By Larry Goldberg<\/p>\n
In Season 6 of The Sopranos, Patsy Parisi tries to shake down a new Starbucks-type coffee chain the same way the mob always extorted the local spots. The manager doesn\u2019t flinch. It\u2019ll have to go through corporate in Seattle, he tells them. They try to intimidate him with threats of vandalism and violence, asking how \u201ccorporate\u201d would react to such disruptions. The manager shrugs\u2014they\u2019ve got ten thousand stores, they wouldn\u2019t even feel it. Then he delivers the kill shot: \u201cEvery last fuckin\u2019 coffee bean is in the computer. It has to be accounted for. If the numbers don\u2019t add up, I\u2019d be gone and someone else will be here.\u201d Walking away, Patsy says: \u201cIt\u2019s over for the little guy.\u201d<\/p>\n
I think about that scene a lot lately. Not because I\u2019m comparing boxing promoters to wiseguys\u2014although some days, the wiseguys had more honor. When the corporations move in, they don\u2019t just beat the little guy. They build a machine that doesn\u2019t even have a place for him.<\/p>\n
So is it over for the little guy? Not just in the ring. In business. In promotion. In the belief that hard work, relationships, and knowing your market still count for something when the other side of the table has a sovereign wealth fund.<\/p>\n
I grew up in Atlantic City going to boxing. I loved the club shows at the casinos\u2014packed rooms, real energy, the kind of fights where you could hear every punch from your seat. I used to work the buffet at the Tropicana. Now I promote fights in the same building. If you\u2019d told that kid where he\u2019d end up, he wouldn\u2019t have believed you. Those shows were put on by working promoters who built companies literally named after themselves\u2014Don King Promotions, DiBella Entertainment, Peltz Promotions, Cedric Kushner Promotions, Don Elbaum. These weren\u2019t faceless corporations. These were individuals whose names were on the door because their reputations were the product.<\/p>\n
That\u2019s where I got the bug. That\u2019s what made me want to do this.<\/p>\n
Today I promote under the banner of Boxing Insider Promotions. Nobody was going to name it Larry Promotions\u2014but that\u2019s essentially what it is. My team is Eric Bottjer, the greatest matchmaker in boxing. Matt Competello on the mic. Friends and top people I knew from boxing who all grew with us\u2014announcers, medicals, corner support. A gig-work crew that comes together on show night and goes home after. That\u2019s it. I handle the insurance, the hotel rooms, the ring rental, the ambulance, the security, the tickets, the sponsors\u2014or the lack thereof\u2014the marketing, the social media, the email list, the media bookings, the logistics at the venue, the production, compliance with state athletic commissions. We helped bring club boxing back to New York after the pandemic, and I\u2019ve put on 20 shows since October 2022 at Tropicana Atlantic City and Sony Hall in Times Square.<\/p>\n
But I\u2019m not blind. The landscape is changing fast, and the question isn\u2019t whether independent promoters can survive\u2014it\u2019s whether anyone outside the corporate machine will still have a seat at the table five years from now.<\/p>\n
The Racehorse That Doesn\u2019t Need You Anymore<\/p>\n
The small promoter\u2019s dream always worked like this: you discover talent early, develop it, build the fighter\u2019s record on your shows, and if they become a star, you cash out together. Like owning a racehorse. The next Floyd. The next Tyson. That was the whole game.<\/p>\n
I\u2019m lucky to say I never fell for it. People smarter than me told me early on: you\u2019re never going to sign the next Floyd. And if you did, Al Haymon or Zuffa would take him from you and you\u2019d never see your money. Just be the promoter who tries to make the best fights possible. Be a stepping stone.<\/p>\n
They were right.<\/p>\n
But here\u2019s the problem with the current landscape: even if the small promoter accepts being a stepping stone, the stepping stone still needs fighters who are willing to step. And right now, nobody wants to take risks at the club level. It\u2019s gotten worse, not better, over the last couple of years. Fighters don\u2019t want tough fights. They don\u2019t want to test themselves. They\u2019re posing for Instagram instead of getting in the ring. There used to be glory in being a club fighter\u2014in being the guy who\u2019d fight anyone, anywhere, on short notice, because that\u2019s how you built a reputation. That culture is disappearing.<\/p>\n
The proving grounds still matter. Somebody has to develop these kids before they\u2019re ready for Paramount+ and a global audience. But fewer and fewer people want to be that somebody\u2014because the economics of being a stepping stone are getting worse by the day.<\/p>\n
The Part Nobody Wants to Talk About<\/p>\n
I\u2019ve had BoxingInsider.com since 1998. Covered this sport from every angle for over 25 years. I always thought I understood the business. Then in 2022 I jumped into the promotion side and learned the hard way\u2014this business is not what we all think it is.<\/p>\n
Fighters are the last people to know what\u2019s going on in their own careers. I\u2019ve seen it firsthand. Decisions get made, opportunities appear or disappear, and the fighter\u2014the person doing all the bleeding\u2014finds out after the fact. That was true in the old model. It\u2019ll be worse in the new one.<\/p>\n
My advice to any fighter reading this: find a competent attorney. Not your buddy. Not the guy who approached you at the gym. A real attorney who understands this business.<\/p>\n
