I didn't want to mention this as part of the previous post because I thought it would take away from the actual performances of the boxers, but I have received emails and been involved in conversations since last night concerning one aspect of the card.
While promoter Jake Smith should truly be credited for an outstanding promotion, many people have criticized him about his conduct during bouts. At a number of his shows, Smith has taken the microphone and tried to get the crowd into the fight.
Last night, while he didn't do as much of that, during the main event Smith did something even worse; he led the crowd in cheers for Tony Cygan, who is one of his boxers. That is truly unacceptable. It shows a total lack of professionalism that he or any other promoter can not have.
Smith's shows can truly stand on their own merit. The crowd was excited and packed in tight. There is truly no need for this situation to take place again.
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4 comments:
I can't argue with anything you've said, BrooklynLarry.
I hope this is just part of Jake's growth and learning process as a pro promoter.
Thanks for writing!
I know that if Jake Smith was promoting one my fighters. I would be happy as can be. Isn't his job to look out for the boxer. Why is he so wrong for looking out for Tony Cygan? I think Tony does fight on all of his shows. Perhaps the one who complained has another motive than being fair??? It sounds like to me the guy is doing one hell of a job. In fact, I had my guys box on his shows several times and have always been treated fairly. In closing, I like to tell Jake to keep up the good work.
This has nothing to do with the actual promotion of the fighters. What Jake does with Cygan, Paschall, Adam Bloom, Mike Ricasa, Russ Shiflett and others is wonderful and truly benefits them. Putting them on cards and treating fighters well is one thing.
But if Don King or Bob Arum took the microphone and started leading cheers for their boxers over the public address system, people would have a fit. They would say that it was unprofessional and people may even say the fix was in if a decision was a close or controversial one.
That's where a promoter HAS to draw the line. I say again that Jake has done a wonderful job in promoting his fighters and seeing that they have an individual and collective following. But he now has to draw the line publicly between manager and promoter.
A manager can cheer openly, a promoter can't.
Hey O-S-B,
I forgot to thank you for writing and reading. I appreciate it!
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