Can This Fight Bring Boxing Back?

If the fight is fair, and no shenanigans, Boxing is in a great spot. With Taylor-Spinks/Miranda-Pavlik 2 weeks from now, momentum would roll into that. Judah-Cotto and Hatton-Castillo can help too. The Taylor card benfits most; it gets hype from DLH-PBF. If the fight is good, the replay will pull #'s and act as an ad for the Taylor card. Taylor against the winner of Pavlik-Miranda would interest anyone who sees both fights and, if its Pavlik, boxing is in for a treat. Pavlik is an Ohio white kid who can draw fans if he got hot.

Those shows have helped a lot thats for sure.

It is certainly silly to think that one fight on per-per-view could bring boxing back into the mainstream, AND be the spark that rekindles the average joe's interest in boxing. However, this fight is the perfect vehicle to build some momentum in favor of boxing again with careful planning. If there was ever a fight truly worthy of pay-per-view, this is one of the few that qualify. Should this fight turn out to be boring and make people pissed off at boxing/ pay-per-view, it will almost certainly be Mayweather's fault. Floyd has said on the hardcore boxing websites that winning comes first and "looking good" comes 2nd. Casual sports fans are listening to Floyd in the mainstream media saying "I am going to put a beating on Oscar and humilate him." Therefore those casual/former/potential new boxing fans expect Floyd to fight with passion and take risks. If Floyd decides to use his feet more than his fists, throw one-punch counters here and there, shake his ass and taunt, and grab De La Hoya when ever he gets close...this is going to a boring fight and have some bad repercussions for boxing. If floyd Mayweather is half as awesome as he thinks/says he is, then he should be able to out-punch the "34 year old part-time fighter with one good arm and a cold defense." That is what Leonard, Robinson, Armstrong, Duran, Hearns, Pryor and the true all-time greats would have done. That is what people outside the forums at boxingscene.com are looking for because that is what made so many people fall in love with boxing in the past. If Floyd stinks out the joint then you can expect people to say "I told you so." Then those same people will rant and rave about the awesomeness of MMA, and how one fighter slams another dude on his back and punches him in the face until he is bloody...:soapbox:

No, not without the infrastructure, although I give credit to DLH for promoting boxing and developing a stable of fighters. He's done a lot of good for boxing beyond just fighting, unlike his egotistical opponent......

i think no matter what happens, boxing will be a little more popular afterward and then go back to what it was before. No ONE fight can save boxing. It has to be a real change in the sport. A real improvement

It can bring boxing back if theres a knockout. That's what everyone wants to see. Otherwise, I'd say no and it could only get worse if the fight is boring as hell or doing what everyone imagines with boxing and that's holding. right and that's what's oscar has to accomplish may 5th

It can bring boxing back if theres a knockout. That's what everyone wants to see. Otherwise, I'd say no and it could only get worse if the fight is boring as hell or doing what everyone imagines with boxing and that's holding.

What will bring bring boxing back is getting these big fights back on free TV. In the eighties, NBC Sport's World and CBS Sports Sectacular had boxing on Saturday and Sunday afternoons. The general public was able to see the best fighters and sort of follow along their careers. Today, $57.00 for a PPV? Not a lot of normal working people can afford that steep a price tag.

what the mexican said.

This fight can do both, bring boxing back, and hurt it substantially. If its a boring fight - Bad for Boxing If there is controversy - Bad for Boxing