By Terence Dooley

The tag ‘small hall’ boxing is not solely a comment on the size of the venue.  Sure, lots of our British ‘small hall’ shows take place in leisure centres and halls but they can also be hosted in venues as salubrious as glitzy hotel ballrooms.  Similarly, a growing number of leisure centre shows feature televised bouts between British, Commonwealth, European and, in the case of the recent Matthew Hatton versus Lovemore N’dou encounter, ‘world’ title fights, events that come complete with stacked undercards. 
 
No, ‘small hall’ refers to the boxing shows that take place off the TV radar, shows in which the promoters do not have the luxury of TV money to fall back on and that carry a ‘high risk, small reward’ status.

However, don’t let the label fool you, small hall shows are alive with vim and vigour.  You often see local boxers mixing amongst the fans in order to cheer on a regional favourite.  There are also cult figures aplenty, Choi Tseveenpurev featured on plenty of Jack Doughty’s Tara Leisure Centre shows; the Mongolian would blast aside the likes of David Kiilu and Nikoloz Berkatsashvili before calling for a unification showdown with Erik Morales. 

Few who attended will forget Michael Gomez’s off-TV comeback to the ring against dangerous journeyman Youssef Al Hamidi; Gomez, cut and behind on points, forcing the Dewsbury-based Syrian to withdraw due to an injured ankle after three crazy rounds. 

I’ll never forget a Rick Manners-promoted bill at Leeds Town Hall, Gary Sykes, the current British super-featherweight champion, featured on that one and was billed as ‘The next Oscar De La Hoya’; there was also a ding-dong scrap between journeyman Tony Randell and the Henry Wharton-esque Danny Wright; our journey home saw us bump into local lad Barry Downs and trainer Chris Aston at a motorway station.  Downs had KO’d Sujad Elahi at 1:40 of the third round with a huge, swinging shot and was still chock full of adrenaline when we spied him buying a bottle of Lucozade. 

Good nights, good times, and enormous credit goes to the hardy souls who stage these shows without the insurance of TV money, people who have to drive local ticket sales in order to pay everyone involved, stage the event and then try to escape without going too far into the red, nutters basically.

Dave Coldwell could justifiably lay claim to the label ‘king of the nutters’, not only does he promote small hall shows, he also trains fighters and he juggles all of this with a job as Head of Boxing at Hayemaker Promotions, the guy clearly isn’t normal.  Dave laughed when asked about the difficulties surrounding the small hall scene here in the UK.

“Yeah, it is getting more difficult all the time,” confirmed Coldwell.  “It is very, very hard, television money is great but even with TV revenue you have to improvise and sell tickets.  So for guys like myself the costs are still there, so are the headaches, and you’ve not got the TV money in place. 

“Security costs are a factor, medical costs also, and other little costs that people don’t see.  Loads of non-television promoters have to dip into their own pockets and then hope that things come off on the day.”

Small hall boxing has been on the wane in recent times, the economic climate is biting hard on boxing and the first to suffer are the hardy souls operating without TV income.  These promoters are left with one basic aim.

“Your main aim is to cover your costs,” continued Coldwell.  “Rotherham’s Magna Centre is quite expensive as a venue so you have to sell it out, for starters.  Though you need more security with the more people you get, it is always the same - there is always a problem to contend with!  You have to really work hard with a non-TV bill.  It is a hard job.  If you want to make money out of boxing then don’t go into small hall promoting.

“If I wasn’t a promoter my guys, like Curtis [Woodhouse], who is a work in progress, would have to go onto other people’s shows and you lose control.  I’ve got control over the development of my fighters and can bring them along at a pace that suits by putting them on my own shows.  I’ve got Curtis to 12-1 (7) and managed to do that partly by promoting him on my own shows so he could go at a pace and learn his trade.”

Indeed, Dave’s Magna Centre show on the 28th of last month was a jam-packed sell-out.  Coldwell had to juggle warming Woodhouse up for his vacant International Masters title fight with Jay Morris, the only man to have beaten Woodhouse, with making sure that there were enough seats for the punters.  Coldwell, though, believes that these types of events could become harder to stage if the sport continues to tighten its belt.

“I’m now looking to my 25th April show.  The shows aren’t as regular as they used to be and I have to juggle this with putting shows together for Hayemaker - I’m working on this and putting the MEN show together.  I do enjoy it, or I wouldn’t do it, but the problems are always going to be there.

