{"id":234050,"date":"2025-10-30T13:20:30","date_gmt":"2025-10-30T13:20:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/234050\/"},"modified":"2025-10-30T13:20:30","modified_gmt":"2025-10-30T13:20:30","slug":"british-boxings-unspoken-race-problem-youve-got-to-force-change","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/234050\/","title":{"rendered":"British boxing\u2019s unspoken race problem: \u2018You\u2019ve got to force change\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

This article is part of\u00a0The Athletic\u2019s series marking UK Black History Month. To view the whole collection,\u00a0click here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Who are the most powerful people in British boxing?<\/p>\n

For most, the names that would first come to mind are Frank Warren and Eddie Hearn, the leaders of two of the country\u2019s biggest promotional companies in Queensberry and Matchroom. Earlier this year, they were the highest placed Britons on a list of the sport\u2019s 50 most powerful figures, compiled by Boxing News magazine.<\/p>\n

That top 50 included a mix of promoters, media executives, managers, boxers and trainers and was topped by Turki Al-Sheikh<\/a>, the chairman of Saudi Arabia\u2019s General Entertainment Authority, who has ploughed huge amounts of money into the sport in recent years.<\/p>\n

Further down the list, at No 49 was Anthony Joshua. The former unified world heavyweight champion and 2012 Olympic gold medallist was the only Black Briton on the list.<\/p>\n

Even allowing for the fact that this was just one publication\u2019s verdict, and only 11 Brits made the list in total, it begs the question: given the predominance of Black fighters in boxing, why are there so few non-white faces at the top of the sport?<\/p>\n

Answers are not easy to come by, not least because not even boxing\u2019s governing body in Britain knows precisely what the numbers are.<\/p>\n

The British Boxing Board of Control (BBBofC) \u2014 led since 2008 by general secretary Robert Smith, a former professional boxer \u2014 has been overseeing British professional boxing since 1929 and is responsible for, among other things, granting licences to professional boxers, managers, trainers, promoters, referees, matchmakers, MCs, ringmasters and timekeepers.<\/p>\n

Asked by\u00a0The Athletic if he knows how much diversity there is among those licence holders, of which he says there are just over 3,000, Smith says he can\u2019t give any specific numbers because they don\u2019t keep a record of ethnicity.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd that goes for everybody,\u201d the 63-year-old says. \u201cWe have Black promoters, Black trainers, white promoters, white trainers, Catholics, Sikhs, Protestants \u2013 we don\u2019t record any of that at all, it doesn\u2019t make any difference to us.\u201d<\/p>\n

Smith points out that the board\u2019s vice-chairman Guy Williamson, a former police officer and British amateur super-heavyweight champion turned barrister, is Black and adds, \u201cWe have lots of Black people on the board and on area councils around the country.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ultimately, though, Smith insists the BBBofC does not consider the matter a priority. \u201cIt\u2019s something we just don\u2019t discuss,\u201d he adds. \u201cIf somebody wishes to apply for a promoter\u2019s licence, anybody can do that. If somebody wants to apply for a boxing licence, anybody can do that. We don\u2019t think it\u2019s right that we should keep a record of where they\u2019re from.\u201d<\/p>\n

Pat Barrett is a former British and European light-welterweight champion, who retired in 1994. In 2011, he was granted his licence to become a trainer and promoter by the BBBofC after a five-year wait.<\/p>\n

Barrett suspects the reason for that delay was due to having been sentenced to three years in prison after he had been found with a loaded firearm and a quantity of heroin in 2003. After 22 months he was released, with the intention of repaying the faith of Brian Hughes, the man who had not only trained him as a fighter but had spoken in court in defence of Barrett\u2019s character. That meant applying for his trainer\u2019s licence.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I saw how tough it was getting for Brian (to keep training fighters), I wanted to be part of it to help him out,\u201d Barrett says. \u201cI\u2019m not gonna lie and say I wanted it to change my life, but it naturally has changed my life, and it\u2019s made me realise that people look up to you for what you do.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\n Pat Barrett, left, celebrates with Zelfa Barrett after his super-featherweight win against Costin Ion in 2023 (James Chance\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n

After five years of meetings with a panel from his area council \u2014 one of seven which make up the BBBofC \u2014 and being repeatedly told to come back next year, Barrett returned with a solicitor who had been working with the now deceased Ricky Hatton. He left with their word that his application would be approved, on the understanding that \u201cif I got in any kind of problems, they would revoke my licence.\u201d<\/p>\n

