Marcos Villegas: the man behind Youtube's #1 boxing channel

Story by Jose Cuevas
Photo courtesy of Marcos Villegas

SYRACUSE, N.Y. – Marcos Villegas comes from a small town in the high desert of California. The town is called Quartz Hill, he later attended the California State University, Fullerton where he studied Advertising and Radio, Television, and Film 

He now has the most subscribed to boxing channel on Youtube.

Villegas did not intend to enter the profession at first, however as he assisted a MMA company in putting together a fight everything changed. "the digital plan was to get video content for them. So that's kind of how it started. They didn't have anyone to interview the fighters. So I just started going ahead and doing it and then I felt like it was something that I liked to do" said Villegas. 

He later sought out mentors and learned the ropes of the profession, while slowly building his brand. He felt he had a knack for interviewing since he was a young man, "Even when interacting with people outside of all of this from a very young age it was it was just very easy for people to open up to me when I'm talking with them," said Villegas

He sees a lot of opportunity in digital media, but also a lot of challenges as he has to consistently prove himself and work extra hard to get interviews with big names. "If you're with a big outlet. You're not going to face a lot of challenges because you have that big outlet backing you and it's easier, to get access to people because you're with a Yahoo! or ESPN or USA Today" said Villegas.

In general, boxing is very traditional sport and it can be difficult for individuals on independent or digital platforms to get big interviews or stories. "And I've been saying for years that we should be treated the same way as the print guys if not more because we get more eyes on our stuff than they do on their articles," said Villegas. 

Villegas has advice for those entering the business: "be tenacious. Tenacious is a key thing, You're going to be told 'no' a lot. No you can't speak to this guy, No you need to stop your interview, No, it's always No. Don't be afraid to ask, you know don't be  afraid to be tenacious if you need your story or your interview you know fight for it," he said. 

He is incredibly proud of what he has accomplished as not many people get to cover the sport using a digital medium and work full-time and enjoying a good quality of life. He hopes to one day have his big break and be on a network, but he also wants to take his platform, FightHub to the next level.

"I want it to be the #1 source for all combat sports. I want it to be the most subscribed to channel, the most viewed channel and I want to turn it into something like you see in these other Youtube channels in other spaces like Nerdist or IGN or Gamespot and I kind of want to do what they're doing but with combat sports and be on par with those other big channels," Said Villegas.

The sky is the limit for this pioneer as he continues to break new ground through hard work and perseverance. 

A transcription of my conversation with Marcos is below but you can catch the audio version here as well.  

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Interview: Q&A with Marcos Villegas

Q: What's your first and last name and can you spell it for me please?

A: Marcos M-A-R-C-O-S Villegas V-I-L-L-E-G-A-S

Q: So where did you grow up and where did you go to school?

A: I grew up in as they say they consider the high desert over here in California a place called Quartz Hill and I grew up there but I ended up going to college at Cal State Fullerton.

Q: Ah Okay, when did you discover that you wanted to pursue sports journalism?

A: Um that's a good question actually I didn't go to school for sports journalism. When I came here to Cal State Fullerton I actually got a degree in Advertising and a degree in Radio, TV, and Film. So the sports journalism thing didn't happen until after college and by accident too. I was working for a MMA company putting together a fight and they brought me in to do all of their marketing. And part of the digital plan was to get video content for them. So that's kind of how it started. They didn't have anyone to interview the fighters. So I just started going ahead and doing it and then I felt like it was something that I liked to do. That I was naturally good at, naturally conversational with the guys. So you know I started getting a lot of mentors and they really instilled what to do, what not to do. But I also took it upon myself to go and stake out journalism classes also at the college too as well. So it kind of just happened naturally over a progression of events with me

Q: Ah okay, So why boxing and combat sports?

A: Um well you know I always liked MMA. I was a big MMA fan and that's how I got introduced to all this. Even my youtube channel you know when we started it was a MMA channel and then it progressed to a combat sports channel. Even though now the concept is more boxing than anything. But you know I always liked it, I wrestled my whole entire life, I trained in jui-jitsu, I trained in other martial arts, I trained in boxing so I just like combat sports in general because I was always into contact sports growing up. 

Q: What's your philosophy when covering boxing, what do you think sets you apart from the other sportscasters?

A: Um you know a few things, one I think I'm very easy it's easy for anybody that I interview, any subject that I have to become very comfortable with me. I think that's always been my thing. Even when interacting with people outside of all of this from a very young age it was it was just very easy for people to open up to me when I'm talking with them. People would naturally just be able to get very comfortable with me, with me not really doing anything. I don't know, I guess I come off as as very non-threatening or you know just as someone that they can open up to me. I think that's one of the things that sets me apart is that. The other thing, I don't know if you're too familiar with the fakes especially in boxing. There's a lot of people out there that aren't the most objective, are very biased when it comes to the fakes. And I think you know the other thing that sets not only me but the channel apart is that we always approach a subject being objective, but also allowing them to give their side of the story and not be ever one-sided left or right and that's something that was instilled in me when I started out very, very early on is to be objective, but you know, also too don't be biased. Allow the other side to get their voice in too but be objective to it as well. Don't ever lose your objectivity. 

Q: So you have a very successful multimedia platform, so this is going to be a two pronged question, what advice do you have for professionals looking to start an independent platform and do you see the coverage of the sport going in that direction?

A: Um advice, I would say when going for a platform you got to be extremely specific to what you want to start out, you can't just be like I want to start a sports channel. You can't just go in with that approach anymore. It has to be hyper specific, and if you could fill a niche all the better because usually its the niche sports that are the ones that are under-served or there's a market there for you to feed video to that niche. So that would be the first advice to be extremely hyper specific in what you want to do with your platform in terms of sport, what exact sport do you want to cover that would be my advice for that. Also just be consistent with the content that you produce because you want people to keep coming back and the only way to make sure that people are going to come back is if you consistently give them good content. And that's the other important part you just got to give them good quality content and people will come as for the other part of the question, um what was it again?

