One For The Road

Change is inevitable. Alongside death and taxes, it is the one thing that everyone will encounter at some point in life.

This week change has come to the NY Fights platform. Founder and Editor-in-Chief Michael Woods informed us scribblers about budget cuts. Freelancers like myself would no longer be included in the forward financial planning. It’s been the way of it in the media sphere for a while; cutbacks everywhere.

While this raises questions about the future of journalism or even just averagely entertaining writing, one has to roll with the punches.

This brings to an end my almost eight-year association with NY Fights. Yes, compensation for this type of thing was never going to allow one to retire to a private island with an unlimited supply of Oban 14, but to be suddenly told your contributions are worth essentially zero is not acceptable either.

My byline will no longer appear below the splendid red, silver, and black logo at the top of the screen. I’m sad but grateful to have been here with so many talented colleagues for so long.

A Novice Writer Gets Started

It was July 2016. I knew Michael Woods from Twitter and had communicated with him a few times. As a boxing fan it was always nice to interact with someone from the boxing media. Woodsy was always approachable in this sense.

I read the articles Woods edited and wrote while he was working at thesweetscience.com and watched with interest when he branched out on his own and started NY Fights in 2015.

On a whim I asked him to look at some words I had written on whether or not a rematch between Tyson Fury and Wladimir Klitschko would take place.

During this past week I revisited that article – boy was the writing raw. Editor Woods must have liked something about it as it ran here. From that starting point I just kept going.

The fight between Leo Santa Cruz and Carl Frampton in 2016 is among the writer's favourites. Photo: Premier Boxing Champion

Some other early articles I wrote included a piece about how much I enjoyed the first fight between Carl Frampton and Leo Santa Cruz and a personal piece remembering the time Mike Tyson fought in Glasgow, Scotland. With it taking place close to where I lived, it was the first boxing event I attended in person.

Thinking back to those early days, I will be forever grateful to Michael Woods for giving me a place on the NY Fights team. Being involved with and part of a small independent site that consistently produced quality copy on boxing has always been something I have been proud of.

Forming Friendships and Keeping the Ink Flowing

The first of the three bouts between Gennadiy Golovkin and Canelo Alvarez will go down in the writer's personal history. Photo: Ed Mullholland, HBO Boxing

One thing that struck me about NYF was everyone's support for one another. We writers would promote the articles of colleagues on social media, sharing the written word far and wide.

There were also good interactions between the writers. With me, Michael Woods would offer hints and tips here and there or ask me to critique my own work, but for the most part, I felt like I had a good amount of freedom to allow my writing to develop naturally.

This was supported by Abraham Gonzalez and John Gatling, two members of the crew from those early years who helped me immensely.

Abraham remained with NY Fights for years, learning the writing and editing ropes from Woods while encouraging me. Abe is a friend for life. It’s great to see him doing well managing his own site fightsatw.com.

Gatling, always a trendsetter, perhaps saw the writing on the wall for written media and moved on to other projects some years back. Before he left he passed on this gem to me: “You’re the writer, it’s your article. Write what the fuck you want.”

I took his words to heart and then did just write what I wanted to, including a piece which compared the buildup to GGG – Canelo 1 to 1971 road movie Vanishing Point. It was out there but I felt I had the freedom to submit it for consideration. It ran.

I also learned plenty from David Phillips, a writer whose first love is film but can write mean boxing copy when needed.

During this time, I was also writing fight previews and reports and interviewing many folks from around boxing for my Q&A interview series, 7 Questions With.

Some of my favourite interviews during this time were with the aforementioned Abraham Gonzalez, Lennox Lewis, Amanda Serrano and Canadian boxing gym owner and charity activist Jennifer Huggins.

More Self-Indulgence and Going on Hiatus

Josh Taylor defeated Regis Prograis to win the World Boxing Super Series in 2019. Photo: Matchroom Boxing

Occasionally, writing about boxing meant doing just that. After some practice covering fight cards from in front of the TV, I became a ringside writer. The Hydro in Glasgow hosted Ricky Burns versus Kiryl Relikh in October 2016. I was close to the action to provide some copy for NYF readers.

The rise of Josh Taylor in Scotland wasn’t too far behind. It was a pleasure to cover some of his fights from ringside for this site. My favourite was Taylor’s 2017 bout with experienced Mexican Miguel Vazquez, which took place in a venue normally used for livestock auctions just outside of Edinburgh. Quite the experience.

Along with boxing I was given an opportunity to write about the 2018 FIFA World Cup on NY Fights. I pitched this to Woods expecting to be told no but he agreed and I thoroughly enjoyed the series of articles I was able to write about that tournament. Hopefully some readers did too.

There was also a period of time where I lost the boxing and to an extent writing bug. Instead of submitting bitter or sub-standard work I took a backward step. Woodsy told me there would always be a seat at the NY Fights table for me and during my hiatus, 2020-2022 roughly, Abraham Gonzalez encouraged me to return when I was ready. This was always appreciated.

Returning and Loving Being Back on the Team

Scott Murray, the owner/founder of Bar Sport in his hometown of Cannock, Staffordshire.

I returned to NY Fights in February 2022 with a feature article on former amateur boxer, now promoter and business owner Scott Murray. Speaking with Scott and writing up the piece really reignited my love for the process.

During the time I had been away I continued to read the articles on NY Fights. Some new bylines arrived on the site. Ace interviewer Jacob Rodriguez joined the team, as did top reporter Gayle Falkenthal from Southern California. Gayle’s enthusiasm for covering fights from ringside is second to none!

Glen Sharp was also a contributor to the site at this stage. His series on the boxing history of Sacramento reminds me of old newspaper articles written by AJ Liebling or Hugh McIlvanney.

Other great writers/reporters had joined the NYF team as the site grew over the years. Matthew Aguilar, Ryan O’Hara, Jose Corpas, Matthew Pomara, Hector Franco and latterly Aaron Brason-Stewart were all now contributing to NY Fights. I was made to feel welcome by all as I rejoined the fold. I’m sorry if I have missed anyone here.

During this time I enjoyed working on some prediction panel articles as well as curating a couple of the ‘Who Won The Weekend’ articles which were a NYF staple for a while.

I also wrote a short-lived column – the Random Sunday Read, abbreviated to RSR. I think there are only ten editions of the RSR but it was fun to write and despite it not always being exclusively about boxing, Woodsy published it enthusiastically every Sunday or Monday – sometimes I missed my own deadline!

Finale and Ciao

Writer Colin Morrison ringside in Belfast for Conlan vs. Dos Santos in Belfast in 2018.

Without wanting to get too deep and meaningful, the events of the past week have made me realise that any feelings of loyalty I have for NY Fights are actually for the people who have been here and who remain here.

Yes, it’s nice to be associated with a platform, but in this current era platforms come and go and are eviscerated with the stroke of a bean counter’s pen.

People remain. Writers still want to write despite it being perceived as an outdated art. Publishers and editors still want to do their thing. Who knows what the future holds.

If a new platform is born out of this then it would be a pleasure to reunite with Woodsy and many of the other names mentioned here. If not then fond memories have been created which will last till this brain of mine no longer works.

So, for me at NY Fights, it’s the end of an era. Thank you to everyone who has read over the years. I hope you enjoyed some of my words along the way.

Thanks also to all of my colleagues, it has been a wonderful road to traverse over the past eight years. Writing on this platform has opened other writing opportunities for me and for that I will always be grateful. It’s the end of the road for me at NY Fights. Let’s see where the next road goes.