CANCELLED – Jay Byrne Has Harsh Words for Fighters as he Pulls Breaks on Fastlane Card

A disgruntled, forthright and honest Jay Byrne has laid blame at the feet of the boxers when canceling the Fastlane card this evening.

In a statement released to Irish-boxing.com JB Promotions confirmed the show scheduled for the Red Cow’s Warehouse and April 12 has been canceled.

Rather than pick from the usual list of cancelation excuses or go the vague ‘unforeseen circumstances’ route, the former fighter turned promoter has come out strong and given very honest reasoning.

‘The Negotiator’ pulled no punches when pointing the finger of blame at some of the fighters on the bill.

Byrne claims some of the eight scheduled to appear on the now cancelled card have not done the level of ticket sales JB Promotions would expect.

Indeed, he claims there are some on the bill with ticket sales less than 10 three weeks out from the card.

The statement explains as things stand JB Promotions would stand to lose tens of thousands if they proceed, something they are not willing to do.

Such an honest approach is brave but without a TV deal ticket sales are the lifeblood of such promotions and Byrne will feel he has credit in the bank with fight fans having promoted three fights since last November.

The Statement reads as follows:

“We regret to inform you and the public but FASTLANE is cancelled. Following tracking of ticket sales we have come to the decision that the fighters are not selling near enough to cover their costs. In some cases we have fighters that have sold less than 10 tickets.

“After sitting with the team today and discussing financials it made no sense for us to take such a huge hit on the show. We have no problem losing small amounts or breaking even on shows but we will not take losses in the tens of thousands.

“Fighters really need to start understanding how the early parts of their careers works and the importance of selling tickets to cover costs until they are at a level to start earning. They need to start realising that once you become a pro fighter you are in fact a business and need to be sold as a business so people will buy into them and support them.

“We are unhappy at this as we set out these dates aiming to work and as our past three events showed we do things quite professionally and expect the same in return.”