Q: No worries do you see coverage of the sport going in that direction?

A: You know, we see now that a lot of terrestrial networks, big studios, are all going to the digital realm. you know and I do see it going that was eventually. Um I think you know in the space that is combat sports. I think the promoters on the boxing side of things at least have been a little slow to adapt to digital, but I think they are starting to realize the amount of viewing power that we have on the digital side and the audience that we command. And really we're seen as the go to source for for video and content and news, you know on this side of things. It's really people go on Youtube and look this stuff up. People aren't reading any more, people aren't watching TV anymore they're cutting the cord especially everything is going that way too. But you know on the boxing side of things its been kind of slow. On the MMA side of things the UFC has done a great job embracing digital they really do a superb job with the content they create digital wise.

Q: Thank you, so what issues do you think boxing has nowadays and what issues do you think individuals that cover the sport, so boxing journalists, deal with?

A: Um well there's a good amount of challenges you know obviously depends on what outlet you're with. You know, if you're with a big outlet. You're not going to face a lot of challenges because you have that big outlet backing you and it's easier, to get access to people because you're with a Yahoo! or ESPN or USA Today. If you're starting off independent then it's a challenge because its a process you got to put in the time, put in the work, create relationships, and build rapport with not only the fighters but the promoters. You got to attend the workouts and the events to be to able to gain with those contacts and rapport with the industry people so it is a bigger challenge even though we command such a large viewing base and get huge numbers. I challenge, and I've been saying this, you know, I think us on the digital end get more views and more eyes on our stuff than the print guys. And I've been saying for years that we should be treated the same way as the print guys if not more because we get more eyes on our stuff than they do on their articles. No one reads anymore, so with that said, being independent and and on the digital side there is challenges because you get overlooked. You know, the print guys can go and ask for an exclusive with the big names in the sport and more likely than not you'll get it because a lot of people in boxing are very old school still. They're like oh we're going to be on the paper. Oh they're going to give us this section on the front page. And you know honestly, they don't know how many people are reading, they don't at all. They write a web story, yeah they do have analytics on that, but if something gets put in the paper you don't know how many people are actually reading that. Who reads the paper anymore? I don't read the paper, I haven't read a newspaper in like ten years. Everybody that I know has not read a newspaper in like who knows how many years. That's one of the struggles, knowing that you get more traffic than a lot of these outlets and not being taken, not that you're not taken seriously, but still having the challenge to prove yourself and not getting the access that these other guys get even though you drew bigger numbers than them.

Q: So to start concluding the interview, just what advice do you have for young professionals entering the business? 

A: You know the advice is obviously is you know like any advice in any field. You have to work hard, be persistent, be tenacious. Tenacious is a key thing, You're going to be told no a lot. No you can't speak to this guy, No you need to stop your interview, No, it's always No. Don't be afraid to ask, you know don't be  afraid to be tenacious if you need your story or your interview you know fight for it. Not saying do it in a rude way or an unprofessional way, but you know fight for it. Get it, talk to the people and really, really try to get your video or your story. The other thing is really learn the game. Learn it. Learn the insides and the outsides. Train in it. Learn the sport so you don't look like someone who is uneducated. Because the more educated you are the better you come off in your story or what you're talking about in the video and you come off better with the athlete you're interviewing. I would say the other thing too that would be important is the really studying part. Prepare, prepare for your interviews, you know to this day I still prepare for my interviews. I still do research on everybody and see what they're doing on social media or on twitter or if anything happened with them in the past couple of weeks. It will make you that much more better preparing for all this as well.

Q: The last question that I have actually is what do you perceive is your biggest accomplishment and what's next? What do you hope to still accomplish?

A: Huh, that's interesting, honestly, the biggest accomplishment is being able to work in boxing full-time and not be broke (laughs). Honestly, a lot of people that work in boxing, at least on the digital side, a lot of people have jobs and this is a part-time thing for them. The people that are writing is more of a full-time thing. But, they have to write on other sports, on current events, on hard news, on other things and boxing is just a part of what they do overall. So I think, I'm really proud of that, that you know, I was able to really turn this full-time without really depending or anybody, without having to work for anybody. I was able to take a Youtube channel and turn it into the most subscribed to boxing news media channel in all of Youtube by myself and that allowed me to work full-time in this industry. I still see that as the biggest accomplishment i could've done is being able to work full-time in this sport which I lover very much and I really care about it. Being able to work full-time and make a good living out of it because it is possible but honestly it is a lot of hard work. i lost a lot of friends. Relationships will suffer, my relationship even now is strained a little bit because of how much I work. My prior relationship it broke off because of how much I work. But it comes with the territory, I know the work that I'm doing is to secure a better future for me. That's what gives sense to the work that it is not in vain because I'm getting something out of it. And really the future, two things, I want to be on a network. That's the goal, the door hasn't completely opened up, but I'm still waiting for that big break where I'm able to get into a network. If not, I want it to happen, but I also want to take Fighthub to the next level. I want it to be the #1 source for all combat sports. I want it to be the most subscribed to channel, the most viewed channel and I want to turn it into something like you see in these other Youtube channels in other spaces like Nerdist or IGN or Gamespot and I kind of want to do what they're doing but with combat sports and be on par with those other big channels.   

Q: Thank you so much Marcos, I really appreciate you giving me the interview, just thank you, I really appreciate it.

A: Nah Man, Thank You.