Ariel Helwani calls for a radical change to how boxing press conferences work, as he describes them as ‘dreadful.’
Helwani is seen presenting many high-profile combat sports events, ranging from boxing to MMA to WWE, and has a well-received YouTube channel, The MMA Hour. The MMA Hour attracts huge guests from the world of combat sports, and the channel branches out to 1.73 million subscribers.
The most recent edition of the show was in the wake of the announcement of the mammoth card taking place at Wembley Stadium that is headlined by Anthony Joshua challenging IBF World Heavyweight champion, Daniel Dubois.
The card is littered with bouts that garner massive interest from observers, including a super-featherweight world title clash between champion Anthony Cacace and Josh Warrington, WBO ‘Interim Light-Heavyweight World title bout between Joshua Buatsi and Willy Hutchinson, Tyler Denny defending his European Middleweight title against Hamzah Sheeraz, Josh Kelly taking on Liam Smith, and Mark Chamberlain facing Josh Padley.
This historic event was confirmed at a launch press conference from London yesterday, and following the press conference, promoter Eddie Hearn joined Helwani on the MMA Hour.
During the show, Helwani opened up to Hearn regarding press conferences boxing, saying they need an update because they’re dreadful
“Can I just be like, I feel comfortable being able to say this stuff to you. The press conferences are dreadful. They’re absolutely dreadful. The boxing community needs to update these. And so just because this is the way things are being done, or were done.”
Hearn questioned what Helwani would change, and he says that Anthony Joshua should be the first to speak as he is A-Side, and that the media should be allowed to ask questions.
“Oh, they’re absolutely dreadful. The long talking at the beginning, going down the line, the fact that AJ is the last person to speak, he’s the star of the show. He’s the A side. He should be the first person to speak. I don’t want to hear from Spencer and from the coaches and from all these people before we get to the main guys, get right into it. Boom, boom, boom, boom, boom. Let the media ask questions. That’s how you get the good stuff going. Have some energy, have some fans there. It needs to be updated. And I’m saying this out of a place of love. I love this stuff.”
Hearn agreed with Helwani, stating that he also believes a freshen-up is needed.
“I agree. I actually had the conversation about an hour ago that things need to freshen up on a number of different areas.”
Boxing has seen many iconic moments occur at press conferences, some even over the top. But many may see them as monotonous, as they usually follow a similar structure.
Boxing Social is now on WhatsApp! Join our channel by clicking here and getting all the latest boxing news direct to your phone.