Something needs to change in this sport in America. The attendance and viewership numbers continue to dwindle, and TV networks sit on their hands waiting for the next De La Hoya/Pacquiao/Tyson to appear and pull boxing out of the darkness again.
The promoters are just trying to take the TV money and run, they put nothing into this sport and it shows. Gary Shaw once told Boxing Truth that he spent virtually zero dollars promoting his fights, because the TV and casino money gave him a nice little profit regardless of attendance. Lou Dibella has flat out said that boxing is doing a nosedive, but he has to play the game just like everyone else because he's too small to do anything about it.
Look at how fans get behind their fighters in the UK, Japan, Mexico, and Germany. Meanwhile somewhere in America, two guys are fighting for the US or North American titl for a couple thousand bucks each, and guys in American can defend world titles and still make peanuts. Somethings got to change.
That is not going to attract athletes to this sport. You've seen it already; guys are coming to boxing only after attempts at more lucrative sports fail. If attendance figures continue to fall and America-based fighters continue to get in the game late and come up short, the sport will continue to shrink stateside. And that's less money in the pot overall and worse for fans everywhere.
We need boxing back on regular TV. Haymon is doing that.
We need fighters to be getting paid so that more people will want to become professional boxers: Haymon is doing that.
We need a promoter with a ****ing long term plan to grow the sport along with their business. Haymon appears to be doing something resembling that.
I don't like Haymon. I haven't had a single nice thing to say about him until now. But for the love of God, at least he's doing something. Good or bad? Time will tell. But get off his nuts and let him do whatever the hell it is he's going to do and pray for the best. Because it's looking pretty bleak out there, guys.
I've never quite understood the hate & vitriol thats directed Haymon's way...You'd think he was Suge Knight dangling fighters over a balcony & forcing them to sign...
He's basically just gettin his thing together & seems to making positive steps...All his upcoming events feature good matchups between good fighters & some still complain....
If Haymon continues on his current path he will have my full support...If things go left I'll be the first to call him on his bull****....For now I'm gonna sit back & enjoy some quality fights on free t.v. & let the rest play out & reserve judgement for when theres actually something to evaluate....
Boxing, specifically American boxing, needs to establish fight towns more than anything. Local stars would be even better, but there needs to be a recognition of the different markets that have fight fans.
Vegas, New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Atlantic City, San Antonio, Philadelphia and a host of other cities and towns are primed for boxing. The awareness is the key issue.
With Haymon and what looks to be 70 shows over the next 2 years, the effort to shine the light on markets will be made.
No man, it's not that people want what he's doing to fail, it's that people don't trust him BASED ON HIS HISTORY. Since he has got in the game, his strategy has always been low risk high rewards for his fighters. Crappy fights, big paydays. So of course people are skeptical. Of course people are nervous because that's all we've seen from the guy.
I, like most everyone else, would absolutely love for Haymon to do something awesome for the sport and be successful and give us fans QUALITY fights on a CONSISTENT basis. But I'm not going to drink the kool aid until I see it happen.
:hail::hail::hail:
Somebody buy this man a Scotch!!! I couldn't have said it better no matter how hard I tried.
Natas is easily my favorite and the best poster on the site. Beast mode.
No man, it's not that people want what he's doing to fail, it's that people don't trust him BASED ON HIS HISTORY. Since he has got in the game, his strategy has always been low risk high rewards for his fighters. Crappy fights, big paydays. So of course people are skeptical. Of course people are nervous because that's all we've seen from the guy.
I, like most everyone else, would absolutely love for Haymon to do something awesome for the sport and be successful and give us fans QUALITY fights on a CONSISTENT basis. But I'm not going to drink the kool aid until I see it happen.
:hail::hail::hail:
No man, it's not that people want what he's doing to fail, it's that people don't trust him BASED ON HIS HISTORY. Since he has got in the game, his strategy has always been low risk high rewards for his fighters. Crappy fights, big paydays. So of course people are skeptical. Of course people are nervous because that's all we've seen from the guy.
I, like most everyone else, would absolutely love for Haymon to do something awesome for the sport and be successful and give us fans QUALITY fights on a CONSISTENT basis. But I'm not going to drink the kool aid until I see it happen.
Somebody buy this man a Scotch!!! I couldn't have said it better no matter how hard I tried.
What's best about it is that it's his own money on the line -- he's buying the network time -- so he has more to lose than anybody if it doesn't work out. That gives him all the incentive in the world to deliver.
Will there be a few clunkers? Of course. I've seen people posting like HBO never has soft-touch fights for their "house" guys or never has matchups that we know are duds going in ... it's inevitable. The best NFL and NBA and MLB teams play the worst teams over the course of the season, too, but if the overall product is attractive and it's on free TV people will watch.
HBO and Showtime, to a large degree, deliver the goods to the hardcore people who are going to watch anyway ... but their model doesn't appeal to the masses who might become new fans.
This plan has a chance, at least, of growing the sport. Some fighters should catch on and become stars because of wider public exposure.
No man, it's not that people want what he's doing to fail, it's that people don't trust him BASED ON HIS HISTORY. Since he has got in the game, his strategy has always been low risk high rewards for his fighters. Crappy fights, big paydays. So of course people are skeptical.i think he has done this in order to attract marqee fighters and top prospects and now once he reached the point where he has hundreds of them he is now able to execute what he had planned this whole time. Reason i say this because long time ago like 10 years ago he was quoted saying "i can run boxing if i wanted to." Look what hes doing now ;)
Great post man
I hope good matchups continue
More people tuning in = more people to talk boxing with = more educated people are about boxing
Right now very few people have an idea about the sport
Agreed .. Barring we don't see too many garbage fights .. If there is more pile than gold it hurts the sport .. We can only hope for the best , boxing will never go anywhere though... Think it's declining now wait till mayweather and pacman retire... The right matchmaking keeps the sport alive
I agree with pretty much everything. It amazes me how many people want/think this will fail. The whole "THINK" is just a disguise for wanting it to fail as well. Baffling I tell ya.
#takeover