ONE of the strangest tasks I undertook while working as a spokesman for the World Heavyweight Champion was to train the aforementioned boxer in Millwall FC’s starting XI ahead of an appearance on the now defunct Sky Sports show around 2010.
In addition to the starting 11, names and positions of the players, I would also give them the name of the manager, the results of the last three matches and remind them of their position in the league and what can still be achieved this season. Only then could we both be sure that during the few minutes of the program devoted to discussing football rather than fighting, the boxer’s reaction would not cause embarrassment or reveal the fact that he did not actually support Millwall, much less care at all football.
Like most things in high-level sports, it was an exercise in manipulation and deception. Take up the challenge and by joining a football club you will have every chance of finding your tribe and reaping the financial benefits of a built-in fan base ready to follow you across the country and watch you fight. But get it wrong, which was always a risk when you performed with zero knowledge of football, and you could end up being the butt of a joke or worse, called a charlatan; snake oil salesman.
It so happened that the sensitivity and foresight of the presenters meant that this was never a problem for this boxer. In fact, the boxer appeared on the show time and time again and announced that he was a Millwall fan, all the while repeating the name “Neil Harris” to himself as if it were not the name of a centre-forward but of the man who had kidnapped his child. In other words, he survived and became popular on the show. Even Millwall fans showed up to his fights from time to time, although not enough to justify him going to great lengths to ensure their presence.
Others, more true, fared better. For example, Ricky Hatton had legions of Manchester City fans accompanying him to Las Vegas, and recently we saw cruiserweight boxer Chris Billam-Smith boxing and winning at the stadium of his beloved club AFC Bournemouth, whom he has supported since childhood. Indeed, these connections have made Billam-Smith one of the surprising success stories in British boxing, his rise recalling a time when real ticket sellers were not only commonplace, but also products of the local community and often linked in some way to the nearest football club.
Incidentally, Billam-Smith’s next fight will again see the ring set in the middle of a football pitch, although this time in south London rather than the south coast. Meanwhile, his opponent will be Richard Riakporhe, a resident of south London, who, as a Crystal Palace fan, will fight for Billam-Smith’s WBO cruiserweight belt at Selhurst Park. As you can see, he, like Billam-Smith, is also a fan and when it comes to Palace, he doesn’t need any hints. If you have any doubts, consider Riakporhe’s reaction when asked on Sky Sports this week to name two Palace players he thought would be the best boxers. His answer: “Joachim Andersen or Daniel Muñoz.” Suffice it to say, only a true Palace fan could give such an answer, and Billam-Smith is also someone whose love of Bournemouth not only precedes his boxing career, but at times seems even stronger than his love of boxing.
Riakporhe (left) and Billam-Smith (right) in action five years ago (Dan Istitene/Getty Images)
So this is not a fabricated stunt on the part of Riakporhe and Billam-Smith. Their love for football is rather genuine and something that defines them as boxers at this stage of their career. For Billam-Smith, the greatest night came at home when he won the world title on his favorite soccer pitch, while for Riakporhe, the sound of “Glad All Over” has been the soundtrack to more than one of his knockout victories, and on June 15 he gets the chance to fight for world title in front of Palace fans at Selhurst Park.
Without that support, both cruiserweights would likely have a harder time (a) taking fights and (b) finding relevance in a division that is notoriously uncomplicated to ignore. But that’s what tribalism in football is all about: not only is it unique, but if done right it can offer boxers a loyalty they can’t find in their sport.
Only the wise realize this. Others, with all their ambition and arrogance, aim much higher and wider and invariably fail. They focus on the world at huge without focusing on the club or community first, thinking that the only way to achieve success is to be known to as many people as possible.
However, this is where they go wrong. In fact, many people have confused social media numbers with gate numbers or pay-per-view subscriber or purchase numbers, and now they’re struggling to understand why the two simply aren’t related. But here’s why: in a lawless world where most things are free, if you know where to look, you now have to rely less on generating interest in a fight or fighter than on buying the audience’s loyalty and trust and, ultimately, their generosity.
It’s true that some boxers toil away on social media every day, trying to generate interest in their name and fights, and yet when you come to fight night, all you see when they are in the ring are empty seats. Why? Because while these boxers have built an audience of sorts, it’s constantly online; that is, those who are probably watching the fight, but are doing so at home, on a laptop or phone, via an illegal stream. Choose to engage with this type of crowd and that is the price you will ultimately pay. On the other hand, as they say, touch the grass and set foot in the real world, and there is a much greater chance that your personality – your personality – will actually connect with real, living, breathing human beings who may, never you know, I’m actually parting with real money to watch you fight. Maybe one day you will even find yourself on the grass of a soccer field full of fans and then you will know that you have scored a goal.
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