What business means to boxing today

By Michael Vena - 06/21/2014 - Comments

By Yannis Mihanos: SEB: three magic words, three magic initials, and three parts. The boxing of today assists of 3 important parts: Sport-Entertainment-Business. Many article writers in this website and elsewhere reflect on the past of boxing and compare it with the present. Today is my turn to give my take on that subject, I will focus my attention on the third part. Let’s see what business means these days for boxing.

A lot has changed from the times that the likes of fighters like Henry Armstrong or Rocky Marciano performed and excelled.

Boxing means business more than ever. In the long distant past (’30s,’40s or ’50s) when negotiations were taking place it was just the one fighter with the other sitting on a table (if there was any available) and maybe some friends and relatives.

The agreement was coming by shaking hands. Today tough negotiations need to take place for a good fight to materialize. It means a lot more than just a simple conversation and shaking hands, it takes a lot of thinking, a lot of talking, arguing, and convincing.

We live at a very different time where boxing has become much more than a mere sport and entertainment.

Now boxing more than ever means business. The nickname of the most loved to hate fighter of all times and number 1 pound for pound king in boxing Floyd Mayweather Jr says it all in once: “Money.”

I hate to admit it but boxing today means money.

Professional fighters don’t have to fight every month to pay their bills unlike in the past that they had to fight every month or almost every week and at any kind of condition.

Now they all have sponsors, promoters, agents behind them to support. Boxing has become smart, almost too much.

Any boxer who excels today means business, some more than others of course.

Today it’s a fact that the best doesn’t fight always with the best.

Remaining undefeated for as much as possible by avoiding the dangerous opponents happens most of the time. That’s how paper champs are born and created.

The best of today prefer to fight with the worst or the more likely to beat, just look at the resume of some champs of today and you will know what I am talking about.

Today fighters play it smart, they think immediately the day after tomorrow: where they going to be, with what money in the wallet and how.
In the long distant past nothing was guaranteed, there was not big tomorrow to think of, and many boxers also retired broke.

Well that isn’t going to happen today. Fighters use their brain first. No one fights without having some of his financial needs met.

Even my favorite fighter and people’s favorite champ Manny Pacman” Pacquiao has today a standard purse of $20 million a fight. That’s huge money for someone who was raised inside poverty. At least I am glad that he gives back a part of it by helping his native country’s poor economy unlike some others who spread it all around…

The new idols of boxing stand apart from those of the distant past in the department of business. In many ways this is good and in some others this is bad but it’s just the way it is.



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