I've been following boxing for about 18 years,when Solo boxeo was airing I literally would cancel plans or planned around it,I always defended boxing and did a bit of training as well,never missed a PPV and really tried and study it.My question is,what is the real opinion to fight fans today,not casual fans but people like us,people that we wouldn't care about the naysayers.Reason why I am asking is that I have lost most of my interest on boxing and not because the sport but the promoters and fighters,people asking fighters to jump 3 weight classes to prove themselves,fighters not caring to fight real opponents,just interested on staying on the top and making million dollars(I think is valid,but at some point you need to fight the best).I have spoke to casual fans and they have no idea who is good or not,they know the name canelo or GGG,but have no idea who Ward is,or Kovalev,nobody seems to care about Pacs coming fights,NObody will watch Garcias fight for sure..Is boxing really dying or is just me and the about 100 people I have asked?
It's high time for fans to take mismatches very seriously. Fans can't just brush them aside and assume the result is a foregone conclusion. Fans need to start doing something about these fights by supporting the underdog. Like for fans who have access to such fighters should provide moral support, give them a simple pat in the back, a sincere handshake, anything that could make him feel this is a fight he could win, give him the biggest applause when he's entering the ring on fight night, etc.
The sport has utterly abused its fans this year.
Does anyone know why a guy like Gary Russell Jr has only fought twice in two years? I am guessing he's another one who got paid handsomely for beating Hyland for example and someone somewhere has made s stand telling him he is not getting paid a bigger purse relevant to the risk to fight someone who could actually have a prayer at competing. That is pure conjecture on my part by the way.
Some boxers are more candid than others. James DeGale says straight up that he has been getting paid very well in America but he has fought good opposition. I think some of these fighters have been allowed to have an inflated sense of value. The argument is always 'well it is a dangerous sport so they should be compensated'. I agree with that but in a lot Of these fights it is the guy in the other corner who is on a real hiding to nothing.
I just wish the lowly cab drivers of the world could have access to some type of funding so they can get the best training before entering a very dangerous fight. Supporting cab drivers financially for their training in itself would provide psychological boost to the fighter.
Some enterprising individuals need to start this kind of funding and start raising funds.
I'm probably more excited than ever with all the young talent coming up. This has the potential to be an incredible era of boxing.
I agree . All we need is for these champs to try an unify
Fans need to make some adjustments with how they view every fight. Mismatches are here to stay. It is what it is now. Fans might as well enjoy every fight, warts and all.
Yeah hardcore fans will watch regardless,,, but casual fans and mainstream media have no time for that crap...
2 guys fist fighting should always bring a crowd, but boxong has somehow destroyed it..
The sport itself osnt obsolete, but how it has been run is,,,, but the sad thing is, I don't see any change in the future... PBC I thought would at least attempt to rectify the situation by cutting out the sanctioning bodies and having their own belts, Amd tough matchmaking like ufc, but it is just more of the same,,, catchweights, multiple champs, mismatches, etc..
I've been following boxing for about 18 years,when Solo boxeo was airing I literally would cancel plans or planned around it,I always defended boxing and did a bit of training as well,never missed a PPV and really tried and study it.My question is,what is the real opinion to fight fans today,not casual fans but people like us,people that we wouldn't care about the naysayers.Reason why I am asking is that I have lost most of my interest on boxing and not because the sport but the promoters and fighters,people asking fighters to jump 3 weight classes to prove themselves,fighters not caring to fight real opponents,just interested on staying on the top and making million dollars(I think is valid,but at some point you need to fight the best).I have spoke to casual fans and they have no idea who is good or not,they know the name canelo or GGG,but have no idea who Ward is,or Kovalev,nobody seems to care about Pacs coming fights,NObody will watch Garcias fight for sure..Is boxing really dying or is just me and the about 100 people I have asked?
I blow hot and cold on it at times,and reading the same pointless threads on boxing forums day after day probably doesn't help, but it depends what you're watching it for. If it's only for the big names and the best against the best then yeah, it's hard work and it ain't a good time, but if you just like watching good competitive fights then get yourself on the internet and you can find exciting fights going on all the time from around the globe - sometimes it's guys you've never heard of, but you find some real gems in there and a competitve match is a competitive match, there's still plenty of entertainment to be had.
Boxing just has no structure. It is horribly ran, has been since the late 80s, and it's totally alienated casual fans for a generation now. It's been a slow drip for years, but now you are seeing the full effects.
