Ben Shalom & Boxxer Future Grows More Uncertain Card by Card
Ben Shalom & the future of Boxxer is growing more uncertain by the day. News about rejecting fights. Pulling fighters out of purse bids. And most of all subpar cards, on the biggest platform for sports in the UK (Sky Sports).
The Beginning Of Boxxer
Ben Shalom (CEO of Boxxer) founded Boxxer in April 2018. Originally it began as Ultimate Boxxer. An eight-man tournament in certain divisions, it ran six tournaments throughout Ultimate Boxxer. Then in June 2021, it all changed. With Eddie Hearn & Matchroom leaving Sky to join DAZN, there was a vacant slot at Sky. That spot was for Boxxer. They signed a four-year deal. Ben Shalom said: “Sky Sports has been the bedrock of British boxing for many years. We have been waiting for the opportunity to offer a transformative approach to the sport and we are delighted that Sky Sports have bought into this vision.” The first signings included the likes of Savannah Marshall, Hughie Fury & Richard Riakporhe.
Boxxers Biggest Moments
Despite all the criticism Shalom & Boxxer have made some huge events. The biggest included two PPV events for the first & second fights of Liam Smith vs Chris Eubank Jr. Selling out the 02 Arena for a historic all-women’s card. Shalom has delivered stadium fights for their homegrown fighters. Chris Billam-Smith headlining Bournemouth’s stadium. Callum Simpson headlining Barnsley’s stadium. Richard Riakporhe headlining Crystal Palace’s stadium. Being part of the rescheduled Eubank-Benn show on April 26th. Ben Shalom has delivered on multiple occasions, but as said by many, these occasions have not been often enough.
Purse Bid Issues
Despite all the amazing moments listed above, Shalom & Boxxer have had many moments that they likely won’t look back smiling at. The first includes pulling out of purse bids. One notable occasion was Frazer Clarke. Shalom pulled him out of the British scrap with Fabio Wardley due to not having enough experience. Although, in the end, it all worked out as the two had a FOTY contender later on. However, there’s more. Shalom pulled Richard Riakporhe from purse bids with Matchrooms Jai Opetaia. Further fuelling the fact that despite what Shalom says, he doesn’t like to risk his fighters. And there’s more… Shalom pulled Adam Azim from purse bids with Matchrooms Dalton Smith. They claimed they had to pursue other opportunities. We’ve yet to see the benefits of those ‘other’ opportunities.
Boxxer Undercards: Mismatches, Late Announcements
However, fighter pullouts aren’t the only downfall. The constant poor cards, matchups & opponents have been the main reason. The lack of enticing fights on the schedule. And the lack of any fights on the schedule. Not many shows per year, and the odd show they do, either have late announcements, subpar undercards or mismatches all over the place. If you take this year as an example, when Boxxer went to Sheffield, the main card lasted just 7-rounds. Despite it being on Sky Sports. The whole card was a mismatch and not one competitive fight on the main card.
That’s just an example. This weekend Boxxer return with another subpar card. It didn’t help with the cancellation of Riley-Chamberlain. But it doesn’t mean the card should be a mismatch. British champion Callum Simpson fighting a (13-2) unproven African Elvia Ngorah. Then everything else is lower than the area level on that card. It’s not just a one-off either. Almost every Boxxer card has these issues, it’s very rare when we get a well-matched card. Almost every Boxxer card gets announced late, furthering the problem of competitive fights as you can’t make competitive fights so late. An example is Terri Harper the Caroline Dubois fight on the March 7th card as it was 6-week notice, but why is Boxxer making an all-British world unification fight on 6-week notice? Their planning is all wrong and has been throughout their induction into the so-called “big leagues” of boxing promotion.
Boxxers Sky Deal
Boxxer signed a 4-year deal back in June 2021, so now in January 2025 we are heading ever closer to the date of the end of Boxxers deal with Sky. Renewal? There’s been no indication from Sky whether they will renew the deal. But from the public eye, it seems very uncertain. Boxxer have not delivered the schedule over the last years for the UK fans on Sky Sports, and therefore it’s very unlikely Boxxer will be back on Sky in the years to come.
Featured image credits to Embed from Getty Images
