Boxing
Massive KO and gold marketability
ANOTHER crucial factor a boxer must have to reach the top is marketability. This is what managers and promoters focus on when considering signing a boxer. Traits like charisma and personality make a boxer more marketable. These traits make a boxer stand out from the crowd and therefore able to build a powerful fan base.
Promoters often encourage boxers to tell their “story” to their audience. This allows them to create a narrative around their career and engage with their audience on a deeper level. All of these elements aid build a brand, something all boxers should strive for if they want to secure lucrative endorsement deals and brand partnerships.
Oscar De La Hoya famously told the story of his mother’s death just weeks before the 1992 Barcelona Olympics, where he fulfilled her wish for him to become an 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 went on to land numerous brand endorsement deals, including one with McDonald’s in 1999, and became one of the biggest boxing stars of the 1990s and 2000s. Of course, none of De La Hoya’s accomplishments would have been possible without his skill and dedication, but there’s no doubt his marketability helped propel him to boxing royalty.
It’s safe and sound to say that the most crucial trait a fighter must possess if they want to become a box office star is knockout power (which is why heavyweights are more popular with the public than flyweights).
There is something in humans that makes us seek out brutality, and what is more brutal than a knockout? To see the legs give way, the lights go out for a moment, and in that moment everything freezes in time. That is what many hope to see when they watch the “gigantic fight.” When a fighter has the ability to knock out an opponent with one punch, he goes from being a boxer to something completely different. He becomes a commodity.
The best example is Mike Tyson. Tyson has a record of 58 fights, 50 of which were wins, 44 of which were in the fight. His freakish ability to leave opponents unconscious has earned him nicknames such as “The KO Kid” and “The Baddest Man on the Planet.”
LAS VEGAS, UNITED STATES: Mike Tyson (L) of the United States knocks down Bruce Seldon of the United States in the first round of their WBA Heavyweight Championship fight on September 7 at the MGM Grand Garden in Las Vegas, Nevada. Tyson won by TKO in the first round. AFP PHOTO Jeff HAYNES/jh (Photo credit: JEFF HAYNES/AFP via Getty Images)
Tyson’s iconic black shorts and boots, as well as his menacing stare and incensed interactions, made him one of the most infamous figures of the 90s. Viewers tuned in to Tyson’s fights in their millions (even if it meant getting up at 4 a.m.) to witness a devastating knockout. The truth is, Tyson’s aura struck fear into the hearts of his opponents, and he beat them before they even set foot in the ring.
Unless you have the power to knock out someone with one punch (and few people do), you can bet that standing on your feet and having a good laugh is the best way to attract a bloodthirsty audience.
Arturo Gatti won the hearts of millions by refusing to take a step back and leaving it all in the ring, resulting in some of the most iconic fights of our time. There have been many highly skilled boxers who have been labeled “monotonous” by the public and thus have not achieved the level of stardom their talent deserved (I hope that doesn’t happen to Shakur Stevenson).
A less popular path in the public eye is through cultural influence. Within the category of boxers known by name (which is compact), there is an even smaller category of boxers who have influenced culture.
These athletes represent more than just the sport or corporate brand they are partnered with; they represent the people because they reflect the people. These idolized athletes often give a voice to the voiceless during arduous (often political) times, sometimes even risking their own careers to stand up for what they believe is right.
Two fighters that come to mind are Muhammad Ali and Barry McGuigan. In 1967, when Ali was attending an induction ceremony into the U.S. Armed Forces, he refused to perform when his name was called. He was warned that he was committing a felony punishable by five years in prison and a $10,000 fine.
Ali was summoned again, but again refused to back down. He was later arrested. The next day, the Fresh York State Athletic Commission suspended Ali’s boxing license, and the WBA stripped him of his world title. After that, Ali needed three years to re-license to box in the United States.
Ali’s stance on the Vietnam War resonated with many around the world. He famously asked, “Why would they ask me to put on a uniform, go ten thousand miles from home and drop bombs and bullets on brown people in Vietnam while the so-called Negroes in Louisville are treated like dogs and denied basic human rights?” Ali’s refusal to bow to the pressures of the white establishment transformed him from athlete to cultural icon, “The Greatest” in and out of the ring.
In one of the most divided and brutal periods in Irish history, one boxer made the decision to fight for peace. In the 1980s, during a period of war known as ‘The Troubles’, Barry McGuigan refused to start any more conflict and made it clear that he would not take sides.
McGuigan stated: “I was very conscious of how fragile these things were. I made every effort. I’m not going to do that, I’m not going to wear colours that are going to push people away, I’m not going to sing anthems that are going to divide you one way or the other.”
Instead of Amhrán na bhFiann (the Republican anthem) or God Save The Queen (the Unionist anthem) being played as he entered the ring, he had his father sing Danny Boy, which he says is “everyone’s anthem”. The phrase “leave the fighting to McGuigan” was coined, and the troubles stopped a week before McGuigan’s fights.
There is no doubt that McGuigan’s decision not to take sides put his safety at risk. But there is also no doubt that McGuigan’s decisions gave his country a much-needed respite during a war that has killed more than 3,500 people.
Each of McGuigan’s fights was more than just a chance to see “The Clones Cyclone” deliver a series of powerful punches with precision or to dazzle you with a head movement. It showed his Northern Irish brothers and sisters and the rest of the world that unity and peace are possible.
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