BoxingScene had hoped to be on site to bring you coverage of this weekend’s event in London and the bill headlined by Chris Eubank Jnr-Conor Benn, but the organizers of The Ring’s event have chosen not to accredit this outlet.

BoxingScene was not declined a pass, nor have we been told the media section is oversubscribed, as has been the case previously. At the time of this writing, we have simply not received a response to our applications to cover both fight week and the night itself.

A big part of me doesn’t want to go down this route explaining why BoxingScene is not at these events, but I feel we owe our readership. 

Not everyone is entitled to accreditation, but BoxingScene had previously been able to work uninhibited with working press passes in Saudi Arabia and at the BMO Stadium in Los Angeles.

We were not accredited for Anthony Joshua-Daniel Dubois (although we did receive an email beforehand about our coverage), and then we were told Artur Beterbiev-Dmitry Bivol II was oversubscribed. 

This week, our applications – filed through Boxxer and Matchroom – which both had us at shows in Nottingham and Birmingham respectively last week, have been left unanswered.

Having spoken to several people linked with the event, fingers have been pointed to each of the groups involved with accreditation, and we are no further forward. 

BoxingScene has been, and will continue to be, critical of events, subjects, fighters, promoters and anything else when we deem the facts call for it – in the same way we, as an editorial organization, are critical of other promoters (and, indeed, fighters and other associated figures) when necessary. Those other promoters know and expect it, and probably resent us for some of our criticism – but they also know that it comes from a desire to improve the sport for the health of fighters and benefit of consumers.

BoxingScene remains independent and impartial, and we are within our rights to discuss the subjects that we understand are increasingly taboo – including freedom of the media and sportswashing.

This column is not a declaration of war, nor a sign or submission, but a lamentable indictment of the shift in journalism away from a traditional version that has long been established and respected – even if sometimes grudgingly. This isn’t only in boxing, either. It is rapidly spreading across the sporting landscape. It is unfashionable for journalists to ask hard questions. It is far more fashionable to want to be friends with the figures who are meant to be covered with a discerning eye.

At BoxingScene, we are a group of writers and editors – individuals, no less – who have no agenda aside from being objective and truthful to ourselves and our readers. Most of our staff have been professional journalists for more than a decade. In fact, the majority of us have been doing it for two decades and some for longer.

Although some of us might have endured several nuclear spats with promoters and managers, none of us before has been accused of having an agenda.

We at BoxingScene will continue to do what we believe is right, and we will stand up for the things we believe in, and do everything in our power to cover these events with the same robust detail and passion for the sport to which our readers have become accustomed.

BoxingScene will be here for the fans, the fighters and those in the business. We will tell the stories. We will write the columns. We will interview without prejudice, focusing on what we are doing and trying to be the best that we can be without focusing on what others are doing and in spite of what others might try to do to us.

Yet our publication, after scooping a 1-2-3 for Event Coverage at the recent Boxing Writers Association of America awards, will not be at this weekend’s event featuring Benn and Eubank.

Our colleagues in the boxing media have told us about “a campaign to sabotage BoxingScene” – several staff members have resisted overtures to join The Ring – and this column is merely a commentary on how things have gone and a signpost to where things are seemingly going.

At BoxingScene, what we’re trying to do is our jobs. We have, in this staff’s first year on the site, worked hard to create a world-class team – and that was reflected with the recent 18 award citations by the BWAA, which we think is testament to industry recognition of our objectivity, professionalism and quality. 

Is every article a home run? No. Is every day on the site awesome? No. Do we make mistakes? Yes. Can we please everyone? No. 

We see the comments. We know how divisive topics, fights and fighters are. And our job is to create debate, apply critical thought and tell engaging stories. None of that will change. Alas, this week, it won’t be from ringside.