"The Stinger" Karl Hegman interviews Chris Henry (video)

All I know about Jake and Viv is that they were very close. This site covered Harris alot, but that was at a time when this site covered everything just as much. I don't remember getting any press releases from anyone about Harris, let alone getting any from Jake himself. Plus, Jake only did one or two pieces on him that had any kind of opinion(from what I remember...vaguely), and that was a LONG time ago, and the rest was just Jake reporting factual information.


Plus, to say that newspaper writers just can't get close with athletes because they're covering multiple athletes in multiple sports is dumb because they are not covering very many athletes than the average internet reporter, and they also devote more time to sports than an internet guy who has a 9-5.

 

but it's this very point that makes it impossible to take the interview seriously, or at least believe there's a shred of objectivity behind it. Karl went from interview to publicist/promoter right from jump. Yes, the segment was very entertaining - if that was his only goal, then mission accomplished. Just don't get upset when people question your integrity.

Honestly, it's the same reason why I don't bother reading Matt Yanofsky articles pertaining to Bobby Gunn, Derrick Gainer, or whoever else he manages or does PR work for. Or Brian Kennedy when he's hyping up his own light heavyweight, Berry Butler (and I've been saying for a minute that Butler-Henry is a good test for both fighters, esp. for Chris). Both are decent writers, well Matt anyway - I'm not sure I've ever seen Brian write about anyone other than Berry.

Like I said earlier in the thread, Karl's a cool dude and I got mad respect for his hustle. But if I can offer some constructive criticsm - remove yourself from the interviews, and save it for editorials. That's to say - leave your opinions out of it, they have no place in a Q&A. That goes for anyone conducting an interview.

 

Bingo.

 

Karl, with Dawson making his mandatory next month, has there been any word about the WBC ordering an eliminator between Henry and Thomas Ulrich? IMO, that would be a great test for Henry, and a win that would carry a lot of weight. I know the WBO dude beat him, and Adamek beat the brakes off of him. But that's some good company to keep - not to mention that Ulrich beat a legit top 10 LHW not too long before the Adamek fight (Branco, maybe?)

 

don't talk about things you clearly don't understand:nono:

 

Arben you must be kidding right? You were in his room, which was next to my room at the Marriott. You were even laying on his bed for Christs sake. Don't be hating. I also have no knowledge of how much contact if you have outside of boxing, so I can't confirm or deny your claims.

Also, If you think an interviewer should disclose information like friendship or any position that ther person holds or as held for a company than that's crazy.

For example, you worked for Star Boxing as a photographer and just plain helping out at shows. Should there be a warning for all of your press coverage of their events that says "Be careful what you read because I've worked for star boxing. Something that I say might be complete hype" ::

Karl's interest doesnt' make a difference. He asked him questions, he got answers. Woohoo. Karl didn't speak for him.

I find it amazing how some people take offense that one person supports a fighter and somehow FightBeat position is so. From now on I'm going to put on a disclaimer that says "the opinions you read are not necessarily that of FightBeat". Maybe that will help hahahahaha

Cupey

 

I'm not worried about people questioning the integrity of the reporter. The piece was quite entertaining and the questions themselves, were answered with complete honestly by Henry. Overall it was quite enjoyable and better than some other interviews I've seen.

Do I think Karl should remove himself more from the interviews. Yes. It would make a better work. But that's his style and you know what to expect.

Cupey

 

max kellerman did the same shit for zab judah for years. ::

 

Are you sure you didn't right any press releases for Harris??? God I seem to recall that you might have sometime back. But I could be wrong.

Cupey

 

If that's the case, then present it as an infomercial. It's a not a piece of journalistic work.

 

How about interviewmercial?

 

Nah, I never did press releases for Viv. I've contacted other writers asking them if they were interested in covering his career, but that was the extent of it.

 

is there a such thing in boxing? 90 percent of the boxing reporters have no journalistic background. i hardly treat any of them as real journalists.

 

right, so you were his PR guy. Afterall that's part of what they do. Dont' hide it. How much did he pay you? ::

 

throw yourself into that pot :tease:

 

I don't disagree with any of this. I'm just saying that until Henry convinces everyone in the ring that he's as good as Karl says, people will continue to question the motive behind the interviews. Truthfully, Henry could run the tables at LHW, move up to HW and clean house there as well, and people will still be skeptical just because it's Karl. But at least then, their claims are hollow.

Hopefully Karl hasn't become too disgusted by the thread. I would like to know if the WBC made mention of Chris' fighting in an eliminator in the near future.

 

I always find it weird when a fighter is ranked so high in one alphabet but not in the others. Foul Play?

 

Yeah, but there are guys who are trying to be professional about what they're doing.

Making infomercials doesn't equal credibility. Therefore, if you want to be taken seriously you have to behave professionally.

Truth be told, most guys only have websites because they want press passes to fights.

 

I didn't see to much of this Henry kid, but from the clips I wasnt' very impressed. But I'm just a fan with a pen so what do I know hahahaha. Just seemed opened a bit. Maybe he fights to the level of his comp. All I know is that I wouldn't make him the favorite against Dawson who I've seen in person and he always seems to impress me with his skills.

Cupey

 

He'd gladly pay me Tuesday for a hamburger today. That's how much he paid me ::

If anything, I did the job that Donald Tremblay (Main Events' "publicist") never stepped up and attempted to do.

 

Be careful...when Val and I said the same thing several pages ago...we were accused of being "envious", not providing constructive criticism and our comments were "bullshit."

 

yea, but look at a site like maxboxing. i think they're great at what they do, but it's hard for them to be unbiased when it comes to guys they're close w/ ala margarito.

i think it's inevitable not to have any sort of bias. hbo does a great job of promoting their house fighters too.

 

:bears: now that is 100% true.

Many of these guys just create websites to get free tickets. But FightBeat is a sea monster that keeps growing. We will continue to spin and fabricate lies to deceive the boxing fans. Gato Figueroa will kill Mayweather. Bobby Gunn is the next great champ. Edgar Santana will hold belts in 6 different division.

Remember where you heard it last bitches.

Cupey

 

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you tell them Joony. FightBeat favors all Korean fighters

 

Yeah but you don't see those guys shucking and jiving with fighters. I have my issues with their coverage at times, but at least their pieces are well written and they at least present the facade of being unbiased.

 

There is nothing ethically wrong with being in a fighter's room for 20 minutes. :: Maybe you need to understand what we're talking about before responding.

There is also nothing wrong with giving out contact information on a fighter, which is what Jake has done. He also didn't go around asking people to write anything on them. Jake gave me Joan Guzman's information when I was interested in the guy...he didn't say, "Here's his number, you HAVE to put something out on the guy." ::

I was never paid by star boxing when I took photos, but I was credentialed under them. Even then, I never posted any opinionated statements in my pieces. I just reported results of the fights I took photos at. If there was a questionable decision at a fight where I was credentialed for them and I favored a Star Boxing fighter, then there would be issues.

 

with chi's recent retirement, there's zero korean fighters worth mentioning. ::

 

You called Muriqi a slick boxer once. I say your reporting is questionable ::

 

He's about as slick as joony trying to pick up chicks.

 

Maxboxing is the site I had in mind when I offered the suggestion of taking yourself out of the subject matter. Aside from Gerbasi and maybe one or two others, there's very little posted these days that either isn't predominantly opinion-based or using a "how I spent my summer vacation" template. They used to be a leader, someone for other sites to model themselves after, but there's very little I enjoy reading over there in the past few years.