I want to show how an unpopular event can become very much expected by the viewing audience. I will do that by comparing armwrestling and boxing.

Part I. Boxing

Let us focus our attention on two boxers - Floyd Mayweather Jr and Saul Alvarez, who not so long ago faced each other in the ring. The first – a legend, an undefeated warrior, no matter the weight category, uncontested for years. Floyd lives life to the max, he parties, he drinks coke and eats burgers. You may think that such lifestyle isn’t going to get you far. But Mayweather does it easy and still wins. At night he lives life to the fullest, but during the day – he trains. He is a combination of opposites. If he kept losing all the time, you could blame it on his lifestyle. But you can’t, because he doesn’t.

The second fighter is Saul Alvarez, a 23 year old Mexican fighter who’s won 41 professional fights at his young age. This is an impressive number, but who were his opponents ? There aren’t many famous names among them. Alvarez is slower than Mayweather and he doesn’t have the lightning – quick knockout punch. So how can you compare the two ? The Mexican was doomed to lose. Floyd defended the title with no threat to himself. Now let’s go back to the moment when the first news of the fight hit the web. At the same time, many boxing fans wanted to see Mayweather face Manny Pacquiao. A fast, dangerous and technically excellent fighter. He is pretty much the only fighter in Floyd’s category who can face Floyd on equal terms. But he lost the chance when he got knocked out by Juan Manuel Marquez. He lost not because he was a bad fighter, but because he didn’t concentrate and he was too self-assured.

It seems like Floyd is alone now. No boxer to threaten him. Everyone knows that Mayweather will win with anyone in the ring. And then, out of the shadows, appears Saul Alvarez. Who is he? Why was he never before mentioned as a threat to Floyd?

Now, a big round of applause for the organizers of the fight. They focused all their attention on the fact, that Mayweather will once again enter the ring, no matter who the opponent is. Only later have they started to actively promote Alvarez. His position was backed up by bragging, public promises of taking away Floyd’s titles and belts.

Mayweather had to strike back, he had no choice. He wanted to be the winner for the audience, even before the fight. The back-and-forth drew more and more media and spectator attention. A fight that was by all means not very interesting grew to be something people expected very much. All sorts of celebrities joined in on the verbal combat, taking one side or the other. And celebrity draws media attention even more.

This way, with a favorite and a no contest challenger, the event became nr 1. Any news were awaited for and discussed. And all this even before ticket and pay-per-view sales began. The promoters noticed the huge attention and set the price levels high. All tickets were sold out, and the pay-per-view earned 150 million US $.

Part II. Armwrestling

Let’s begin with stating that armwrestling has a long way to go to become as popular as boxing is today. But the discipline draws more and more attention all over the world. Why the low level of popularity? Many would say it’s because it’s not an Olympic sport. And they may be right. It is a slowing factor, but not a stopping one. To progress we need to “borrow” certain promotional techniques from other sports. Let’s see how boxing makes “something” out of “nothing”:

1.The attention drawn by celebrities taking interest in boxing.

2.Verbal sparring between future ring opponents at every occasion.

3.Promotional videos made for every contestant.

4.Media attention surrounding each fight.

5.Active participation of boxers themselves in promoting the fight.

This minimum set of principles can be applied to promoting an armwrestling event. It is no secret that Travis Bagent and Jeffrey Hale draw a lot of attention. They are not the strongest contestants in their category, but they can draw a crowd. Charisma, showmanship – whatever you call it. I call it presentation.

A man is defined by his actions. Typical example is John Brzenk. He does not promote himself, yet he is well known and respected in the world … of armwrestling. Brzenk, Larratt, Cyplenkow are comparable in position to Mayweather in the world of armwrestling.

But they do not draw a crowd, are seldom on TV or in the papers. But their lack of popularity is not due to public disinterest in armwrestling, but to lack of promotion.

Contestants should not only keep in touch with other contestants, but also with the world outside armwrestling. There are many ways to do that: social networking, phones, meetings and press conferences. One needs to step forward, speak up and take part in debate. Only by solidifying our position can we promote our sport and make it popular. Many are afraid of opposition and criticism, but why live in the shadow of doubt and fear? Why wait for help, when we can help ourselves?

Many claim that you can’t make a profit from armwrestling. Why not? We only need to take the sport to another level. Why drown, when we can swim? It’s all up to organizers, but also promoters and the contestants themselves. The fate of armwrestling is in our hands.

I’m not saying sportsmen need to hurl insults at each other to draw media attention. We need to create a play, pick a role for ourselves, a character to create. The last Klitschko – Povietkin confrontation has proven that it can be done without aggression and scheming. Povietkin is not really up to face Klitschko, everyone knows that. But the Mayweather – Alvarez method worked again, making “something” out of “nothing”

In conclusion – we need to make as much nosie around every armwrestling event as possible. This is a mission for all the promoters and the contestants themselves. We need to learn how to draw attention to our skills and potential. That way armwrestling events will become attractive and draw attention far outside the present limited range of viewers and fans. Don’t wait – act now !

Artur Grigorjan