As i sit here writing this article i am watching Matchroom’s Midweek NextGen show at York Hall which will be headlined by Luke Watkins vs Laurence Okolie , a fantastic fight with two young guys who have a great opportunity to to make a big impression on prime time sky sports . Not only is the main event a good fight but Eddie Hearn has made some fantastic match ups on the undercard in a sold out venue on a Wednesday night it really is fantastic promoting , a breath of fresh air after the week Hearn’s rival Frank Warren has had .
Last week I wrote an article called “Why are boxing fans treated with discontent ” which seemed to go down really well with most that read it but little did i know that the best example of this discontent was going to come a few days AFTER i had published . On Sunday the news broke that Billy Joe Saunders vs Martin Murray was cancelled after Saunders pulled out with injury for a second time ……but hey all you people that bought a ticket’s and booked hotels , travel etc to see Saunders vs Murray don’t expect a refund as the show will still be on , just not the main event you paid for .
Rumour has it that this show had only sold around 3000 tickets but it has to asked what was Frank thinking when this fight was made ? It was a fight that nobody was asking for . Since the turn of the year Warren has had nearly as many show’s or fights postponed or cancelled as he has go ahead , it’s actually at the point now were i would advise people not to buy tickets to his shows , and as a boxing fan that really pains me and i would ask what the BBBofC think about this as again fans are being hit in the pocket , not to mention fighters who have paid for full training camps .
I can’t help think that BT Sport have got to be questioning there own decision to partner with Frank Warren to launch boxing on there top class sports platform . Whilst Hearn seem’s to moving on from strength to strength , putting on NextGen shows that could match some of Warren’s card’s , Warren seems to be staggering along like an old dog waiting to be put put his misery .
djayboxing 