There’s an old Japanese saying—”When the wind blows, the reeds bend.” ProBox TV’s plight and the measures to sustain itself in boxing’s current landscape could not have illustrated that adage more clearly. Amid billion-dollar broadcasts stretching across years, small boxing promotions are increasingly facing the heat, trying to find ways just to survive.

That burden has forced many of them to explore alternatives to continue providing content to fans who have followed them loyally. Addressing those struggles, former two-division champion and ProBox TV commentator and analyst Paulie Malignaggi highlighted the steps the promotion plans to take in the coming months.

“ProBox is going to pull back,” Malignaggi said on his YouTube channel. “As you guys have probably noticed, there are no more talk shows. They weren’t financially feasible. Gary, the boss of ProBox, is going to spend a lot of money, you know, with production and all this other stuff and trying to basically grow the channel. And in some ways it grows; in some ways it doesn’t.”

“The access point for ProBox is our fights,” he added. “Our fights are what everybody loves. The talk shows get only a certain amount of views. But all boxing talk shows in general only get a certain amount of views, if you notice. And that’s what Gary noticed. No matter how much we sparkle up a talk show as much as we can, it only has, you know, that give or take at best 10,000 views a day maximum per video. So, you’re not going to be able to sustain an entire staff there doing it that way. So, he’s pulling back on the talk shows.”

The number of shows ProBox has staged so far this year backs up that point. Beginning on January 30, the promotions have already put together 9 mid-tier shows, with its 10th card lined up for tonight and the next scheduled for July 18.

Meanwhile, its digital content output appears to have slowed. The popular BoxingScene videos (ProBoxTV acquired the publication two years ago) are now close to a month old, with no recent uploads appearing on YouTube.

Malignaggi also pointed out that compared to big broadcasters like Paramount, DAZN, and formerly Showtime, ProBox TV is more dependent on the personal spending of its backers.

He openly admitted that his own salary has been reduced, the company is cutting back, and everyone is making sacrifices to keep ProBox alive.

“These things are sustained by basically a mom-and-pop style,” he said. “You know, a big boxing fan like Gary Jonas wants to, you know, loves boxing and wants to do something with it, and, you know, it’s not sustained by a big monster corporation; it’s sustained by his own money.”

To address those concerns, however, owner Gary Jonas has already started making changes.

ProBox TV’s new plan to stay in the fight

The company now plans to stop the daily talk shows, reduce fight cards from two per month to one per month, and spend more money on improving the quality of that single monthly event. 

So instead of focusing on quantity, the goal now is fewer events, stronger cards, better production, and hopefully greater fan interest.

“We’re going to start in August at $5 a month. Okay, $5 a month,” Malignaggi stated. “You’re going to get one free card. I mean, well, not one free card, but one card a month on ProBox and possibly some other stuff as we try to grow it back a little bit.”

Currently, most ProBox TV shows, including their live boxing events, weekly podcasts, and behind-the-scenes content, remain free to watch. But that model has become increasingly difficult to sustain. So Malignaggi warned, “We don’t get enough subscriptions to sustain this. ProBox will be gone for good…”

The former champion also stressed how important channels like ProBox TV are to the sport’s overall ecosystem. While major broadcasters continue to stage championship-level events, boxing still needs a “middle class” that caters to fans looking for entertaining fights and solid cards that may not necessarily feature elite-level stars.

Even a powerhouse like Top Rank recently faced uncertainty after the expiration of their ESPN deal last year, eventually landing a new broadcast partnership with DAZN. Against that backdrop, ProBox TV’s decision to scale back and restructure reflects the financial reality currently shaping the sport.