The unpromoted reality of boxing: promoters and business
In 1999, during Don King’s heyday in boxing, The Sport News named him number 49 in their top 100 Most Powerful People in Sports for the 20th Century. King was described as “The dominant boxing promoter for the past 20 years ... [who] has fashioned
the sport into his own game, using bluster and swagger and an acute business sense to create an empire."
The fact that a boxing promoter could make this list reveals the untold story of boxing and the power that comes with being a promoter.
It wouldn’t be an oversight to say they dominate the business. Without them, the sport of boxing as we know it wouldn’t exist.
The irony is that most people, even avid boxing fans, don’t know what promoters do in the business. It’s obvious they’re not training a fighter. Neither are they managing them. It’s a boxing manager, not a promoter, who is concerned with guiding the fighter’s
career path and looking out for his best interests.
On the other hand, while promoters might want to convince fighters they have a genuine interest in them (just think about how King recently tried to woo Mayweather), they do not. At least not in any comparable way. Promoters have an interest in the business
arrangements which they themselves orchestrate. This is part of the reason you hear so many horror stories or weepy tales about fighters making tons of money and then ending up with an empty apartment and nowhere to store their prize-fighting trophies (“Sugar”
Ray Robinson).
Because promoters put on boxing events, they personally deal with the costs and risks involved such as booking a venue, having medical authorities on hand, paying for travelling expenses for fighters and entourage, etc. All of this comes out of their pocket,
and it’s the reason they can claim such a big portion of the end revenue as their own.
To account for expenses, promoters insure adequate promotion for a fight, determine ticket prices, and if applicable collect monies from broadcasting companies such as HBO or Showtime. A fighter’s income for a fight, a purse, is also an expense for the
promoters to factor in. But the larger the fighter’s purse, the smaller the amount the promoter takes home. This is how the two are at odds. So promoters’ interest are best served when they minimize fighters’ purses.
Here too it’s plain to see how a lot of younger fighters, and even seasoned guys with clueless management, could be easily robbed by money-hungry or unfair promoters. This is an unfortunate reality that happens all the time in boxing. Because promoters
are calling the financial shots, they can determine the figures which may or may not be appropriate.
At the same time, there is a way in which promoters’ and fighters’ interest line up. A well-publicized fight is good for everyone, because marketability for the promoter and the fighter goes up and that translates to more money in the future. But that
still doesn’t mean the promoter will be fair in future dealings.
The truth is that many boxing enthusiasts think professional boxing is about the boxers. Certainly, the large majority of topics that fans discuss concern the fighters themselves. But in a serious way this is probably the wrong way to go about discussing
or thinking about the sport. By the time boxing was a staple North American enterprise, at the turn of the 20th century, it was already a thriving business underpinned by decisions made by corporate suits and guys in shady top hats. That’s just
the way it is. And today it’s no different. In fact the sport’s even more dominated by political-economic motivations than ever. So when fans point to troubles in the sport and claim boxing is dying, what should really be considered is the parallel trouble
in the business, and why the business is proceeding poorly.
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