“It is important to build, and keep, your big tickets sellers, as you need a guy to put out two hundred tickets or so in order to cover your costs.  [VIP Promotions head honcho] Steve Wood is an intelligent guy and knows that he needs these guys to bring fans with them in order to break even, as breaking even is a success in small hall promoting.

“Too many small hall promoters lose money and it makes people nervous about getting involved in these shows and putting them on.  It has dried up a bit this year, at the moment the game is lacking journeymen who can come down at short notice and give your guy the rounds.  When I was boxing you had 23-24 flyweights, look at the division now, there are 5 or 6, the numbers have dropped.  How many guys are now prepared to fight or another promoter’s show, or would be allowed to fight on a rival promoter’s show?”

Coldwell firmly believes that the non-TV shows serve a vital function within the sport, bringing through potential marquee names and giving the huge percentage of fighters who don’t make it onto the TV shows a chance to keep busy, and keep those TV and title dreams alive.  Dave hopes that those at the business end of the boxing spectrum don’t cut the sport’s oxygen supply.

“Fighters will always want to fight, I know that personally, and some fighters have been tempted into unlicensed fighting,” warned Coldwell.  “Boxing needs to be careful about how it treats its journeymen, guys who know they won’t get to title level but are here to make a bit of extra money, we can’t take away their licenses if they keep losing as boxing needs those guys, as long as they look after themselves then what harm can it do?

“There are a lot less fighters than there used to be.  If you get a pull out you are sweating, as there is no one there to step in and fill that place on the bill.  Boxing has got to get things together and meet this TV and economic situation head on, that could mean putting on the fights that people want to see.”

Coldwell is not alone in his continuing support of the small hall and the indefatigable boxing insider was quick to doff his cap to his fellow ‘nutters’.  “Steve Wood has got a full-time job, he is amazing to do what he does,” enthused Coldwell.

“When Ryan [Rhodes] signed to fight Jamie [Moore], I found out more about Steve and we had the banter, the amount of work he’s done with the time he has on his hands is absolutely fantastic.  Steve, myself, Errol Johnson, Jane Couch, Jon Pegg, and so many others, if we stopped there would be a problem in boxing, all through the levels; small hall sustains boxing.  We supply a bloodline to boxing. 

“We get a lot of hassle as well; certain attitudes in the business don’t help.  Some people might not like you and will not help you with your shows.  They’ve got understand that if I put on a show then fighters are getting paid, I am providing an opportunity for fighters and the people who work around the shows.”

It would seem that Coldwell is in it for the long haul, thoughts of ‘never again’ dissipating when basking in the afterglow of a job well done.  Coldwell, however, does have his moments of doubt.  “I’ll be honest with you, last year I was close to thinking that I don’t need all this bullshit and was close to not bothering with promoting, even though I love that side of boxing,” he revealed. 

“I get my enjoyment afterwards,” he laughed when asked why he puts himself through the mill.  “I’m doing all these different jobs on the day so don’t get to enjoy the day until I read the reports by the likes of you, Ian McNeilly or Lee Collier.  I’ll keep doing it and I’m quite fortunate in that I’ve only lost a lot of money once, if you lose 500 quid you are gutted but you console yourself with the fact that you’ve got a few fighters out there, if the loss goes up from that figure you start to think, ‘Shit’.  I’ve only lost a few grand once so I’m quite lucky.”

The aforementioned Steve Wood has been putting on shows for years now, the Salford-based promoter guided Jamie Moore to the British, Commonwealth and European titles, he brought cult figure Ali Nuumbembe all the way to the Commonwealth belt and he also guided the early career of John Murray.  Wood, who saw his stable suffer some high-profile defeats last year, was philosophical when asked if the game is getting tougher.

“It is no different than it was!” declared Wood.  “It was always difficult, for various reasons, but the lads are finding it even harder to shift tickets now simply because people have less money in their own pockets.  It is also made hard by the fact that people are angling to get on the TV shows and there are so many promoters with so many kids signed that it becomes difficult to find opponents for your own kids.”

Wood was burned as recently as last month when VIP’s Blackpool bill was pushed back a week and then postponed due to the injury-withdrawal of headliner Brian Rose and the arrest of local favourite Jack Arnfield, who has been charged with conspiracy to supply class A and class B drugs. 

When phoning to confirm the cancellation of the bill, Woods had joked that I was getting a taste of the stress he had to contend with year in and year out.  Steve and his matchmaker, Ken Morton, pulled many irons out of the fire to keep the bill alive yet had ultimately been undone by events beyond their control.

“I started off with a good number of fights, we lost three and then had to call it off, eight weeks of work went into that bill,” revealed Wood. 

