If you have been to one of our meetings, you will have no doubt heard my building a house analogy. Steve (Goodwin) is the King of analogy’s, he has so many that help demonstrate a concept to people. But this is one I tell boxers.
A successful career should be like building a house, everyone has clearly defined roles and sticks to their job in hand. The brickie does the brick work, The electrician does the electrics, and the plumber does the plumbing. Everyone is clear and a solid beautiful house is built. Because everyone is experienced in their own roles.
A perfect boxing career can be built if, A fighter fights, a trainer trains and a manager manages. But too often in boxing we can have a situation where the trainer wants to manage, and the boxer wants to promote, and the manager wants an input in training!
Coming back to the house analogy, imagine if you were building a house and the electrician you hired turned up and said “I am going to do the brickwork today, I think I can do it, I have watched loads of people do it before so I am going to give it a go” you wouldn’t let them do it! It wouldn’t even be a consideration. Common sense tells you that.
Over the recent years there has been an increase of trainer/ managers. So one person undertaking dual roles. I personally think this can be a potential pitfall for a boxers’ career. (Also key point here, I say can be and not always a pitfall, as there are always exceptions to the rule.)
Let me explain why.
Fighters have a board recognised contract with a manager & vice versa, this gives both a level of protection and a level of commitment as well. If there are any issues and either side are not fulfilling their roles, they can lodge a complaint with the board and a hearing is undertaken to sort the issue.
Big promoters do not have a board recognised contract, but the large TV promotional companies have the financial clout to hire legal teams to draft a personal services contract, (promotional contract) which again sets out the parameters giving both sides assurances.
Trainers have no such protection, there is no board recognised contract that protects both sides and they usually do not have the financial resources to hire a legal team to draft a contract. Leaving them more exposed that other license holders.
Behind fighters, I think trainers are the most underrated and underappreciated people in the sport of boxing, at all levels, but for this article I am only referring to professional trainers. Trainers on the whole are some of the most hard-working individuals in the sport, they give countless hours in camp for preparation, with gym work, sparring, fight night etc. Most professional boxers are in the gym with the coach 5/6 times a week. That is a huge commitment not only with time but also financially.
All while knowing that a boxer could walk away from them at any moment with no recourse for doing so. All that time and all that money invested by the trainer can be lose in one single fall out.
That is a huge commitment to ask of someone who invests more time than any other person in the boxers’ team. Nor the manager or promoter invests more time into a fighter than the trainer. Plus consider the trainer takes a smaller % of a fighter’s purse than a manager. (as per BBBofC regulations a maximum a trainer can take is 10% gross of a fighter’s purse & a manager can take 25% net of a fighter’s purse). So it is the most time invested for the least amount of money and the least protection. That’s a pretty bum deal on the face of it.
Now we never want a situation where we have another contract that prevents a fighter from fighting, it is hard enough for fighters as it is. But in my opinion a lot of trainers seek to obtain a manager’s license to help give themselves better protection from exploitation.
Being a trainer/ manager allows them to (if they so wish) under the rules charge the board the full 35% (10% trainer & 25% manager). It also means the boxer is tied to them for a period of time via the manager’s contract. So this partly fulfils both the financial and leaving at any moment risk which trainers face.
Now while these managers contract with the trainer does not mean that they have to be the trainer for the duration. It does make changing trainers during this managerial contract term exceedingly difficult, and this is one of the pitfalls that I refer to earlier.
Imagine boxer Fred Bloggs is managed and trained by John Doe. They have a 3-year contract and for the first year all things are rosy. But year 2 Fred starts to question some of John’s training methods, so Fred seeks an alternative trainer. He finds a new trainer in Joe Schmoe. Fred now has to go to John and explain to him that he doesn’t rate him as a trainer anymore and he thinks Joe is better. This will no doubt cause a hit to John’s pride and now Fred also has to rely on John doing the right job for him managerially for the next 2 years while he trains with Joe. That’s a difficult situation for all involved, but especially difficult for the boxer. Sure, on paper John should do the right thing by Fred going forward, but human beings are more complex than the above example & this is where one of the pitfalls lie.
Boxers should be allowed to change trainers; a boxer is the most important person in professional boxing and so they should be able to make the decision which is right for them. But they should understand that the decisions they make can affect their careers and the careers of others.
If there were a board recognised contract say for 15 months maximum, then I feel this could help give better outcomes from all parties. I suggest 15 months because I think the first 3 months should have a cool off period, at any point within the first 3 months either party can end the deal without recourse. This period would allow the fighter and trainer to see if they could work together before the 12-month commitment kicked in.
This would give the fighter security knowing that for the at very least the next 12 months they are collaborating with this trainer and can fully buy into it. While giving the trainer security the fighter is with them without them having to undertake a second role like a manager to artificially create it.
This also gives the boxer more security than it looks on face value. The risk to the fighter by introducing this is they are contractually stuck with a trainer for 12 months (after the cool off period). So if they pick the wrong trainer than it could affect their career. But that risk isn’t negated by the current system, they could still pick the wrong trainer and end up being managed by them for 36 months. So the latter presents a bigger risk for the fighter than the former.
I want to make clear here that I am not razzing on trainer/ managers. There are some successful ones and competent ones out there. It has worked for many, and I am sure it will continue in the future. But I do feel many trainers feel they are forced down the managerial route to get some protection rather than wanting to go down that route.
Coming back to the house maybe the electrician can do the brickwork, maybe he would do an amazing job. I am sure there are many electricians out there who can do brickwork, But do you want to take the risk?
Boxing is an amazing sport, and it is held together by incredible fighters who give so much for the entertain of us fans. As mentioned earlier trainers give so much for so little and I feel a little protection for them, benefits not only themselves but the fighter also.
However just to throw a cat among the pigeons, I do feel this will create a separate set of problems for trainers. I think boxers might just change at the end of a year for something new. We see this is boxing management all the time. You know the grass is always greener saying! This is because there would be a natural finish to the contract and therefore the usually awkward ‘I want to leave’ conversation would naturally come up.
So by introducing this it might kill off the long-term relationships you can see between fighters and trainers (although these long trainer/managers relationships are the exception rather than the rule). But at least everyone is clear about each other’s commitment.
Plus it leaves everyone clear on their role in building the house (or career) and that can only mean a better potential outcome for fighters.
Article written by Kevin Campion