It's a combination of factors:
Moved from network TV to premium channels and PPv, missing out on the average fan. Having the big fights on PPV doesn't really hurt as much as not having network TV access
Horrible matchmaking, pre-PBC nearly all the major fights were not on network TV, the only ones on network TV were total mismatches which pretty much killed network card ratings to the point that they got cancelled: world wide of sports, Tuesday night fights, tnt fights, etc
Top guys not fighting each other in timely manner.. The 70s and 90s were both loaded with heavyweight talent, but the difference was that the guys from the 70s fought each other all in timely manner.. We had to wait years for tyson v evander, lennox, etc bowe-holyfield was about the only big fight that happened in a timely manner.
Too many belts, too many sanctioning bodies, too many paper champs... Way too confusing for an average fan to understand. This is one of the most damaging things to boxing.. Most of the rankings make no sense, and way too many mediocre fighters find themselves in eliminators or title fights
Fans need to make some adjustments with how they view every fight. Mismatches are here to stay. It is what it is now. Fans might as well enjoy every fight, warts and all.
In USA, it's been down for a while. There's just little to no interest. In this country, there's just too many other mainstream sports these days for boxing to compete for viewership and fans. Boxing doesn't even get a lot of coverage on ESPN. The one exception was the whole May/Pac thing. And the end result of that fight really hurt boxing more than helped it. I'm sure the lack of action turned people off of the sport. One of my friends said the fight sucked.
In other countries, boxing appears to be surging. UK seems to have quite a few big fighters and I think they have a pretty decent boxing fan base over there.
Some European countries have a big boxing following I believe. Even Canada seems to enjoy their boxing. They seem to go crazy for Stevenson up North, as well as any other big Canadian fighter.
We need to bring it back to the old days where fighters only cared about fighting. There seems to be too many politics. Too much of, "I'm A side." "I'll only meet you at this weight, or there's no fight." "I need a tune up fight."
I heard Thompson has some funding,as he is a promoter in the inland empire area,in fact,bradley started with him.That thompson guy has a lot of money..But yeah,did you ever watched solo boxeo?,I think Canelo fought there against cottos brother,when he almost got ko..those fights were great,a dn the commentator if you spoke spanisg made sense and had a passion about it(osuna and celis).I miss those days.
Proper training is important. A good result depends on it, probably ninety percent. I mean you look at established guys like Pacquiao, yet still needs all the training he can get. It isn't cheap.
Boxing just has no structure. It is horribly ran, has been since the late 80s, and it's totally alienated casual fans for a generation now. It's been a slow drip for years, but now you are seeing the full effects.
It's a combination of factors:
Moved from network TV to premium channels and PPv, missing out on the average fan. Having the big fights on PPV doesn't really hurt as much as not having network TV access
Horrible matchmaking, pre-PBC nearly all the major fights were not on network TV, the only ones on network TV were total mismatches which pretty much killed network card ratings to the point that they got cancelled: world wide of sports, Tuesday night fights, tnt fights, etc
Top guys not fighting each other in timely manner.. The 70s and 90s were both loaded with heavyweight talent, but the difference was that the guys from the 70s fought each other all in timely manner.. We had to wait years for tyson v evander, lennox, etc bowe-holyfield was about the only big fight that happened in a timely manner.
Too many belts, too many sanctioning bodies, too many paper champs... Way too confusing for an average fan to understand. This is one of the most damaging things to boxing.. Most of the rankings make no sense, and way too many mediocre fighters find themselves in eliminators or title fights
I agree with you.I remember watching a fight and someone was asking ,who is the champ,I said both,soooo whoever wins becomes champion of champions?..no,there are 3 more champions!:kabong:
I see your point. On a side note, there's gotta be a way to fund these underdogs' training, even for psychological reasons by means of donations. Let's face it, these guys don't have the budget to hire training professionals in their camps. They make do with what they have.
Some enterprising individual needs to start some kind of crowd funding or something for these lowly underdogs. Fans need to take action. Mismatched fights will be far more interesting if this happens.
I heard Thompson has some funding,as he is a promoter in the inland empire area,in fact,bradley started with him.That thompson guy has a lot of money..But yeah,did you ever watched solo boxeo?,I think Canelo fought there against cottos brother,when he almost got ko..those fights were great,a dn the commentator if you spoke spanisg made sense and had a passion about it(osuna and celis).I miss those days.
