Queensbury Promotions Leading the Pack in Boxing
The announcement that Queensbury promotions have signed a deal with DAZN shows not only are they back – they’re arguably the front runners of the boxing world right now.
It doesn’t seem too long ago that in the Boxing promotional game there was Matchroom, then the rest. The constant jibes across social media showed there was no love lost between Queensbury and Matchroom, and the idea of them working together was remote.
For a spell, Frank Warren even came across as bitter. There was never anything good to say about Matchroom, or in particular, Eddie Hearn.
How times change.
(Saudi) Money Talks
For fight fans, I think we all reached a point where it was just accepted that there was no chance of a Matchroom and Queensbury Promotions unification. They both had different stables of fighters, they both had their own broadcast deals, and the only loser was the fan.
Many times there was hope for a AJ v Fury fight, or even to a lesser extent AJ v Wilder (although Wilder was technically not a Queensbury Promotions fighter, Warren was involved with him at varying levels), but they just didn’t happen.
A war of words would flare up and things would get ugly, then they’d get forgotten about.
Until Turki Alalshikh got involved.
He realised that you can’t grow a sport where the biggest fights aren’t made. It’s like a football league where the best teams don’t face each other.
Turki Alalshikh invited both Hearn and Warren to a meeting and the future of boxing changed forever. When the two promotional powerhouses in the sport work together, we all benefit. We’re seeing big fights being made, the fans are happy, the boxers are making big money and the sport can grow again.
Future of the Sport Secured?
Perhaps the only loser here could be Matchroom. We’re watching their status slightly diminish, and there’s no doubt that right now, Queensbury Promotions are certainly the big name in the heavyweight division. Matchroom aren’t out of the game by any means – they’ve still got huge names on their books, but Warren has stolen a march for now.
This is boxing though. The promotional companies ebb and flow. There are times when we’ve got a clear leader, then they fall away, but can come back again. Top Rank and Golden Boy were the big dogs once upon a time. Don King was a big deal in the 80s and 90s, and even Donald Trump dipped a toe in the boxing world.
If there’s one thing we can be sure of, it’s boxing is better for the co-operation of the big promoters.
