“Expectation is the mother of all frustration.” -Antonio Banderas
Young fighters have dreams of making it into the pro ranks of boxing and expectations are high. There always seems to be too much politicking and behind-the-scenes nonsense even when you are atop of the pyramid.
Melissa Oddessa is still in the early stages of her boxing career. She fought three times in 2020 during the pandemic, and in back-to-back months. Most fighters today would not even dream of doing such a thing. Fast forward to 2021, she has fought twice already and has picked up a world title (IBO). Things should be going great for her right?
Well, they are not. Oddessa has not been able to land a solid fight and it has been over a month since her last fight. There are fewer women in the pro ranks so her opportunity to get a big fight should be pretty big, but it’s not. Frustration has kicked in and the dreaded “R” word has come to mind and it could be a possibility if things don’t get better.
“I didn’t turn pro in boxing to sit on my hands,” stated Oddessa via Twitter. “I really can’t believe I’m watching all these top fighters turn me down but fight each other. I’m losing respect for this female pro game. I may become the fastest retired pro boxer, this shit wack.”
Why not take a stay busy fight against a lesser opponent you might ask. Well, that’s not something Oddessa is looking to do. She would rather retire than fight lesser opponents. She wants to challenge herself and you don’t do that by taking on lesser opponents.
Sometimes it’s not the other fighters it’s the promoters holding things back. If you sign with the wrong promoter they may just end up shelving you or not giving you what you want. Oddessa has had her run-in with a bad promoter.
“I’ll be the first to raise my hand [on signing with a bad promoter] because I sure did.”
“This is what people don’t realize… promoters sign you for an exclusive deal and then turn down fights without telling you because they want you on their card instead of letting you fight on a bigger card for a title. Promoters should not be allowed to have exclusive contracts.”
She’s got a point there. I’ve said for a long time the job of a promoter is to promote. Back in the day promoters would go above and beyond especially when a fighter stood firm on who they want to fight or the direction they want to go. The promoter’s job is to get it out there to the public. Compare that to today’s promoters who want fighters to do a majority of their own promoting on social media (which the fighters should get a commission for as their job is to fight). Managers should guide you as well. Tell them what you want and they should help you along the way. If your manager and/or promoter do not do everything they can to help you then they need to be let go. Loyalty is important but at the end of the day, the most important person in the equation is you.