Barrett has since set up his own promotional company, Black Flash Promotions, and earlier this year was inducted into the British ex-boxers\u2019 Hall of Fame as manager of the year. He is one of the few Black Britons to become a promoter, and arguably the most high-profile since Ambrose Mendy, who managed and advised Nigel Benn.<\/p>\n

Barrett is conscious his chequered history has not made life as a promoter easy for him, but also wonders whether skin colour has been a major factor.<\/p>\n

\u201cI never looked at the racial side of it,\u201d says Barrett. \u201cI just thought, \u2018Keep going\u2019. It wasn\u2019t until I stopped to think about it that I thought, \u2018Wow, could you believe I was the only Black promoter at that time?\u2019<\/p>\n

\u201cTrying to get people to put fighters on my show just wasn\u2019t happening. I was getting a bad reputation before I even got going. On my own shows, it would be just six of my own fighters that would try to sell tickets. Nobody else was putting boxers on my shows. And now everybody wants to put boxers on my shows \u2014 they\u2019re rammed.\u201d<\/p>\n

Barrett celebrated his 10-year anniversary as a promoter recently and says on reflection it has been one of his \u201ctoughest missions to accomplish\u2026 Even trying to get sponsors and people to back you, it\u2019s f***ing hard.<\/p>\n

\u201cNothing is easy, no matter what you try to do in life, but I didn\u2019t realise it was the colour of my skin that made things difficult. I just thought, \u2018This is the way of the sport; just keep persevering. Keep winning\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n

When asked by The Athletic for the BBBofC\u2019s response to Barrett\u2019s comments, Smith replied: \u201cPat\u2019s application for a licence was considered and processed exactly the same as every other licence application. With regard to applications for contests, again, each and every application is considered on its own individual merits regardless of the licence holder applying.\u201d<\/p>\n

One of the people Barrett credits with helping him in his mission to get his trainer\u2019s licence is Spencer Fearon. A former professional boxer, Fearon went on to become the youngest ever Black British promoter in 2007, receiving his manager, training and coaching licences at one sitting with the BBBofC. He produced eight champions over a four-year period before moving into punditry, consultancy and mentoring.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\n Spencer Fearon, left, with boxing writer Colin Hart in 2024 (Jeff Spicer\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n

He says that sport and entertainment have been \u201cdominated by people that are a lot like myself\u201d and that \u201cit should be reflected on the other side as well\u201d.<\/p>\n

Fearon does believe things are starting to change.<\/p>\n

Joshua set up his own management company, 258 Management, in 2017 and has a diverse team that includes chief operating officer David Ghansa. Promotional company Blvck Box Global is run by Dean Whyte. Elliott Amoakoh manages Chris Eubank Jr, and Michael Ofo does the same for Fabio Wardley and Dillian Whyte. In 2023, two-weight world champion Natasha Jonas became the first Black British female to become a boxing manager.<\/p>\n

That change is also being seen on a global scale, says Fearon, pointing to the emergence of African boxing promoters including Dr Ezekiel Adamu, who is chief executive of Balmoral Group Promotions in Nigeria, and Sharaf Mahama, CEO of Legacy Rise Boxing Promotions in Ghana.<\/p>\n

\u201cThings are gonna change,\u201d says Fearon, \u201cbecause right now, people are running out of the pound note. Ghana has a lot of lithium and gold. Nigeria has a lot of oil; there\u2019s money in Black countries. Seeing a prominent Black promoter will trickle down and it will ignite around the whole world.\u201d<\/p>\n

Racism is not a word that many people within the sport use when asked why there have been so few Black individuals in boxing\u2019s top roles.<\/p>\n

Jonas, who did not even realise she had made history by getting her manager\u2019s licence two years ago, points out that it\u2019s a similar story in other sports. \u201cIf you look at football, if you look at track and field, we might be a high percentage of the athletes, but we\u2019re a very low percentage of the board,\u201d she says. \u201cI don\u2019t know why. Maybe it\u2019s opportunity, maybe it\u2019s\u2026 I don\u2019t know.\u201d<\/p>\n

