Fringe Sport?

I say it is because the top 1% of professional fighters probably earn over 95% of the purses. For the other 99% of pro fighters they are fighting in small casinos in front of tiny crowds. Seems like people WANT to be boxing fans but don't know where to find it. When it is made accessible and promoted properly it generates mainstream interest. That's funny because MMA fans call MMA a "fringe sport" because 90% of the fighters just earn average livings. Relatively few are filthy rich or in destitute poverty. They think boxing is the pinnacle, where a true champion can earn unlimited income without a league controlling him. The grass is always greener on the other side. They're individual sports, you're going to have some financial outliers, but this isn't a determining factor for popularity.

I say it is because the top 1% of professional fighters probably earn over 95% of the purses. For the other 99% of pro fighters they are fighting in small casinos in front of tiny crowds. Exactly. This sums it up.

I'm not really sure. People say stuff like "the average person can't even name 3 boxers". I can't name: A single current football player A single current soccer player A single current basketball player A single current baseball player I know of uh... Joe Montana and that guy who married Posh Spice Doesn't mean those sports aren't mainstream. I just don't care about grown men chasing bouncy balls around. Some people feel that way about boxing. It's still a big sport.

Its definitely not a mainstream sport so it'd kinda have to be a fringe sport. I kinda view boxing like those sports that are only popular during the Olympics. No one gives a **** about gymnastics or the 100yd dash for 3 years & then every 4th year all kinds of people flock to those sports & others. Boxing is sorta like that being that from week to week & month to month their is a loyal base that follow the sport, but once or twice a year there are these huge events that get more casual people briefly interested in boxing. You downplayed a league, but I think thats the key to boxing becoming more mainstream popular. Boxing is a huge clusterf#ck with who's champions & who's the real top ten these days its hard to follow for even hardcore fans let alone casual fans that just want **** to be simple. Plus there is no quality control in boxing like in other sports. When you watch a NFL game or a MLB game there is a certain expectation of quality athletes. When you watch boxing you might get an elite boxer vs some manufactured record guy who've never heard of. HBO is the gold standard in the sport & they'll show a top matchup one month & GGG vs Willie Monroe or Kovalev vs the pizza delivery driver the next month. If all the top fighters were under one umbrella company, like the UFC, you could match up guys competitively more often cuz all the value would now be in that league & not in a specific fighter that the promoter is trying to carefully match so he stays winning as long & as much as possible. I get that and I want better match ups too, but i rather have what we have than what the nfl or nba has... AI got kicked out the league for being himself.. if we had a league how many champs would we miss because the league wouldn't want to have their name attached to something negative... Ali, Mayweather, Tapia, Tyson, etc...

The likes of Floyd, Manny, Cotto, or Canelo are outliers. Massively removed from the vast majority of world level fighters, never mind pro fighters generally. Most boxers scrape a living. Compare the income of the top 100 NFL players with the top 100 boxers and you'll have a better understanding of where boxing sits in the grand scheme of things. I doubt that... Wilson made $1mil last year and he's a SB champ... We forget there's a lot of boxers earning hundreds of thousands per fight... Berto, LSC, Guerrero, Rios, Alvarado... Same as NFL players...

It ist for me but it is

The likes of Floyd, Manny, Cotto, or Canelo are outliers. Massively removed from the vast majority of world level fighters, never mind pro fighters generally. Most boxers scrape a living. Compare the income of the top 100 NFL players with the top 100 boxers and you'll have a better understanding of where boxing sits in the grand scheme of things. Because of endorsement deals! They have Nike bose Gatorade.. what does boxing have everlast??? So why would you compare the lowest tier when endorsements put them at a disadvantage...

I say it is because the top 1% of professional fighters probably earn over 95% of the purses. For the other 99% of pro fighters they are fighting in small casinos in front of tiny crowds. Seems like people WANT to be boxing fans but don't know where to find it. When it is made accessible and promoted properly it generates mainstream interest.

It's not a fringe sport. Corrupt sport yes, but not a fringe sport. I would rather have a corrupt sport than a censored sport... Beadle tried to boycott Mayweather and nobody gave a s.hit... I think q.ueers tried to boycott Manny too for his biblical beliefs (f.ags shouldn't marry), but had he held his ground nobody would have given a **** either :boxing:

Why does everyone call boxing a fringe sport? Because it's not as popular as NFL, NBA, MLB? The highest paid athlete is a boxer and boxing is a fringe sport??? The likes of Floyd, Manny, Cotto, or Canelo are outliers. Massively removed from the vast majority of world level fighters, never mind pro fighters generally. Most boxers scrape a living. Compare the income of the top 100 NFL players with the top 100 boxers and you'll have a better understanding of where boxing sits in the grand scheme of things.