Has boxing in Japan now fallen like MMA?

[croz]

I'm getting a little worried now. Normally when they stage a show in Japan boxing will appear on the top ten most watched sports for the week. Their super show on New Year didn't even crack the top ten.

Now this could be nothing at all, but I've been keeping an eye on the ratings in Japan and boxing hasn't climbed to the top once this year so far. Maybe if someone could point out the fights that should have been highly anticipated I can check the date to see if they're on the top ten. Japan has had some big fights so far this year hasn't it?

On the other hand, Olympic boxing was one of the most watched events in Japan through the whole Olympics, averaging more than 20 million viewers every time it was on, even for non-Japanese fights. I don't know why but boxing seems to have vanished and I'm now seeing more sumo on the list, where as last year boxing was bigger than sumo.

[Check]

Not that I really care about what people in Japan are watching, but I'd say it's safe to say that one year is not a big enough sample size to conclude if a sport has fallen in popularity in a country.

[croz]

Not that I really care about what people in Japan are watching, but I'd say it's safe to say that one year is not a big enough sample size to conclude if a sport has fallen in popularity in a country.

In Japan it absolutely is. They have a fad culture. Something can be popular one week then vanish the next. The fear from the start when boxing started coming back was that it might die out like the MMA and K1 fad did.

Japanese networks are also very quick to drop anything due to a slight dip in ratings. I mean they make US TV networks look tolerant by comparison.

And I think boxing fans should care what people in Japan are watching. Japan is a huge market for boxing. Boxing's ratings in Japan make K2 in Germany look like small time.

[any craic lad?]

That would be a shame.Maybe the fall off Hasegawa and Nishioka have made people lose interest since they were very popular.The fact that the New Years show didn't do well is suprising but didn't Ioka and Uchiyama fight on different networks?

[ELPacman]

I think the KO loss of Hozumi Hasegawa had something to do with that, lol. Another hype job that was blown away the minute he tasted the elite level. Just wait until they bring in another hype job. That'll get their attention for awhile.

[paypayvay]

I think the KO loss of Hozumi Hasegawa had something to do with that, lol. Another hype job that was blown away the minute he tasted the elite level. Just wait until they bring in another hype job. That'll get their attention for awhile.

hypejobs ? they have 4 elite number ones in their respective divisions .

junior lightweight : uchiyama .
flyweight : yaegashi
Light flyweight : ioka ( i think he beats gonzalez )
strawweight : miyazaki

Koki Kameda vs Panomroonglek Kaiyanghadaogym did 14 million viewers last month .

boxing is taking off in japan ,not dying .

[croz]

Maybe it was too soon. The latest Koki Kameda fight last month pulled 10 million viewers. Came 4th for the week in sport.

Very interesting trend I'm noticing in Japanese sport ratings now. They're all down considerably from last year. I think they might have dropped across the board by about 50%. A few years ago the top ten sports would have averaged between 15-25 million. Since the start of 2013 the top 10 sports have been in the 10-3 million range.

I wonder if there's something new happening in Japan which is hurting ratings. Maybe a new technology or network has been added?

[285Kid]

If Yuzo kizota beats Robert Stieglitz HBO should up a big fight will Andre Ward in japan. Ward in japan next to 40k + fans is a good look

[ShovelThumb]

It's because the popular anime Hajime no Ippo is finished ;(