As the New Year begins, a lot of our attention is focused on how the PPV market in boxing will change, if ever, by 2022. Although there have certainly been developments in that respect. , but another topic proved to be much more important in this theme year: accountability.
Boxing is often called the Wild West of the sport, a place where you can get away with things you wouldn’t dare try in another discipline or business. As fans of the sport, we have reluctantly accepted that as the nature of the beast. But that attitude may be changing.
One particular incident brought this to the fore: Conor Benn failed drug tests. When we talk about accountability in this case, we’re not necessarily referring to Benn himself. There are still many ongoing investigations and Benn continues to claim his innocence, despite having tested positive for the drug twice. Once all the evidence has been settled, then we can discuss holding him accountable.
The important thing here is the news of Benn’s failed test. The Daily mail announced the news during fight week, which is one of the most impactful bouts the sport has seen in recent years. The focus then turned to the participants in the canceled match-fixing with Chris Eubank Jnr: Matchroom, Wasserman, DAZN and the British Boxing Control Board.
When it became clear that efforts had been made to promote the match despite the adverse results, the boxing media unanimously opposed this. Commentaries are written, key players in the event are sought out for interviews, and answers are requested. It’s a prime example of the power of media in sports.
Of course, a lot is still kept secret. A sit-down between IFL TV and Eddie Hearn a few days after the incident revealed little. Those who asked the right question were met with the wrong answer: essentially “no comment”. It’s been a dark period for the sport and honestly, it’s not out of the woods yet.
What is encouraging is the continued coverage of this Benn story. We often see boxing scandals recede into the shadows with almost no whisper, but this time things seem different. National newspapers are monitoring the various investigations being carried out and the likes of Hearn and Kalle Sauerland continue to be investigated for what is happening.
However, it was not only the national media that did their part, but also dedicated channels like ID Boxing that prominently covered Benn’s failed test. Their long live stream on the day of the news, in which many key figures in the boxing world were included in interviews, was an insightful and enjoyable viewing in a day full of confusion and worried.
This may seem like I’m looking for a ray of light inside a dense dark cloud, and maybe that’s partly true, but an impartial media holding people accountable is essential. for the health of this sport.
Broadcasters are also hosting the biggest and best fights. While 2022 didn’t bring us everything we wanted, it was packed with significant events and some stellar broadcasts.
The fact that BT Sport covered Tyson Fury-Dillian Whyte in April was a special highlight. While the fight itself ended up being pretty one-sided, the broadcast was all that a major fight should be. The commentary was excellent, the star experts were present throughout the night and the atmosphere from Wembley Stadium jumped off the television screens.
DAZN has enjoyed various successes throughout the year but none has surpassed Katie Taylor’s historic clash with Amanda Serrano, which also took place in April. The show drew 1.5 million viewers according to DAZN, a record for the streaming service. It’s a huge win for DAZN but also for the sport as it helps develop women’s boxing more holistically. Sky Sports also broadcast a hugely important women’s match later in the year when Claressa Shields beat Savannah Marshall in the UK.
Sky also aired Josh Taylor’s hugely controversial win over Jack Catterall earlier in the year, in which it appeared the challenger had done more than enough to strip Taylor of the belt, only to see his hopes dashed. dissolved by the scoring umpire. Sky did a great job covering a very difficult situation: experts and commentators – even promoter Ben Shalom – were free to give their opinion on the matter. results and all brutally honest. This is also related to the issue of accountability and the more accountability, the better.
However, there are still common problems in boxing broadcasting. Competition is healthy, but we’ve seen the rise of broadcasting options that customers pay to get and strugglers can cooperate. This makes the biggest fights harder to come by – a good example is Terence Crawford recently going up against David Avanesyan on BLK Prime instead of going up against Errol Spence Jnr.
LOOK UP TO 2023…
The discussion on PPV will continue. DAZN, after launching with a firm anti-PPV message, is now one of the main providers of this particular type of event. In January alone, we have two matches – one on DAZN, the other on Sky Sports, although the most exciting match of the month – Artur Beterbiev vs Anthony Yarde – will air on BT Sport 1 and give full credit to that broadcaster.
We’ll also hold out hope for the real big fights: Tyson Fury vs Oleksandr Usyk and Crawford vs Spence. It’s also possible that Gervonta Davis and Ryan Garcia will eventually clash.
In the coming weeks, hopefully, there will also be a resolution to the situation with Benn. How that unfolds could have huge ramifications for the sport as a whole.