Eddie Hearn says that, when it comes to managers, trainers and promoters, a lot of them are ex-fighters, and that opportunities are there. But he recognises that when it comes to more inward-facing industry roles, there is work to be done.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s something we need to look at as a business as well,\u201d says Hearn. \u201cI always feel that we need to create opportunities for the best people and it\u2019s always the argument of the background of that individual and stuff like that\u2026 I always think that you should be there on merit. I think that\u2019s true equality.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut I do think that in the business space there aren\u2019t as many\u2026 I don\u2019t know if it\u2019s opportunities, but roles that are filled by people with that background. I don\u2019t know the reason why. I certainly don\u2019t think there\u2019s an underlying stereotypical or racist element to the sport or the business at all, but it\u2019s interesting. I think we need to provide opportunities for everybody.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jonas, who has not fought since her defeat to Lauren Price in a world welterweight title unification bout in March, first applied for her managers\u2019 licence so she could take charge of her own career. Getting licensed is something she believes every boxer should do, not necessarily with the aim of managing themselves but so they are armed with knowledge that allows them to be part of the conversations which shape their futures.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\n Natasha Jonas with British heavyweight Frazer Clarke, left, and Damar Thomas, centre, after the latter\u2019s win against Myrzakir Koshaliev at the 2025 World Boxing Championships (Ben Roberts Photo\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n

Would she consider adding the title of promoter to her CV? Jonas says it was a fleeting thought when the broadcast deal between British promotional company Boxxer and Sky Sports came to an end earlier this year. What held her back? \u201cI wouldn\u2019t do it unless I had a certain backing,\u201d she says. \u201cPlatforms like Sky and DAZN want to see a track record of you being successful before (signing a deal) but it\u2019s a lot of risk to take that on if you haven\u2019t got the right support.<\/p>\n

\u201cMaybe that is why people, in particular Black people, don\u2019t go on, especially in boxing. Because they don\u2019t necessarily have that big funding pot to begin with. Or have the contacts to be able to fund the show or to get sponsors. It costs a lot of money to begin with, and very few of us come out (of the sport) with the type of money to be able to do that.\u201d<\/p>\n

All of those licensed by the BBBofC pay a licence fee to the board. In addition, Smith says that promoters pay a tax for each tournament for the work done in the BBBofC office. He points out that the board, which was incorporated as a Limited Liability Company in 1989, is self-funding.<\/p>\n

The fee for a promoter\u2019s licence is \u00a3656 ($874) but the board also requires a bond, which could be cash or an indemnity from the bank. That bond, which is cancelled when a promoter retires, is to protect any licence holders should the promoter not fulfil their obligations. It means that if the promoter has financial difficulties with a show, the bond would be used to cover costs such as ambulance crews and boxers who haven\u2019t received payment. The minimum bond required is \u00a310,000. For the bigger promoters, it\u2019s more.<\/p>\n

The representation deficit seems clear; the pertinent question is: what can be done about it?<\/p>\n

English professional football has a long history of falling short when it comes to off-field representation, with diversity lacking in boardrooms and among managers and head coaches. Various tactics have been employed to tackle it, the latest being the Football Association\u2019s leadership diversity code, launched in 2020, which set hiring targets to address inequality \u2013 a version of the NFL\u2019s Rooney Rule, introduced in 2003 and which requires teams to interview minority candidates for head coaching and other senior roles.<\/p>\n

How effective it has been is questionable; in 2023, an FA report<\/a> said workforce representation in football still did not reflect the diversity of its players.<\/p>\n

Could boxing adopt a similar approach to improving the diversity of those in leadership roles within the sport? Smith believes it\u2019s not necessary.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think we\u2019re one of the most diverse sports there is,\u201d he says. \u201cLook at the boxers we have, and our managers and promoters. I think we\u2019re very diverse. We obviously have equality training with all our staff and all our councils have to do that as a given. So we are very keen on equality etc, but to go out for a certain type of person, we think is wrong because we\u2019re open to everybody.\u201d<\/p>\n

In the BBBofC head office in Wales\u2019 capital city Cardiff, Smith says they employ 12 people, of whom one is Black. \u201cThe population of ethnic minorities throughout the country is 10 per cent? Or 15 per cent?\u201d Smith adds (the latest UK Census in 2021 found that 18 per cent belong to a Black, Asian, mixed or other ethnic group). \u201cIt\u2019s a majority white country and a Christian country, so we\u2019re just resembling society.\u201d<\/p>\n