Boxing just has no structure. It is horribly ran, has been since the late 80s, and it's totally alienated casual fans for a generation now. It's been a slow drip for years, but now you are seeing the full effects.
It's a combination of factors:
Moved from network TV to premium channels and PPv, missing out on the average fan. Having the big fights on PPV doesn't really hurt as much as not having network TV access
Horrible matchmaking, pre-PBC nearly all the major fights were not on network TV, the only ones on network TV were total mismatches which pretty much killed network card ratings to the point that they got cancelled: world wide of sports, Tuesday night fights, tnt fights, etc
Top guys not fighting each other in timely manner.. The 70s and 90s were both loaded with heavyweight talent, but the difference was that the guys from the 70s fought each other all in timely manner.. We had to wait years for tyson v evander, lennox, etc bowe-holyfield was about the only big fight that happened in a timely manner.
Too many belts, too many sanctioning bodies, too many paper champs... Way too confusing for an average fan to understand. This is one of the most damaging things to boxing.. Most of the rankings make no sense, and way too many mediocre fighters find themselves in eliminators or title fights
the thread title could be applied to any month of the year, in the past or in the future...
NSB helps boxing. stop crying dude. it's all good. you want ''serious'' answers go message Fat Dan..
It is incredible,your answers make me cringe..I am not crying as is a conversation,and I am not sure how you figure.you said I asked why people isnt following or talking about PAC,is not true,So either you cannot have a decent conversation or you have no education,using "fat Dan,nuts,etc"..Crazy stuff.
I've done it,but there are certain fights that you know there is no way in hell the underdog has the slightest chance to win,I guess,if for example,you/me follow danny garcia and fights Sammy Vargas,we all excited since we know he will look good,the problem is that I think he needs better fights,so even my interest fades..Makes sense?
I see your point. On a side note, there's gotta be a way to fund these underdogs' training, even for psychological reasons by means of donations. Let's face it, these guys don't have the budget to hire training professionals in their camps. They make do with what they have.
Some enterprising individual needs to start some kind of crowd funding or something for these lowly underdogs. Fans need to take action. Mismatched fights will be far more interesting if this happens.
People just need to stop raising their expectations and accept things as they are. It's a culture. It's ingrained in fighters that they're not supposed to fight 2-3 tough ones in a row. Andrade made an impressive come back and where is he now? Fighting another unknown guy. The disease is deep-rooted. The solution is to just root for the unknown guy and hope for an upset. I'm rooting for Danny Garcia's opponent, for example. Upsets may be rare buy they happen. It's fun. Try it.
I've done it,but there are certain fights that you know there is no way in hell the underdog has the slightest chance to win,I guess,if for example,you/me follow danny garcia and fights Sammy Vargas,we all excited since we know he will look good,the problem is that I think he needs better fights,so even my interest fades..Makes sense?
People just need to stop raising their expectations and accept things as they are. It's a culture. It's ingrained in fighters that they're not supposed to fight 2-3 tough ones in a row. Andrade made an impressive come back and where is he now? Fighting another unknown guy. The disease is deep-rooted. The solution is to just root for the unknown guy and hope for an upset. I'm rooting for Danny Garcia's opponent, for example. Upsets may be rare buy they happen. It's fun. Try it.
girl, what are you blabbering about. unless you're Beercules' alt, then you shouldn't be following my nuts. Beercules is mad Pac fan... the OP listed why heads aren't talking about Pac anymore...
you should know this because you've been following my nuts throughout this thread regarding that..
I am guessing I am the OP..how in the world you figure I ask why people arent following/talking about PAC anymore,I was quite clear,asking if Boxing was in decline,please explain if you dont mind.
girl, what are you blabbering about. unless you're Beercules' alt, then you shouldn't be following my nuts. Beercules is mad Pac fan... the OP listed why heads aren't talking about Pac anymore...
you should know this because you've been following my nuts throughout this thread regarding that..
You have posted three times in this thread but have contributed absolutely zero,you are way off topic and haven't even talk about your thoughts on this matter.With all due respect,out of your 3,000+ posts,how many are as deep and objective as the ones you posted here?
Keith Thurman will save our beloved sport from the dredges. He's also black but a light-skinned kind of black, which means he'll appeal to both white and black demos.