What does a Boxing Promoter do?

A boxing promoter sets up and promotes boxing matches and fights between different boxers. While a boxing trainer helps a boxer learn how to fight, and a manager deals with the career of a professional boxer, the promoter is in charge of making sure fights happen in a way that the public can easily view and attend. A boxing promoter is typically responsible for finding talented boxers, signing them up for a fight, finding the venue for the fight, marketing the fight, and ensuring that people come to attend the event.

To become a boxing promoter, someone typically needs to establish contacts within a boxing community, become properly licensed, and set up fights. This involves finding investors and dealing with all the financial and specific details needed to ensure that an event is successful. Once a boxing promoter is properly licensed and bonded, however, the real work often begins.

The promoter has to find talented boxers, usually locally, who people will want to come and see at a fight or event. Once the promoter finds several people to set up an event, the promoter has to find a venue that will suit the needs of the fighters and fit an audience that is appropriate in size for the type of fight being held. The majority of expenses involved in this process, such as renting a location, hiring a referee, and arranging ticket sales, are typically handled by the promoter and this often requires finding investors.

A boxing promoter usually finds people with extra money who are looking for opportunities to invest in a somewhat unorthodox opportunity. These may be professionals with disposable income or boxing enthusiasts looking to help support local fighters and the sport in general. Regardless of where the money comes from, the promoter has to find a way to convince investors that a particular fight is a good investment.

Once the finances are dealt with, fighters have been found, and a venue for the event is set, the promoter then has to actually promote the event. This is where a boxing promoter becomes equal parts salesperson and performer. Advertisements through television, radio, print campaign, and Internet can help spread the word, and at major events the promoter may even call a press conference to get additional word and excitement out about the event. Many promoters can become larger than life figures who build on an image or a performance to get people talking about an upcoming fight. The promoter often does not just talk about an event — he or she sells the event to the public.