“Hopefully, your matchmaker can pull those white rabbits out of the hat.  I have Ken and those guys have a network of managers and trainers who they work with and can pull favours in.  Being a new matchmaker must be very difficult, as everyone wants a favour.  People didn’t used to want to bring in my kids as opponents but I’m getting the odd phone call now so it shows you how hard it is out there.”

Wood has learned a lesson from the Blackpool situation; the promoter had already vowed to stack his bills after a projected Liverpool show fell apart late last year.  Steve believes that if you put on a deep bill then you can overcome withdrawals and other unfortunate unforeseen problems; he is bullish in the face of the mounting problems.

“What I’m planning on doing is fewer number of shows but with more fights on the shows.  Last year, I had to cancel a show in Liverpool because I started off with seven fights, which is enough, but pullouts brought it down to four.  Now, I start off with ten and if there are pullouts you can still salvage a good bill from that number.  Apart from anything else, the public deserves value for money and I appreciate that the public hasn’t got spare cash so if they come to my shows they want to see a fair number of fights,” he admitted.

Unbelievably, journeymen add to the problem, often viewed as underpaid victims of the sport the ‘have gumshield will travel’ brigade has been making the most of their particular niche.  Television shows also require journeymen and their heads are, naturally, turned by the big money on offer for losing before the TV cameras.

“The journeymen are not cheap, if you book journeymen then they are in demand and often feature on TV shows so I have to pay TV money to get these journeymen in the opposite corner.  To be honest, I’m only using them for my novice lads, the kids who are better get decent fights, as they are good enough,” confessed Wood.

“I’m very fortunate in that I work with a lot of promoters and have a very strong bond with Frank Maloney so can move kids onto his TV shows, I also help Matchroom out and have my own shows.  I’ve got three kids on the Hayemaker show on the 3rd of April and am in a fortunate position. 

“I’ve been doing this for fifteen years and people know that I’m reliable and trustworthy.  You’ve had people like [local small hall promoters] Tom Jones, Wally Dixon and Wayne Barker come and go; sometimes the standard of those shows cast a negative reflection on mine.”

Wood’s shows, like Coldwell’s, are often raucous affairs with local ticket sellers bringing a barmy army of fans, who offer useful advice such as, “Fucking chin him!” or “Hit him, hit him!” (a cry that often goes up during the ring walks), this atmosphere serves to thicken the brew and Steve is grateful that he has been able to bring on cult figures such as British Master light-middleweight title holder Alex Matvienko.

“Alex has a cult following and we are doing well by topping bills with him, he retained his title on one last weekend.  I’m not giving up on it but it is harder and harder, I wouldn’t like to do it without my relationships with TV promoters as it becomes hard to move these kids on,” he said.

“The main difficulty is the ticket selling, which boils down to marketing, as you can’t get anything in the nationals or even the big local papers.  You try to get stuff in the free local press and trust the lads to sell their tickets.

“The matchmaking is so, so difficult, there are factions about who want to keep fights to themselves and there are so many promotional firms you are seeing a rise in the number of left hand side [‘home’] fighters.

“I’m often tempted to walk away from boxing, never mind the small hall shows, as an industry there is nothing like it.  It is ninety-nine percent shit for that one percent of glory, but that one percent makes it all worthwhile.  I see Frank [Warren] took the Khan thing easier than he has done in the past, I’m taking those type of things easier myself these days - you expect to get stabbed in the back in this industry.”

Wood’s was half-laughing when he made the final statement; he’s been around the block and understands the nature of the beast.  So does another small hall promoter, Jane Couch recently gained her first champion earlier this month when Carl Drake defeated Eddie McIntosh on a Jon Pegg-promoted bill to win the British Masters 168lb belt.

Jane, a former world champion, was preaching to the choir by this point.  “There are no opponents about.  The opponents want loads of money because they get that money on the big shows,” she laughed when asked how she was finding the current small hall scene.

“I’m still going with Black Eye Promotions and we have Nick Hodges who has about twenty fighters.  We’ve had opponents pull out on the day and he’s brought fighters up from his own stable.  Nick matched most of that Hatton Newport bill and did Danny Butler against Paul Samuels for fifteen hundred quid each, which is brilliant.

“Nick has done it on mates rate and we matched those shows really well.  If you’ve got a good team then you can get by, I get help from the likes of Jon Peg, Errol Johson and Nick, the old faithful.  I’ll help them and they help me, or you can’t get anywhere.”