There\u2019s an old expression\u2014I have enough problems, I don\u2019t need yours too. That has never been more true than it is right now. Here\u2019s what I mean. If your goal is to get to the next level, the person representing you matters more than ever. But most fighters sign with whoever\u2019s in front of them without understanding the politics behind the scenes. They don\u2019t know who has beef with who. They don\u2019t know which relationships are burned. And here\u2019s the trap\u2014if your manager, your promoter, or your attorney has personal baggage or business history with the people making decisions, that baggage becomes your baggage. You didn\u2019t do anything wrong. You might be the most talented fighter in your weight class. But the people on the other side aren\u2019t separating you from your representation. You\u2019re guilty by association. The phone stops ringing, opportunities dry up, and nobody calls to explain why. You\u2019re just\u2026 not getting the call. And you might never find out the real reason.<\/p>\n
A centralized system has real benefits\u2014consistency, production value, clear matchmaking. But it also means fewer people control the door. And if you\u2019re on the outside looking in, it doesn\u2019t matter how talented you are.<\/p>\n
This isn\u2019t theoretical. It\u2019s playing out right now at the club level.<\/p>\n
What It\u2019s Actually Like Right Now<\/p>\n
Here\u2019s what\u2019s happening on the ground that the analysts and podcasters don\u2019t see.<\/p>\n
Every journeyman fighter who used to happily jump on a card at short notice is now sitting by the phone waiting for the big Zuffa or Turki call. For most of them, that call isn\u2019t coming. But the waiting has taken them out of the available talent pool for guys like me who are actually putting on shows.<\/p>\n
Making fights at the club level has become incredibly frustrating. Nobody wants to fight anybody\u2014and they all want top dollar to fight nobody. I\u2019ve got fighters who think that because they\u2019ll sell 20 tickets, they deserve a handpicked opponent. But if you won\u2019t sell those 20 tickets, there\u2019s no money to cover the expenses. The ring, the officials, the commission fees, the insurance\u2014none of it is free. The economics of a small show are brutally simple, and they don\u2019t care about your feelings.<\/p>\n
I want to put on good fights. Tough fights. But here\u2019s the reality\u2014I can only make money when I do A side vs. B side, where both fighters are selling tickets. That means I\u2019m at the mercy of who\u2019s willing to fight and what they\u2019re willing to accept. I don\u2019t get to just pick the best matchups. The fighters and their teams dictate what\u2019s possible, and right now, most of them want easy nights for top dollar.<\/p>\n
The guys headlining International superfights started in casino showrooms and hotel ballrooms, on cards put together by people who believed in them before anyone with real money noticed. But here\u2019s the thing\u2014the big players don\u2019t need that pipeline anymore. They\u2019re building their own. They control the development, the matchmaking, the broadcast, the whole chain. They don\u2019t need the independent promoter. And that\u2019s what kills us.<\/p>\n
So Is It Over?<\/p>\n
I don\u2019t think so. But the path forward looks different.<\/p>\n
What the independent promoter still has is the local connection. I know the rooms I promote in. I know the fighters, their families, the fans who show up every time. That relationship between a promoter and a community is real, and it\u2019s something that can\u2019t be replicated at scale no matter how much money is behind it.<\/p>\n
But that connection alone won\u2019t keep the lights on. The game is changing and the independent promoter has to change with it. We need to think like media companies, not just event producers. Own our content. Build audiences between fight nights, not just on them.<\/p>\n
The billion-dollar players can buy attention. We have to earn it. That\u2019s always been true. It\u2019s just never been this stark.<\/p>\n
Boxing has been here before\u2014every few decades, some new wave of money floods the sport and everyone declares the old model dead. HBO. Showtime. DAZN\u2019s billion-dollar era. Now Saudi Arabia and TKO. Each time, the independents who adapted survived. The ones who didn\u2019t became cautionary tales.<\/p>\n
I\u2019m one of the last American club promoters. And I\u2019ve got a local card to promote Saturday night.<\/p>\n
Larry Goldberg is the founder of Boxing Insider Promotions and owner of BoxingInsider.com.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"By Larry Goldberg In Season 6 of The Sopranos, Patsy Parisi tries to shake down a new Starbucks-type…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":459133,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[41],"tags":[2560,101,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-459132","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-boxing","tag-boxing","tag-sports","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/459132","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=459132"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/459132\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/459133"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=459132"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=459132"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=459132"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}