ONE of the strange tasks I undertook while working as press officer for a world heavyweight champion was to educate the boxer in question about Millwall FC’s kick-off on the 11th before making his appearance. appeared on the now defunct Sky Sports programme Bright football around 2010.
In addition to the starting 11, player names and positions, I will also give them the coach’s name, the results of the last three matches and remind them of their position in the league and what remains can be achieved during that season. Only then could we both be sure that in the few minutes of the show devoted to discussing football and not fighting, this boxer’s reaction would not cause embarrassment or expose the truth. that he doesn’t really support Millwall, or, for that matter, care about football at all.
You see, like most things in high-level sport, it is an exercise in manipulation and deception. Go for it and by associating yourself with a football club you have every chance of finding your tribe and capitalizing, financially, on a fanbase willing to follow you around country to watch you fight. However, make no mistake, this is always dangerous to appear on Bright football have absolutely no knowledge of football, and you could find yourself becoming the butt of jokes or worse, being called a charlatan; a snake oil salesman.
As it happened, the presenter’s sensitivity and foresight ensured that for this fighter it was never really an issue. In fact, time and time again, the boxer appeared on the show claiming to be a Millwall fan while repeating to himself the name “Neil Harris” as if it wasn’t a name of a midfielder but of a man. kidnapped his child. In other words, he survived and became famous on the show. There were even occasional Millwall fans in attendance at his matches, although nowhere near enough to justify the extra effort taken to ensure their presence.
Others, the more sincere kind, are better. For example, Ricky Hatton had plenty of Manchester City fans following him to Las Vegas and more recently we saw Chris Billam-Smith win the cruiserweight and win at home to AFC darling Bournemouth. his esteemed team, the team he had supported since he was a boy. Indeed, thanks to that relationship, Billam-Smith has become one of the surprising success stories in British boxing, his rise reminiscent of a time when genuine ticket sellers were more than just ordinary people but are also products of their local communities and are often connected in some way. to the nearest football club.
By the way, Billam-Smith’s next match will again see the ring placed in the center of a football ground, although this time in south London rather than the south coast. Meanwhile, his opponent will be Richard Riakporhe, a south London man who will challenge Billam-Smith’s WBO cruiserweight belt at Selhurst Park and do so as a Crystal Palace fan. He, like Billam-Smith, is one honest You see, so do the fans, and when it comes to Palace, there’s no need to be reminded. If in doubt, consider the answer Riakporhe gave when on Sky Sports this week he was asked to name two Palace players who he felt would make the best fighters. His answer: “Joachim Andersen or Daniel Muñoz.” Suffice it to say, this is an answer that only a true Palace fan could give and so can Billam-Smith, whose love of Bournemouth not only predates his boxing career but at times proved even stronger than his love for boxing.
Riakporhe (L) and Billam-Smith (R) in action five years ago (Dan Istitune/Getty Images)
So this was not a ploy orchestrated by Riakporhe and Billam-Smith. Instead, their love for football is completely genuine and something they, as fighters, are identified with at this stage in their respective careers. For Billam-Smith, his greatest night was at home, winning the world championship on his favorite football ground, while for Riakporhe, the sounds of “Glad All Over” did the soundtrack to many of his knockout wins and on June 15 he was given the chance to fight for the world championship in front of Palace fans at Selhurst Park.
Without this support, the two cruiserweights will likely have a harder time (a) fighting and (b) finding relevance in a division that is notoriously easy to overlook. But that’s the thing about football’s tribalism: not only is it unique, but if done right, it can give fighters a loyalty they can’t find in their own sport.
Only smart people realize this. Others, with all their ambition and arrogance, aim significantly higher and wider but always fail. They target the world without focusing on one club or community first, thinking that the only way to succeed is to be as known as possible.
However, that’s where they went wrong. In fact, many people have confused social media numbers with gate numbers or subscriptions or pay-per-view buys and are now trying to understand why these two numbers are simple. simply do not correlate with each other. But here’s why: in a lawless world where almost everything is free if you know where to look, these days you shouldn’t rely too much on attracting interest for a fight or a warriors who must bribe from your audience their loyalty, their trust, and ultimately their generosity.
It’s true, some fighters will grind daily on social media in an effort to generate interest in their name and fights, however, come fight night, all you see is , with them in the ring, were just empty seats. Why? Because, although these fighters have attracted a wide range of audiences, the audience they have attracted is a regular online audience; that is, the kind of person who might be watching the game but is watching it at home, on their laptop or phone, via an illegal stream. Choose to blend in with that type of crowd and that is the price you will eventually pay. On the other hand, as they say, touch the grass and set foot in the real world and there is a higher chance that your personality – yours – will THAT’S RIGHT personality – actually connect with real, living, breathing humans who might, you never know, actually part with real money to watch you fight. One day you may even find yourself walking across the lawn of a soccer field surrounded by stands full of fans, at which point you know you’ve scored.