Jane is proud of her role and is justifiably chuffed with the recent progress of Danny Butler, who started out on smaller shows but has recently been on TV more often than Kerry Katona.  Butler has featured on Prizefighter, middleweight and light-middleweight, and he did not let anyone down when stepping up against Darren McDermott and Darren Barker, for the English and British middleweight titles respectively.

“We try for four or five shows a year, we are going to Newport next and if that goes well we’ll do six or seven.  If you go to a [Frank] Warren show then the fighters get good money for six-threes or four-threes, it is harder for us to pay that, as we don’t have TV.  Try to book a top journeyman and you are looking at a lot of money,” bemoaned Couch.

“Sometimes it is so hard, you have to take a risk if you think lads are good enough.  We can’t protect lads as much so it might not be a bad thing because you take a chance with them.  We took a chance with Danny and got him a mix of learning fights and big chances.

“You’ve got to be realistic with your lads.  Every lad turns pro with dreams of becoming a British or world champion but it doesn’t happen for many of those lads.  You get throwbacks, lads like Alex Matvienko, who just want to fight but that is rare in the modern game - fighters are trying to be promoters, promoters want to be managers.”

Jane’s popularity and esteem within the sport is testament both to her in-ring achievements and her ability to operate in a traditionally male dominated sport.  “You need friends in boxing or you’ll find it really hard, and I’ve got a lot of good friends,” she beamed. 

“Jon Pegg will give me advice or help me out.  We’ve got Sid Razak, who is a journeyman, and he’ll always give it a go and is reliable.  You need guys who can take a fight on short notice.  You need a matchmaker who does favours for people and can call on them for help.  They’ve saved so many of my shows.

“Every time you do a show you wonder why you do it.  You do it for fuck all, really, you either lose money or break even, imagine someone working for eight weeks without any money.  A good show means breaking even and being able to do the next one.  Danny recently fought for a British title and we’ve tried to balance his career.  You need to know boxing or you won’t be in good stead, no matter what your other business experience.”

Couch, like Coldwell and Wood, cannot even derive comfort on the day of the show.  “You are waiting for people, wondering if they’ve got stuck in traffic or looking at the door to see if the tickets are selling.  The day of the show is the worst day.  You are paying everyone, hoping the weights are right, it is a thankless job, which is why there is so much respect between the small hall promoters,” she revealed.

“You hope for that British or world champion but even then it is more hope than expectation, then you might get that champion and still not walk away from small hall shows.  It is the comments that make it worthwhile, you get people telling you it was a great show or fighters thanking you for keeping them busy – that means more to me than money.

“Look at the people who put the shows on and they are all pretty similar, we are all passionate people.  We all love boxing.  Tommy Gilmour works with Matchroom and still does his own smaller shows, with all the problems they bring.  He is a big promoter who helps a little promoter, and not many of them do that.  Tommy is never anything but helpful towards me and my fighters.”

Jane’s pride and joy is Danny Butler, Drake’s title win was great but Danny is that rarity in the current climate, a small haller who forced his way onto TV and into the title picture.  “Danny wouldn’t have got to where he’s been without the small hall boxing,” declared Couch. 

“Danny had regular work when he was coming up, a lot of boxers get one, two fights a year, that is no good for any boxer.  As a boxer I had more fights than most men manage because I was willing to fight anyone.  Taking the opportunities when they come, as they don’t come often.”

One way forward is for big promoters to loan fighters out to the small hall promoters, Frank Warren did this in 2007 when allowing Thomas McDonagh and Denton Vassell to fight on Wally Dixon’s bills.  Steve Wood’s link with Frank Maloney has reaped dividends and looks to be the best formula for keeping the scene alive. 

“A bigger promoter with a big stable and five Sky shows a year will eventually have to put their lads out on smaller shows”, concurred Couch, “as they need the lads out there fighting.  You might as well be with a smaller promoter in some cases as you get seven, eight fights a year as opposed to two or three for that bit more money.

“We have to work together simply because there are not enough shows to go around for the number of boxers.  I get people asking if I can get them on shows, you’d love to get them all on but you have to look after your own lads first.  It is a thankless task but you see someone like Danny get up to these big fights and can take pride in the part you’ve played.”

“How many big promoters build a lad from scratch?  He usually comes from smaller promoters to get to where he is, should he just say, ‘Thanks a lot for that, I’m fucking off now?’  We put a lot of effort in for a lot of risk and little reward,” concluded Couch, who then went onto rave about a show she is hoping to stage in Bristol, these small hallers are quite, quite mad – we’d be lost without them. 

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