro and Anthony Ogogo showcasing his talents both in America and in the UK. Callum Smith is a name who could replace Carl Froch once he decides to end his hall of fame worthy career.
Billy Joe Saunders and Chris Eubank Jr may face each other before they hit the world scene. Another potential domestic fight between James DeGale and George Groves is more than possible with or without a world title. Ricky Burns, Kevin Mitchell, Tony Bellew, Nathan Cleverly and Martin Murray will continue to find there way into positions to fight at world level.
Britain is clearly in a strong position on the boxing map, hopefully something that can continue while stadiums stay full and world titles continue to come back.
- Tom Maudsley / @maudsley23
- Contributor for www.BehindtheGloves.com