Opening Bell: The Stiff Jab Manifesto
Like Washington the boxing world tends to slow down during August as the big fights subside and thoughts turn to squeezing the last fun out of summer before returning to school. But the start of September also means the action is back and we will be here to bring you live coverage of Mayweather-Ortiz, Gamboa-Ponce De Leon, Hopkins-Dawson and all the other huge fights slated for the next few months. Our return after a lull caused by travel and work is also the perfect opportunity to address the future of the site.
It’s been over a year since I first sat down to start my own boxing site and I can say with full sincerity that the decision has changed my life. From spending my nights and weekends covering fights to taking up training myself, it’s fair to say that boxing has dominated the past 12 months. Aside from work, friends and the dog I’ve had little time for anything else. And I wouldn’t have it any other way.
I’m incredibly proud of what we’ve managed to do here and the fact that we recently crossed 1,000 followers on Tumblr is a testament to the fact that you all appreciate our work as well. The site has grown and changed tremendously since its launch and we now boast a real staff that will likely be expanding in the near future.
Our new intern Tyler will be helping to prop up our MMA coverage on those frequent occasions that Doc Oct is too drunk to file and he’ll be bringing you a regular roundup of the best MMA and boxing news to boot. Hopefully we’ll be doing more to inform readers about shows on the East Coast and introducing you to the future stars of the fight game. We’re also accepting new contributors and possibly one more intern, so if you think you’ve got what it takes email us and tell us why.
With that being said, we still have a ways to go. Moving forward our goal is to go beyond fight coverage to take you inside the fight game and give fans an understanding of what goes into the sport. Think of it as HBO’s 24/7 in blog form, but focused on all levels of the sport. Gym Diary will return, along with some practical advice for those interest in taking up boxing or MMA. Hopefully in the future that will include contributions from some active fighters that have already shown interest in documenting their journey.
If you read the site regularly you’ve also noticed that we’ve been dipping our toe into new coverage areas, most notably via our weekly humor columnist The Fourth Judge. Expect that to continue in the near future as we try to give fight fans more of what they’re interested in going forward. We may even take our coverage to new sports we feel are similarly lacking adequate, knowledgeable coverage. But rest assured that any expansion will always be only while keeping our core audience in mind.
Finally and most exciting for an ink-stained wretch like myself is the news that Stiff Jab is bucking the trend and making that impossible transition: from digital to print. This holiday season we will bringing you our first Annual Digest featuring our best content from the previous 12 months: ringside fight coverage, original photography, the dark and often despicable sense of humor you’ve come to expect. We’ll also be adding previously unpublished essays and reports, making the issue an easy gift for the fight fan in your life.
We will be unveiling a Kickstarter campaign in the coming weeks to hopefully help finance the project but we have full confidence that the public realizes the need for a new publication, one that is sometimes will to recognize and revel in the absurdity of the fight game, and will be willing to help bring it to fruition. More than anything, I wanted to write and thank you for taking the time to read the site. It validates all the time we spend and gives us hope about the future of both sports. To paraphrase longtime friend of the site and Chief Design Officer BCag: Big things are coming.
–Gautham Nagesh, Founder and Editor