Before we get started, I would like to state that I am not saying that Steve Molitor is one of the best fighters in the world—I am just asking if the career path and business decisions he has made could help bring boxing back, and if he is the future of the sport. So before we begin, let's break down the career so far of Steve Molitor.
Steve "The Canadian Kid" Molitor is a 28-year-old boxer who is 28-0 as a professional and is the IBF Super Bantamweight Champion, a title which he has defended five times each at the Casino Rama in Rama, Ontario, and on basic cable on Canada's sports network, TSN.
Rumble in Rama, as it is called, is usually the sporting highlight of the weekend in Canada even during the NFL season and during the NHL playoffs.
This has ensured that all of his fights are big draws in Canada and has greatly increased his popularity there, where boxing was basically dead up until Molitor won the championship.
Now here is the question:
Is Molitor's business model the future of boxing, and, if it is, will it help or hurt boxing?
I think in the next few years we are going to see more boxers make these kind of deals at the start of their careers to cement their popularity—think of Celine Dion singing at Caesar's Palace in Vegas, it instantly brands the performer and the building.
When people talk about the casino, they will talk about seeing Joe Schmo who defended his Junior Flyweight title on Friday while I blew my mortgage on blackjack.
This helps both the fighter and the hotel, as it creates buzz to both the building and the boxer, and usually will create a guranteed large audience that most arenas and stadiums cannot create. Also it can create more business as well for the casino as fight fans will travel to the hotel for the fight and spend money.
We won't really see these kind of deals in major hotels like in Las Vegas and Atlantic City, but in Indian Gaming casinos across North America as they need to separate themselves from the rest and a deal with a champion boxer could help.
Now here comes the debate:
Will boxers sign deals with basic cable or even free television channels in order to expand their popularity at the start of their careers, or will the lure of PPV money be too much for them?
I personally believe there will not be too many Steve Molitors out there, as I am sure he is a rare breed and he actually has made boxing relevant again in Canada, which is hard to do as we have so many successful MMA fighters.
I personally believe that we may see a few more Steve Molitors appear in the next few years, and I think this is what will help the sport of boxing the most—boxers holding titles fighting for their fans on basic cable on major sports networks.
It is a shame there aren't more Steve Molitors in this world, as we would be hearing more about boxing and less about street thugs like Kimbo Slice.
9 comments Last one added 9 months ago — Leave a Comment
Saraswathi Siriginia 10 months ago
Great writing Chase, for one so young, you seriously make me wanna go back to school to relearn the basics of creative writing :-)
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J. Michael Morris 10 months ago
Chase, great article. I wonder who or which organiztions made these business decisions for him. It is great marketing on this fighter's behalf.
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chase ruttig 10 months ago
Have any of you Americans heard of Steve Molitor? I am just wondering because he is extremely popular in Canada and I was wondering if he any of his popularity crossed over into the U.S.
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J. Michael Morris 10 months ago
Yeah, I've heard of him, but do not find him to be of any consequence, at least not up to Anderson Silva's popularity level.
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chase ruttig 10 months ago
You know Anderson Silva is an MMA foghter right?
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Shlomo Abrin 10 months ago
I'd be wary of any deals struck with a casino. As the name of the game is profit, when he loses his first fight, which will happen at some point if he steps up to quality opponents, his market value will plummet. I hope he is reinvesting his winnings in the casino. Boxing may come and go, but old Americans with money to burn never stop filling the slots.
Does Steve happen to be of Native descent? It would, perhaps explain the casino's willingness to partner up with him.
re: Canadian Boxing
Canada has always provided the sport with greats i.e. George Chevalo, but the resurgence is really due to the influx of Romanians and Jamaicans training and fighting out of the Montreal clubs. Super middleweight Lucien Bute is killing machine and one to watch for.
Frankly, the nationality of a fighter means little to me. It is a mere a descriptive qualifier. besides, it's not as if all of his countrymen climb through those ropes with him. In the square circle, one is very much on his own.
Good article. Thanks.
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chase ruttig 10 months ago
Yes Canada has had great boxers in the past(Lennox Lewis won gold for Canada), but they are few and far between, Molitor is making boxing more relevant and popular in Canada and at least I have been seeing more youths going in boxing clubs and way more boxing on our sports networks.
Molitor is from Sarnia, Ontario and I am sure he ias an African-Canadaian, but from the photo it looks like he may be of nativa decent
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yea yea 9 months ago
african-canadian? wtf
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yeap yeap 9 months ago
molitor is as white as snow
secondly, there is no influx of jamaicans in canadian boxing... like who? most of the black boxers in montreal are haitian (e.g. adonis stevenson, jean pascal) or african (e.g. cameroonian herman ngoudjo)
the reason that there are not too many fighters coming up is that the promotion is a vicious circle... if tsn is not going to be carrying smaller cards, the purses will be even smaller; less fighters are encouraged to pursue boxing for small purses; less fighters lead to less competition and less fights; less fights, less experience, ergo less quality; less quality, less popularity, and ensuingly less coverage by the press
canada actually has quite good boxers given the population: bute, molitor, ngoudjo; troy ross; pascal; olivier lontchi
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