Some British fighters – Anthony Joshua, David Haye, Tony Bellew, Carl Froch and Carl Frampton amongst others – have regularly fought for multi-million pound purses during that period and nobody would begrudge them that level of compensation for reaching the pinnacle of probably the toughest, most competitive game of all.
But behind that is a sport that’s struggling to survive at grass-roots level where virtually all future champions are created and brought to the edge of a potentially multi-million pound career. The people who get them to that stage get little or nothing when professional promoters wave their cheque books at Olympic or World medalists.
Nearly all professional world champion boxers wandered into their local boxing gym at some point as complete novices, paid a nominal one-off joining fee (£10 or £20) and paid monthly subs (£5 is the usual fee) to use the gym whenever they want and to receive boxing tuition from (unpaid) coaches. Those who show promise and commitment are brought through the amateur ranks, entered into tournaments, carefully matched with other boxers to ensure their safety and mutual competitiveness and eventually – if they’re good enough – will progress to international and perhaps even Olympic squads.
After a major tournament like the Olympics or World Championships, many amateur boxers choose to retire as amateurs and turn professional. Often there is a bidding war between promoters to obtain the rights to manage that individual’s career thereafter, often involving retainers, staged payments and fight purses. And for creating that highly-trained, successful sportsman or woman, the gym they joined years earlier, the coaches that took them through their amateur careers, the governing body that looked over them and broke-even on the tournaments they competed in get…nothing.
The ‘contract’ (such as it is) that exists between amateur boxers and their gyms or coaches ceases to exist when the boxer unilaterally decides to turn professional and promoters reap the benefits thereafter (though no doubt, they would say that there is a risk v reward calculation for them and not every amateur becomes successful as a professional). Very occasionally boxers carry on using the same trainer – the later stages of Anthony Joshua’s amateur career were overseen by Rob McCracken and he continues to train AJ now - but by and large, the trainer or coach that got you there is discarded when amateurs become professionals.
GB Boxing did try to introduce a contract in 2010 whereby amateur boxers would repay the cost of their training for the Olympic squad (only) if they subsequently turned professional before participating in the Olympics but the first time it was challenged, the boxer said he didn’t have any money, the promoter refused to pay on the boxer’s behalf and the matter wasn’t pursued by GB Boxing.
It can’t be right that amateur boxing gyms create the stars of tomorrow but don’t get to share in the success they’ve created. Or that amateur boxing exists on a shoestring with gyms regularly going broke while professional boxing continues to break attendance and revenue records in this ‘golden age’ of British boxing.
Shaun McHugh, Entertainment, Sport & Media Community 2019
The views expressed are the author’s and not ICAEW’s.
