Monday, August 16, 2010
Sports Local boxing show offers 'family friendly type of entertainment'
Posted by Ben Bussard on Mon, Aug 16, 2010 at 2:46 PM
Boxing is a sport of execution, grace and natural ability.
It requires immense preparation, unrelenting dedication and when seen at its highest level, can be a truly awe-inspiring exhibition of artistic athleticism.
But it can also be a crudely violent and highly insensible event, taking place in even more questionable locales—seedy casinos and club backrooms.
In other words, attending a live boxing event in Atlanta has become an increasingly difficult venture. But there's one event that's trying to change all that.
The first installment of The Big Rock Out, a Vegas-style boxing show complete with a post-fight concert, was held on September 19, 2009, at the Far West Arena in Doraville.
After a successful night of boxing and live music from Cowboy Mouth, the wheels began turning on putting together a second event.
On May 1, The Big Rock Out 2 took center stage at Legends Banquet & Special Event Center (located next to Turner Field) with seven fights from six different weight classes and a performance from local band SubCam.
- Scenes from the Big Rock Out 2 in May
Despite the critical success of both events, Greg Barckhoff, organizer and promoter of The Big Rock Out, says that there's still more to build on.
"Our first two events, although successful in attracting fans and generating interest, pleasing the entertainers and doing all those things, those weren't financially successful," he said. "That wasn't something that we didn't expect. We invested in those first two events and put on a first class show so that we could differentiate ourselves from the other events in town."
Atlanta hosts several boxing shows a year, but finding those other events can be difficult.
"It's not easy to do," Barckhoff said. "You have to basically seek them out because they don't typically advertise traditionally on the radio or in the paper. It's really more of a word-of-mouth, gym-to-gym type of following and that's the typical club show, not only in Atlanta but around the southeast."
According to Barckhoff, the promoters of club shows in Atlanta often have ulterior motives when putting on their events and he wants to make sure that he separates himself from the usual promotional tactics of other event organizers.
"I don't represent any boxers. I am promoting the show," he said. "I'm trying to put on the best show possible. I'm not putting fighters on the card to pad their records to try to get them wins. I'm trying to put on competitive bouts that are entertaining to the fans. My customer isn't the boxer, my customer is the ticket buyer and I want them to keep coming back.
"That is a big difference from me to anybody else. What I want people to know is when they come to our event and our supporting our event, they're supporting a higher level, more competitive style of boxing that we hope will stick around. We have something special and different that we're trying to put out there."
Barckhoff's efforts to put on a competitive, high-level boxing show have culminated with the announcement of The Big Rock Out 3 which features eight professional bouts and the music of Eleven Standing Still.
Taking place on Friday, August 27, at the Peachtree Ballroom inside the Westin hotel in downtown Atlanta, the third installment of The Big Rock Out looks to be the best yet—at least that's the hope of the event's promoter.
"We're trying to cultivate and find true boxing fans in Atlanta that will support a "Vegas-style" show that is more reminiscent of a Braves game than a seedy backroom, unsafe environment," Barckhoff said. "We're promoting with traditional means, we're putting a lot of money into the lights, sound and entertainment. This is more of a family friendly type of entertainment."
For tickets and more information on The Big Rock Out 3, visit www.thebigrockout.com.
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