By Abbas Dadhiwala: I think the notion that to succeed in boxing in this country you need to join Frank Warren may not be all correct but it would be a great help when you have the man inducted into boxing’s hall of fame by your side. If we take it back to before Frank was a boxing promoter he started the The National Boxing Council, allowing the toughest fighters in Britain to legally go head to head. You had fighters from London meeting Irish fighters for often bloody and explosive battles. He made his cousin Lenny Mclean a known figure, not just in Britain but throughout the world. Frank Warren has guided some of Britain’s best known boxers through their careers and landed them title shots these include Prince Naseem Hamed, Joe Calzaghe, Ricky Hatton, Chris Eubank and Nigel Benn.
If you look at some of the other British promoters, you’ll notice that none of them will ever scale the heights Frank has, as most of their shows are put on in hotels or small arenas compared to Frank who has put boxing promotions at Millenium Stadium, MEN arena, O2 arena and many others. David Haye is a fine example as he had only fought in front of a small crown mainly at the York Hall until he fought Enzo Maccarinelli at the O2 arena.
Ricky Hatton’s best performance came against Kostya Tszyu, and Joe Calzaghe’s best performance was the fight with Jeff Lacy. The best British boxing fight involving two British boxers was the Eubank-Benn fights, also promoted by Sports Network. Naseem Hamed had his best years under the tutelage of Frank Warren. Danny Williams got a shot at the former undisputed boxing world champion and the so called baddest man on the planet Iron Mike Tyson, and beat him with a stunning stoppage victory all because of Frank Warren. Audley Harrison has recently linked up with Frank Warren as his career had stalled when he decided to go his own and becoming a force in the boxing world.
Frank warren has negotiated huge television deals with Sky Sports, Itv Sport and more recently Setanta and his latest offering is a huge bill in September at the MEN arena, where Alex Arthur will be topping the bill in a World Title fight with Nicky Cook, Amir Khan is also on the bill as is Audley Harrison against the Prizefighter winner Martin Rogan. As Frank Warren aims to consolidate his position as the most powerful promoter in boxing in Britain, I for one cannot see it changing.
August 12th, 2008 at 12:21 pm
Well thought up article,
didnt know Frank warren was promoting unlicensed boxing
could have put picture of frank warren on here and maybe wrote more
August 12th, 2008 at 1:32 pm
nt bad at all
frank warren certainly has upped the recognition of the fighters mentioned and by doin so his success has been followed by fellow pros recognising him as one of the leading promoters in the the world of boxing today
August 12th, 2008 at 2:29 pm
Frank has done great things for a lot of fighters, but I don’t like the way he slags off fighters who he doesn’t promote. Audley Harrison and David Haye get slated by him every week in his newspaper column, why? Because they didn’t sign with him (Harrison stopped getting slated recently when he signed up with Warren).
I also think Calzaghe should have been fighting in the States long before he did, maybe he saw Hamed get outclassed by Barrera and didn’t want to gamble with the rest of his fighters. If Lacy and Tszyu did not gamble and come to the U.K. would Joe and Ricky have gone to the States?
My biggest gripe with him is suing Ricky Hatton and Joe Calzaghe once they started promoting themselves.
August 12th, 2008 at 5:11 pm
He has prevented more fights than he’s created… he held back the talent of Hatton, the talent of Calzaghe and now is set to do the same with Khan. For every Tszyu there are 10 bobby gunn fights. Maloney or Hennessy knock spots off him. He is a promoter with few ties left, he’s upset Sky, ITV and Setanta with his abysmal TBA opponents.
August 12th, 2008 at 7:28 pm
yeah he is 4 defo but needs 2 match hes fighters against more better oponents.
August 12th, 2008 at 8:28 pm
Poor article, was this writtne by a Sports Network employee?
Yes, Frank has made some good fights, but look at all the fighters who have left him in their prime and how he treats them. He has issued legal proceedings against Hamed, Hatton and now Calzaghe, yet he has made millions from them.
Frank will lose Khan eventually as his family will edge him away…
August 13th, 2008 at 5:08 am
amir khan will remain with frank warren for the time being and he should win a world title soon. khan will not make the mistake hamed made and leave warren.
August 14th, 2008 at 9:09 am
How many cards has he promoted this year?