War of Words: Warren vs Hearn

[Bodyshot3]

Losing Groves and Burns to a direct rival and in such quick succession must be serious, demoralising blows for FW and it does leave his cupboard looking bare until Buglioni, Saunders and Gavin graduate to world-class level.

Cleverly remains (and is a WBO belt-holder) but Nathan appears to be on the margins of the top LHW fights and hasn't captured the imagination of the media or fans. For an undefeated champ his profile is absymal.

A key question to ask (especially with GG and Ricky moving so quickly/decisively away from FW) is this; do the Burns and Groves people know something we don't about the state of Warren's business or is it just a case of Hearn having the deeper, Sky-sponsored pockets to lure them away?

Personally, I like what Warren has done for British boxing and admire his decision to play a key part in launching BoxNation. But is the channel really viable when it comes to bringing-in subscription revenue and does that money cover the actual running costs?

My guess - and it is only a guess - is that BoxNation is a loss-making operation right now and that FW lacks the publicity machine or media outlets to really drive a major subscription boom.

Interesting and hard times for Mr Warren, but I for one will not be writing him off just yet.

[Tom Cruise]

I think Warren got a bit big for his britches and tried to take on the tv channels and is losing.

Boxing isnt like football, people arent going to subscribe to a channel that is solely dedicated to showing fights unfortunately. He should, imo, have tried to patch up his relationship with Sky or tried to secure a deal with another established channel. One which people get on the basic sports package preferably.

[- Ram Raid -]

Losing Groves and Burns to a direct rival and in such quick succession must be serious, demoralising blows for FW and it does leave his cupboard looking bare until Buglioni, Saunders and Gavin graduate to world-class level.

Cleverly remains (and is a WBO belt-holder) but Nathan appears to be on the margins of the top LHW fights and hasn't captured the imagination of the media or fans. For an undefeated champ his profile is absymal.

A key question to ask (especially with GG and Ricky moving so quickly/decisively away from FW) is this; do the Burns and Groves people know something we don't about the state of Warren's business or is it just a case of Hearn having the deeper, Sky-sponsored pockets to lure them away?

Personally, I like what Warren has done for British boxing and admire his decision to play a key part in launching BoxNation. But is the channel really viable when it comes to bringing-in subscription revenue and does that money cover the actual running costs?

My guess - and it is only a guess - is that BoxNation is a loss-making operation right now and that FW lacks the publicity machine or media outlets to really drive a major subscription boom.

Interesting and hard times for Mr Warren, but I for one will not be writing him off just yet.

Warren stated this week that it's cost him a lot of money but is now breaking even.

Groves main concern seemed to be what he perceives as his lack of exposure. That was his main consideration when joining Hearn and Sky. He did also say this though:

"I know that joining Matchroom gives me stability and that's what I'm ecited about right now, being active, getting my profile out there regularly and being part of a successful team."

. . . which gives the impression that the business side of Warrens promotions, as far as bringing along fighters careers, isn't what George expected to be. It might be the case that the effort of getting Boxnation up and running has had a detrimental effect on his ability to manage his stable of fighters.