Boxing is a bit of mystery isn’t it? How many times have we seen promoters and networks come out and tell the public information about a fight or fighter and more times than not, the fans blindly believe what is being told to them?
Gone are the days of researching and finding out actual information for ourselves.
Where is the actual data that actual backs up the claims we are fed? Can anyone in the boxing industry recite actual factual statements that are backed up by numbers? Probably not.
There are many who are involved in the boxing industry who are simply trying to get ahead. More times than not it is at the expense of the fans who are perceived as being naive and too “lazy” to do the actual work of looking up data themselves.
Let’s be honest here. Fans don’t exactly want to be in a position where they have to fact check everything. Instead, they just simply want the information that is being spewed to them to come from a credible source.
Thanks to Jay Chaudhry, a three-time internationally acclaimed filmmaker and the co-founder of Break Media Group, fans will now be allowed to get a peak behind the curtain in the world boxing.
Documentaries have been done ad nauseam, but what Jay is working on will change that notion. Dear, Boxing, which is set to be released in early 2020, will be a docuseries unlike what fans of the sweet science have seen before.
“This documentary is going to completely rip the band-aid off,” said Chaudhry in a recent interview with Round By Round Boxing. “We’re going to shed light on everything from the business and promotion side to whose hands are in whose pockets. Let’s really get to the bottom of why the sport sits at the back burner of American sports.”
It may seem controversial at first glance, but this documentary is simply giving fight fans a better insight into what is actually going on. Never before have we been privy to this sort of information.
And unfortunately, many of the voices who cover the sport for reputable outlets would rather keep the bit of information that they know to themselves, instead of publicly arming boxing fans with the knowledge they should have.
I find it hilarious to see #boxing fans on Twitter argue about something related to the business side of things that they are absolutely clueless about.
— Dan Rafael (@danrafaelespn) August 26, 2019
How many times have we seen a promoter or someone affiliated with a certain network come out and tell the masses that a certain fight had record breaking numbers? That seems to happen after every fight doesn’t it?
Don’t always believe what is being told to you.
“When you hear, for example that a Jermall Charlo does 300,000 views on FOX last night. First of all, where are all of these numbers coming from,” said Chaudhry. “What statistics do you have to prove that? Most importantly, what data do you have that gives you some soft of competitive edge on your fans? And whatever you do bring to me I’m going to debunk it. That will be a few things that the documentary talks about.”
Certain fighters, promoters or even managers can become bias. Yet, one thing that can and will not be biased are the numbers.
“Data has no feeling at the end of the day,” said Chaudhry. “I’m just going to bring honest facts to the table.”
Chaudhry has never been the type to back down from anyone. He has famously gone back and forth with well-known businessman and Mayweather Promotions CEO, Leonard Ellerbe, about the promotion side of boxing.
“My conversation with Leonard on Twitter was about his old school promoting style and how he thinks sending in Tank [Gervonta Davis] to throw the opening pitch during a baseball game is going to covert fans in 2019 [laughs],” said Chaudhry. “Also, why give Davis such a big responsibility like key to the city when he won’t be gutsy enough to reply to Trump about his rude remarks about the city of Baltimore?”
Chaudhry isn’t looking for fame, money or notoriety. He simply wants boxing to be brought back to the masses and wants his documentary to help do that.
“The documentary is completely fair,” said Chaudhry. “It’s based on facts. I just want the fans to have their own opinion. You can’t just use Floyd Mayweather as your only case study. You have to move forward now. A general sports fans can’t name five of any current top 10 American fighters. That can change. They lack story telling. The fans have total control if they just sit down and do research themselves.”
Boxing is a great sport, but often times misleading information gets put out there which can falsely tell a story. If fans are given the opportunity to digest what exactly is factual and what is not, it could lead to boxing becoming a better sport. This documentary is unquestionably the first step.
“Hopefully we can shed light on those responsible for making it such a great sport,” said Chaudhry. “And this will wake up an entire fan base and make them a wiser and more educated fan through this documentary.”
