Editorial Authority

It has been a long time since major media has covered boxing in a significant way. Boxing has become a sport that largely lives off of the internet. Any true boxing fan knows that the only place to get up to date information on what is happening is on the internet. There are a plethora of internet boxing sites that vary in their aim and in their quality. For in depth articles Maxboxing is the top. For constant news bits, Fight News is the place to go. Boxingtalk is best for access to fighters such as chats and interviews. For this post however I must single out Fight News and Boxingtalk for a practice that has bothered me for a while.

For some reason Fight News has long chosen to place an exclamation point after every single posting. One recent post is titled, "Kwayiba Stops Sithembile!" No one has likely heard of either fighter or cares. Is it really breaking news that deserves an exclamation point? It gets the same treatment that Juan Manuel Marquez beating Marco Antonio Barrera gets. I am not suggesting that these results should not be posted, as that is what Fight News does, they give news from all over the world. Just save the added emphasis for truly top news.

Boxingtalk, which until their recent string of hiring excellent writers, was focused entirely on getting the scoop and having chats and interviews with fighters. One practice that they have continued to follow is seemingly posting every press release sent in by a promoter or publicist. An example from this week is on Jameson Bostic who is fighting Robert Allen. Again, it is likely that no one has heard of or cares about Jameson Bostic. Further, this is not news. A press release is the creation of the fighter's team and will not have anything critical to say. Boxingtalk should exercise discretion in posting these. When Golden Boy sends out a press release on Oscar, post it. When Silverhawk sends out a posting announcing that they have signed a fighter no one has heard of and that he happens to be some regional sanctioning body champ to boot, keep it out. The only reason I can see for posting this is that the promoter pays for it as advertising. If that is the case, please make it clear that that is what it is. Boxingtalk is not the only party guilty of this, they just happen to be a very visible one.