It gets said after every robbery and it seems logical, but i was thinking about it and havent there always been robberies in the sport? Even when boxing was at its most popular robberies came and went, and people still tuned in for the next fight.
Hell by the sounds of it in the old days you had the entire sport controlled by the mob.
Is it because with far more people having access to watch the fights/find footage of it, more are able to comment on what they saw rather than having to go by newspaper reports?
What do you guys think, do robberies really hurt boxings popularity?
Yes, they hurt boxing's popularity but you would have to be a veteran of forum's like these for a number of years to really understand that and see it at work. S*** is real.
In my experience robberies kill boxing. I have several friends that just assume all boxing is fixed so they don't bother with it. They say I might as well just watch wrestling.
I don't think the robberies have an impact on the sports success but I think the reason for robberies ruin the spirit of competition that has a negative impact on the sports success. Promoters are too interested in grooming a product which prevents certain fighters getting the opportunity they deserve, it also results in mismatches.
I love robberies, its the only thing that keeps boxing worth talking about. If a robbery happens all you'll hear from people is "did you see that fight last night? wtf was judges thinking". Probably does the sport good when stuff like that happens.
Some of the casual fans I know would watch the major PPV's with Mayweather or Pac, but after the Bradley fight several of them stopped watching boxing altogether. Who knows what data is available, but I'm sure robberies have taken their tole on boxing viewership over the years.
The worst thing about them is they hurt fighters careers. In the commentary to the Campillo-Cloud fight where Campillo was robbed, Al Bernstein talked about 2 fights before where Campillo was on the end of some questionable decisions. I haven't seen the other 2 fights, but if Campillo should have 3 wins where he has 2 losses and a draw, that is pretty damned bad for his career, especially considering he is 34 now.
Blatant robberies disgust me on an a moral level. As a fan, they actually hurt to watch. But in recent years, your point has concerned me more and more. Maybe it's because I've gotten older, and I better understand that this is someone's livelihood. There's a reason why they call them "robberies". Some crooks literally steal money from an innocent individual and his dependents.
The worst thing about them is they hurt fighters careers. In the commentary to the Campillo-Cloud fight where Campillo was robbed, Al Bernstein talked about 2 fights before where Campillo was on the end of some questionable decisions. I haven't seen the other 2 fights, but if Campillo should have 3 wins where he has 2 losses and a draw, that is pretty damned bad for his career, especially considering he is 34 now.
It hurts some more so now because in the past people had access to only so much information, now any Joe Blow can spout off in perpetuity about decisions they didn't agree with to anyone like minded individuals.
Some people will tune out because of it, but they will usually always come back because casual fans don't watch boxing to see decisions and even the most casual fans know if you leave it in the judges hands you might just regret that choice.
Robberies seem to benefit USA fighter's , most who are robbed are foreign fighters Like Castillo Pacquaio or Mexican American fighters those who receive gifts are usually Black fighters like Mosley, Mayweather Peterson and sure there's more but you get my drift
Robberies due hurt the sport for casual boxing fans. Not for the hardcore fans though. Will cry about the decision for a couple of days and vent to others on here but we move on. Some of my buddies will pitch in and some won't for the next PPV fight after a robbery.
I always thought "only on casual fans eyes" since no matter the fishiness of the outcome the hardcore will always tune again......but the casuals are the biggest piece of the ppv pie and look stronger each time out, which could be attributed to modern times, technology etc.
I honestly think boxing will always be a classic sport that will go through rough patches but will come back with Marquez' tenacity and remain solid sport since its global.
I'm not going to pretend I know on a large scale level, but my parents and about half a dozen of my friends who watched boxing stopped because of a robbery at some point.
Interesting... I suppose also that there is so much more choice now, if boxing slips even a little in someones mind there are like a gazillion other channels to watch.
I'm not going to pretend I know on a large scale level, but my parents and about half a dozen of my friends who watched boxing stopped because of a robbery at some point.