This is part two of a three-part deep dive by Ruth Raper. You can catch up on part one here.
ANOTHER vital factor a boxer must have to reach the top is marketability. Marketability is what a manager and promoter will focus on when they are considering signing a boxer. Characteristics such as charisma and personality make a boxer more marketable. These qualities make the boxer stand out to the public and thus able to build a strong fanbase.
Promoters often encourage boxers to tell their ‘story’ to the public. This allows them to create a narrative around their career and engage with the public on a deeper level. These components all help build a brand, which is what all boxers should strive to do if they wish to secure profitable campaign deals and brand partnerships.
Oscar De La Hoya famously told the story of his mother passing away just weeks before the 1992 Barcelona Olympics, where he successfully fulfilled her wish of him becoming Olympic champion. This inspiring story, along with his pop-star good looks, helped transform him into ‘The Golden Boy’.
Oscar De La Hoya
De La Hoya secured many brand deals, including one with McDonald’s in 1999, and became one of boxing’s biggest stars throughout the ’90s and 2000s. Obviously, none of De La Hoya’s achievements would have been possible without his skill and dedication, but there’s no doubt that his marketability aided his ascent to boxing royalty.
Arguably the most important attribute a fighter must possess when it comes to becoming a box-office draw is knockout power (which is why heavyweights appeal more to audiences than flyweights).
There is something hardwired within humans which leads us to seek out brutality, and what is more brutal than a knockout? To see the legs buckle, the lights switch off for a moment, and in that moment, everything is frozen in time. That is what many are hoping to see when they tune in for ‘the big fight’. When a fighter has the ability to knock their opponent out with one punch, they turn from a boxer into something completely different. They turn into a commodity.
The best example of this is Mike Tyson. Tyson boasts a record of 58 fights with 50 wins, 44 of those wins coming inside the distance. His freakish ability to leave his opponents unconscious earned him monikers like ‘The KO Kid’ and ‘The Baddest Man on the Planet’.
LAS VEGAS, UNITED STATES: Mike Tyson (L) of the US, knocks down Bruce Seldon, of the US, during the first round of their WBA Heavyweight Championship fight 07 September at the MGM Grand Garden in Las Vegas, Nevada. Tyson won by TKO in the first round. AFP PHOTO Jeff HAYNES/jh (Photo credit should read JEFF HAYNES/AFP via Getty Images)
Tyson’s iconic all-black shorts and boots, along with his menacing glare and enraged interactions, made him one of the most infamous figures in the 90s. Viewers would tune into Tyson’s fights in their millions (even if it meant getting up at 4am) to witness a devastating KO. The truth is that Tyson’s aura struck fear into the heart of his opponents and he had them beaten before they even stepped foot in the ring.
If you don’t possess that one-punch knockout power (and not many people do), then you can be sure that planting your feet and having a good old tear up is the next best thing when it comes to luring in the bloodthirsty audiences.
Arturo Gatti earned the hearts of millions by refusing to take a backward step and leaving everything in the ring which resulted in some of the most celebrated fights of our time. There have been many highly skilled boxers who have been labeled ‘boring’ by the general public, and in doing so have failed to reach the level of stardom that their talent warranted (I’m hoping this doesn’t happen with Shakur Stevenson).
A lesser-used avenue in the eye of the public is having an impact on culture. In the category of household name boxers (which is small), there is an even smaller category of boxers that have made a cultural impact.
These fighters represent more than just a sport or the corporate brand that they’re partnered with; they represent the people, and that is because they mirror the people. These idolised fighters often give a voice to the voiceless in times of hardship (often political), sometimes even putting their own careers on the line while standing up for what they believe to be right.
Two fighters who spring to mind are Muhammad Ali and Barry McGuigan. In 1967, when Ali was in attendance to be inducted into the U.S. Armed Forces, he refused to step forward when his name was called. He was warned that he was committing a felony punishable by five years in prison and a fine of $10,000.
Ali was called again, but again, he refused to budge. He was later arrested. The next day, the New York State Athletic Commission suspended Ali’s boxing license, and the WBA stripped Ali of his world title. After this, it took Ali three years to obtain a license to box again in the USA.
Ali’s stance on the Vietnam War resonated with many around the world. He famously asked, “Why should they ask me to put on a uniform and go ten thousand miles from home and drop bombs and bullets on brown people in Vietnam, while so-called negro people in Louisville are treated like dogs and denied simple human rights?”. Ali’s refusal to bend to the white establishment transformed him from an athlete into a cultural icon, ‘The Greatest’ in and out of the ring.
During one of the most divisive and violent periods in Ireland’s history, one boxer made the choice to fight for peace. During the 1980s, a time rife with war known as ‘The Troubles,’ Barry McGuigan refused to cause more conflict and made it clear that he would not choose one side over the other.
McGuigan has stated, “I was acutely aware of how sensitive things were. I made a big effort. I am not going to do that, I am not going to wear colours that are going to alienate people, I am not going to do anthems that are going to divide you one way or the other”.
Instead of having either Amhrán na bhFiann (the Republican anthem) or God Save The Queen (the Unionist anthem) played as he made his ring entrance, he had his father sing Danny Boy, which he says “is everybody’s anthem”. The catchphrase “leave the fighting to McGuigan” was coined and the trouble would come to a halt the week leading up to McGuigan’s fights.
There’s no doubt that McGuigan’s choice not to pick a side put his safety at risk; however, there’s also no doubt that the choices McGuigan made gave his country a much-needed respite during a war in which over 3,500 lives were lost.
Each of McGuigan’s fights was more than an opportunity to witness ‘The Clones Cyclone’ land a string of blistering punches with pinpoint accuracy or for him to captivate you with his head movement. It showed his Northern Irish brothers and sisters and the rest of the world that unity and peace were possible.