Opening Bell: Happy Boxing Day, Stiff Jab Grows Up
by Gautham Nagesh
PUNTA CANA, D.R.–Hola, fight fans. I’m writing from the balcony of my hotel in the Dominican Republic, where I’m recharging after a long year of covering a host of controversial topics from SOPA to cybersecurity. Somewhere in between, we found time to cover over 20 fight cards live from ringside and dozens more via the airwaves in 2012, bringing you the in-depth coverage that has helped us cross 1,000 posts and 50,000 followers on Tumblr this month.
You’ve probably noticed that things have been quiet here recently, mostly a product of our busy schedules and the looming threat of burnout. It’s been over two years since we launched the site, and I’m incredibly proud of what Doc Octagon, Trey, Anna, Kid Moe, and the rest of our team have accomplished. We’re now widely read by experts in boxing and MMA, and have been linked to by everyone from The Washington Post to The Queensberry Rules. But more work remains.
A week in the Caribbean should recharge my batteries and enable the site’s ongoing expansion, so we can bring you more updates, interviews, and new additions in the coming months. But first, it’s time for us to take a stand on the problems in boxing and mixed martial arts as we see them.[[MORE]]
For the first two years of this site, I’ve tried to maintain a respectful tone toward (most) of the boxing establishment, painfully aware of our status as relative newcomers on the fight scene. Now, having firmly established that we’re here to stay, it’s time to start calling folks out for the nonsense that has helped banish the Sweet Science from most of the nation’s consciousness, save for those few special nights of the year when a major Pay Per View fight takes place.
Our first target is the sanctioning bodies, which exist purely to line their own pockets, while slowly sucking the life out of the sport with their corrupt rankings and proliferation of meaningless belts. Until now we have followed the common journalistic practice of mentioning the belts and denoting their holders as “titlists,” while saving the moniker “champion” for holders of the The Ring Magazine belts. No more. Such nuances are confusing, and almost always lost on casual fans. There cannot be more than one titlist in a weight class, and certainly no one can be called “champion” without having conquered the best fighters at their weight.
Therefore, going forward we will no longer recognize belts issued by the WBO, WBC, WBA, IBF, or any other sanctioning body. Ditto for The Ring, whose credibility and quality have plunged precipitously over the past year (save the excellent “Ready to Grumble” column from our friend Dave Greisman). Instead, we will be adopting the rankings from the newly-formed Transnational Boxing Rankings board, and will only recognize a fighter as a “champion” when TBR does. The TBR rankings are not perfect, but they are the closest thing we have to legitimate, transparent rankings in the sport. This effort from respectable writers like Tim Starks, Cliff Rold, Springs Toledo, and Jake Donovan deserves our support and that’s exactly what they will get.
Going forward, we may occasionally acknowledge in a fight report that a meaningless belt is on the line for sake of accuracy, but we will always point out its irrelevance. Otherwise, our thoughts on nefarious WBC boss Jose Sulaiman and his ilk will be constrained to the Alphabet Soup column, which will return on an infrequent basis. This may seem a bit odd at first, but hopefully it will be easier for readers to determine the true pecking order in any given division. Don’t worry MMA fans, we’re not forgetting you: we will also be calling out UFC boss Dana White whenever he does something boneheaded, though Doc Oct has been pretty active on that front for some time now.
A more subtle change will be the focus of the site, which has always been on up-and-coming fighters on the East Coast and from Michigan. The last year has made it clear that the D.C. area, which I currently call home, has the most promising crop of young boxers East of Las Vegas. Covering up-and-comers like Dusty Harrison, Day Day Grayton and Kevin Rivers Jr. has been easily the most enjoyable part of running this site. That’s why I plan to expand that coverage and intensify our local focus in the coming year. We will continue covering all East Coast and Michigan fighters, but our flavor will be decidedly more local, and we will venture West only for major events, like PPV and televised cards.
