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The Question of Publicity

posted by Kathleen Holland on August 4, 2008, in Punch Lines By Judi Abate

By Judi Abate
Boxing Diva

Too much or not enough, helpful or hurtful? Publicity in the sport of boxing is a very confusing issue. First let me define the word publicity, "An act or device designed to attract public interest." taken from the Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary. Now that we are on the same page it is no secret that boxing is a sport immersed in notoriety and public interest usually of the negative kind. Publicists and dedicated boxing writers are always trying to move the court of public opinion from the negative views to the more just and positive side of the sport and it's participants.

The whole concept of publicity and how it relates to boxing reminds me of the story Goldilocks and the Three Bears. If a boxer does not receive enough of publicity the people surrounding him complain. If a boxer has to much publicity the people surrounding him complain he is over-exposed. So I ask you what is left? Where is the level of publicity that is "just right"?

Some of the theories regarding the concept of boxing publicity needed to be examined in order to come to a worthwhile conclusion on this matter. First, we have the idea that any publicity ( good or bad) is considered good. I'm not sure I buy that theory 100 percent. That is like saying someone who is behaving badly to get others attention is correct in doing so. Another theory out there, Live by publicity, you'll probably die by publicity. Of course there is a bigger lesson in those words but it is hard for me to believe that the boxers who crave publicity do not realize what they are getting into in the first place. The last theory I found was concerning this topic was that the more publicity you receive the more the boxing world will notice and respect you. Not true, some boxers can be plastered all over websites and magazines and that is no guarantee that the fans will start a love fest with them. In actuality it can backfire and often does, When fans begin to dislike the current "object of affection" just for the sake of proving the writer's wrong.

What I do believe more than ever is that any boxer from the amateurs all the way to the pro's and those boxers in far away gyms who never will see one sentence written about them still deserve fair and balanced publicity. The most deserving of boxers can never have enough positive publicity in their corner and it's up to the publicists and writers to find those boxers.

That is where the "just right" part of the story lies in a simple combination of averagely sized positive reinforcement that spotlights what is unique in that individual. (Not too much, not too little or none at all.) That balance is what the boxer, his public, boxing writers and the boxing community should work on in a team effort for the betterment of the sport of boxing.

Having said that there still remains one aspect of boxers and publicity that puzzles me. Some boxers claim they want publicity, need it, crave it, and deserve it. Then when they receive
this publicity they sabotage it by either retracting their statements or claiming they were misquoted. What is up with that? Doesn't that behavior only feed into the issue of the" nobody likes me" syndrome which they produces that exact result with fans. The bottom line is boxers as well as the publicity machine need to take responsibility for getting the precise word out by always keeping it honest, fair and balanced. That way the sport of fisticuffs as well as Goldilocks and the Three Bears can live happily ever after. The End.

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