Smith says that the board\u2019s seven area councils \u201chave diversified\u201d and contain a cross-section of society, including \u201cex-policemen, solicitors, tradesmen, ex-boxers. \u201cIs there more we can do?\u201d he asks. \u201cPossibly, I don\u2019t know. But are we open to absolutely anybody who shows the right enthusiasm and is qualified to do so? Yes, we are.\u201d<\/p>\n

Johnny Nelson, the former cruiserweight world champion who has become one of the best-known boxing pundits in the UK, says that quotas are not the answer. Instead, in his view, it\u2019s a matter of people forcing the issue by virtue of their talent and ambition.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re at a point now where if you\u2019re going to be racist, you\u2019ve got to be covert, got to be undercover, otherwise you\u2019ll get called out. If you get called out, eventually the walls will close in on you,\u201d Nelson says. \u201cBut people have got to put themselves in position to say, \u2018I\u2019m a promoter, I\u2019ve got the fighters and I\u2019m sitting down with a TV executive to try and get an opportunity\u2019. Then, if everybody\u2019s cued up and you\u2019ve got a better Black promoter or manager with a better stable and he still doesn\u2019t get it, that\u2019s because he\u2019s Black.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou want to take away every single excuse for them. It\u2019s like kicking the doors down, you\u2019ve got to force change.\u201d<\/p>\n

It\u2019s hard for Black promoters and managers to say that they\u2019re not getting opportunities because they\u2019re Black, says Nelson, because opportunities in the sport are hard to come by, no matter what your race is. He believes that when a Black promoter or manager comes along who is good at their job, the fighters and opportunities will follow, citing the example of Izzy Asif, the Sheffield-born, British-Pakistani former professional boxer who is CEO of GBM Sports, a promotional company that launched in 2022 and hosted its first world title fight in May this year (Terri Harper\u2019s defence of her WBO lightweight title against Natalie Zimmermann in Doncaster).<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s got sponsorship, he\u2019s working with DAZN, he\u2019s chugging along,\u201d says Nelson. \u201cYou are going to come up against prejudice and closed doors. You just have to make it impossible for them to differentiate.\u201d<\/p>\n

There is one person Nelson picks out as having the potential to really move the needle when it comes to Black representation at the top level of boxing: Joshua.<\/p>\n

\u201cI believe AJ and 258 (Management) would be a powerhouse,\u201d he says of the suggestion the former heavyweight world champion, now 36, could move into promotion after he retires. \u201cAJ is young, he\u2019s got his finger on the pulse, he\u2019s been there, done it, talks well, TV loves him. He\u2019s the perfect ambassador.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\n Anthony Joshua, right, doing media work with Johnny Nelson (Richard Pelham\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n

\u201cIt would be a great opportunity to be the first Black promoter to get a mainstream TV deal because he has a structured business model set up, he\u2019s got the staff and he\u2019s got the fighters.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe only reason why it\u2019s not happening yet, I think, is because he\u2019s an active fighter with an existing contract with a promoter.\u201d<\/p>\n

For Fearon, this is ultimately a story as old as time and one that, at the age of 51, he is tired of rehashing. He doesn\u2019t even want to use the word \u201cracism\u201d anymore, instead describing it as \u201cselective preferences. People favour who they favour. And who they can feel a common denominator with.\u201d<\/p>\n

Change will come, he says, when those with the power to spark it recognise their worth.<\/p>\n

\u201cSometimes you just have to be the change that you want to see. Unfortunately, fighters who are coming through don\u2019t realise how powerful they are,\u201d he says. \u201cWe have to look at it and realise that anything you do is going to be difficult. If you\u2019re a person of colour, you get one or two chances and that\u2019s it. If you\u2019re European, Anglo-Saxon, Caucasian, European, there\u2019s more chances. That shouldn\u2019t be an excuse for you not to try, though.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs soon as somebody understands that they are the power, everything changes.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"This article is part of\u00a0The Athletic\u2019s series marking UK Black History Month. To view the whole collection,\u00a0click here.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":234051,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[41],"tags":[2560,417,101,3564,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-234050","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-boxing","tag-boxing","tag-global-sports","tag-sports","tag-sports-business","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/234050","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=234050"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/234050\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/234051"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=234050"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=234050"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=234050"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}