The Beltline: Boxer interviews will often be chopped and skewed in the baiting game

By Elliot Worsell THE headline’s importance should never be underestimated. It is especially crucial in today’s media landscape, where many readers are reluctant to look beyond it. For some, the headline is the article itself or the trigger for commenting without reading further. News outlets now prioritize clicks, making a strong headline essential to stand … Read more

Born Prematurely: Azim vs. Smith, Groves vs. DeGale, and the art of knowing when to pull the trigger

By Elliot Worsell WHEN George Groves and James DeGale agreed to meet in May 2011, they were swayed by a couple of things. The first, quite naturally, was the size of the payday, significant given only British and Commonwealth super-middleweight titles were on the line. The second, meanwhile, was an awareness that this, as a … Read more

Terror Management: How do boxers deal with nerves ahead of a fight?

By Elliot Worsell SPEND time in a boxer’s changing room on fight night and you will come away not only certain there are few environments as tense or nerve-wracking but equally certain the success of a boxer has as much to do with controlling their mind ahead of a fight as controlling their body once … Read more

The Intervention: What happened before and what happened after Howard Foster stepped between George Groves and Carl Froch in 2013 (Part III)

By Elliot Worsell (PART I of The Intervention: Froch vs. Groves can be found here; PART II, meanwhile, can be found here) AFTER Chapter VI NO longer alone, with him both surrounded and human again it is almost impossible to tell whether the boxer on the plastic chair has won or lost. The slight cut … Read more

The Intervention: What happened before and what happened after Howard Foster stepped between George Groves and Carl Froch in 2013 (Part I)

Elliot Worsell BEFORE Part I: Waiting Room A waiting room in all but name, what the room waits for on fight night is context. That and a boxer. It is the boxer, in fact, who will provide the room with both its context and its story. It is they, the boxer, who will in time … Read more