PROMOTER SNAPSHOT: OVERTIME BOXING
And no draws. They have an “Overtime Round,” where if a fight is declared a draw, they will hold a final round to determine a victor. Although many of these concepts have been around in boxing in one form or another, Overtime is committed to creating a more conclusive atmosphere for its fights. All of its bouts are in an 18-by-18- foot ring to create more action (boxing rings are typically 20 or 22 feet per side). It has “Pink Slip Fights” where two fighters contest to see which one will remain on Overtime Boxing’s shows; the loser will be spun off into the boxing hinterlands. Overtime Boxing is an offshoot of Overtime, a company that has documented up-and-coming basketball and football talent with unique storytelling approaches. Within a few short years, the company received over $100 million of funding. Major investors included Kevin Durant, Jeff Bezos, Drake, Cam Newton and other A-listers. Overtime understood the huge reach of social media and how to use it to tell stories to a new generation of sports fans. Overtime Boxing has followed its parent company’s DNA in how it develops fighters. Social media is not viewed as mere lip service; it’s a core tenet in the approach to growing and thriving in the boxing industry. Overtime Boxing has around 2 million followers on Instagram and 4 million on TikTok. It started a YouTube channel earlier this year and already has 100,000 subscribers. “YOU UNDERSTAND HOW TO TELL THEIR STORY AND WHO TO TELL IT TO.” The “who” in Hardin’s quote is a black box in itself when it comes to growing the sport. Although many boxing promoters are gifted in the technical aspects of storytelling, are they getting to the right audiences, the ones that networks and advertisers and sponsors covet? Overtime Boxing believes that it understands how to
appeal to the younger generations, and it thinks that their approach is a big separator as it looks to grow its stable of fighters. “You look at the numbers: Men may lie, women may lie, but the numbers don’t,” said Hardin. “We put a lot of emphasis on those numbers and those accounts as storytelling extensions for not just OTX (Overtime Boxing) but also for our fighters.” As Overtime evaluates fighters to sign or present on its DAZN-streamed cards, it of course is looking for boxing talent, but it is also interested in those prospective fighters’ social media followings. Do they already have fan support? Are they promotable? Do they want to get their story out into the broader public? The company is looking for marketability in addition to boxing talent. “There is a [youthfulness] about what we do,” said Tony Palmieri, manager of boxing operations. “And all of us on our team are young in the industry, but with experience, and I think that translates (Palmieri used to work for New York-based Star Boxing; Hardin had previously managed fighters). So, when we are having these conversations with fighters, we know that we aren’t Top Rank. We don’t have 50 years of experience and all of those world champions, but we know what we provide is something different. And our fighters have responded to that.” Hardin will go into the ring and spar with his fighters. He’s shared the ring with undefeated lightweight prospect Jonny Mansour (5-0, 2 KOs). He believes that his ability to get into the trenches creates an added level of engagement with his fighters. “I still participate in the sport,” said Hardin. “I go to the gym and spar. And they see me working out with them. When I’m in the town of one of my fighters, I work out with them or I might get in some rounds with them, and I think that they understand that we really know what they go through. That gives you another level of buy-in with fighters.”
Overtime Boxing doesn’t lack for confidence. When starting out in 2023, it did four shows on consecutive Friday nights at the Overtime Elite Arena in Atlanta. It didn’t just dip its toes into boxing; it dove right into the deep end. And within those first four shows, it was able to identify and subsequently secure longer-term relationships with many of its core fighters, such as Donte Layne (8-0, 7 KOs), Haven Brady (16- 0, 6 KOs), Kurt Scoby (18-1, 16 KOs), Oshae Jones (9-0, 3 KOs), LeAnna Cruz (11-0, 1 KO) and Giovanni Marquez (13-1, 6 KOs). To date, Overtime has promoted 16 fight cards, and it has been pleased with the early results. It believes that fans have really embraced the Overtime Round and the Money Round. It has been enthused by the growth of the social media platforms for its fighters. After only a few short years, it now finds itself in a different position in the sport. Although it’s still an upstart, it is now an upstart with sanction body- ranked fighters, such as Cruz (junior bantamweight), Breyon Gorham (21- 0, 16 KOs, junior welterweight), Elijah Pierce (21-2, 17 KOs, featherweight) and Andreas Katzourakis (16-0, 11 KOs, junior middleweight). Now, in addition to presenting a compelling product for boxing enthusiasts, potential new fans and its media partners, Overtime must get its matchmaking right as its fighters ascend the rankings. It has been pleased with matchmaker Brendan Segalas, especially in his ability to identify fighters who have the necessary skill and also the right type of grit. Overtime Boxing wants to grow its brand and see its fighters achieve success at the upper echelon of the sport. In addition, it wants to proselytize other stakeholders in boxing. It wants other promoters to see the value in incentivizing knockouts and doing away with draws. It knows boxing needs to become more fan-friendly and do a better job of appealing to younger sports consumers. And it believes in continuing to
Middleweight prospect Nathan Lugo picked up a first-round knockout bonus in July.
challenge the status quo in how the sport is presented. “If we left the sport and we didn’t make an imprint with our innovation,” said Hardin, “the way that people receive boxing, the way that they understand it, and the way that they follow it, despite how much money we may make or our fighters may make, we would look at that as somewhat of a loss.”
SNAPSHOT FOR OVERTIME BOXING Company: Overtime Boxing Established: 2023 TV/Streaming Platform: DAZN Principals:
Britton Hardin, Sr. Director of Boxing Operations Karrie Cornell, Director of Business Operations Tony Palmieri, Manager of Boxing Operations Brendan Segalas, Matchmaker
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