That’s not to say we wouldn’t welcome a West Coast correspondent, but more that we are looking to add value, rather than simply being part of the echo chamber. Our greatest contribution is our original reporting, and the plan is to significantly increase the amount of reporting and exclusive content on SJ in 2013. Expect the same stuff you love about Stiff Jab, but more of it, and with greater regularity.
I’d be remiss if I didn’t acknowledge these changes engender some risk, but then again, we don’t have a lot to lose. While some promoters, notably Top Rank, Keystone Boxing and Main Events, clearly recognized the value and professionalism of our coverage, others like Golden Boy and Cotto Promotions are spotty at best when it comes to granting access. We were recently rejected for a spot on press row at the October 20th Golden Boy show in Brooklyn, only to be awarded a back-bench spot at Broner-DeMarco soon after. At that fight, I was seated on press row next to Jackie Kallen, a promoter and publicist, and another pleasant young lady and active Twitter user, who filed no report on the fight.
Lest you think these ladies are unique, simply scan the names approved for press passes at any major fight. Very few ever publish anything, and even fewer of those reports merit the label “journalism.” Press row is basically a scam used by boxing promoters to hook up friends and faithful “bloggers” aka fans eager to get into a fight for free. If said bloggers need to kiss a little promoter ass to do so, what’s the big deal right? It’s not like they’re real reporters, or even getting paid to be there. UFC is even worse, as Zuffa is notorious for denying press access to reporters that dare to question the all-knowing Dana White. Writing critically or honestly about the UFC will guarantee one a spot on Dana’s media blacklist, which is reportedly pretty long already.
Sacrificing one’s objectivity and integrity is fine for all those happy-to-be-there bloggers, but over here journalism isn’t a hobby, it’s our profession. So rather than being forced to ingratiate ourselves with the amateurs and hucksters charged with overseeing press access, we’re choosing to simply refrain. We may apply for press passes, but if we don’t get them, that’s fine. We’ll still cover the fight and give you the unvarnished truth, access be damned.
The main reason promoters give for denying us press passes is the site’s lack of traditional page views, at least according to Alexa. That’s because the cavemen that run boxing still don’t grok that social media is based on followers, not pageviews, or that Tumblr sites are still largely banned by Google News. Basically, they are saying the 50,000 of you reading every post on this site matter a lot less than the handful of folks clicking on those shitty Blogger blogs, run by clowns that show up faithfully on press row, beer in hand, openly rooting for one fighter or another. Disgusting, I know.
Still, if we want to counter that trend, we’re going to have to start boosting our traditional views, which means posting more often. It’s a lot to take on, especially when I’ve got many other commitments to maintain, but that’s what it takes, so that’s what we’ll do. In sum, expect the same Stiff Jab content you love in 2013, except more often and more focused on the folks that matter: the actual fighters and trainers.
One other development of note: my goal has always been to compensate our writers in some form, because I value their work and do not believe it should be given away freely. So this year we will be wading into the waters of paying our contributors, though admittedly very modest sums. No matter, the point is that we are a professional site and we employ pros, so they deserve to be compensated. If you’re interested in joining our staff or contributing a one-off piece, feel free to email us for more information. We’re also working on expanding our full-time staff; watch more more news on that front soon.
Finally, I wanted to sign off this post by wishing you a Happy Boxing Day. Though the holiday is mostly confined to the UK, and has nothing to with our sport, the moniker is too good to waste. Whenever I question the amount of my time, energy, and money I have poured into the site, I am always gratified by the appreciation of a local matchmaker, fighter, or one of you readers, who always convince me it’s worth the effort. This site would be nothing without you reading it, and we really do appreciate it.
If you feel the same way, re-blog a post, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, or Google+, or just tell your friends about that Tumblr you follow for MMA and boxing news. We may not give out meaningless belts, but we are sincerely grateful that you choose to stop by and make us a part of your online life. Thank you again, and wherever you are, whatever your traditions, have a happy holiday season and a joyous New Year.
Finally if you haven’t already, try to make it to a fight in person in 2013. You won’t regret it. Maybe you’ll even see us there.