So I watched the fight with a bunch of casuals on Saturday.

Good thread, Mike. While the beginning of the fight was great, the taste left at the end was bad. Fuq Keith Thurman. Biggest fight of his life and "One Time" decides he wants to RUN at the end? That's how much he respects the sport, the fans, the opportunity? I can totally understand a guy having a defensive style and that there's a lot of considerations that going into the amount of action. That had nothing to do with what Keith did though. He wasn't being a defensive fighter. He wasn't being a fighter at all. He simply decided, "I'm ahead, I can avoid combat and win this." I say that as someone who predicted Thurman to win and likes him more than Garcia.

I didn't think it's Thurman. Garcia was always the one disrupting the flow of the fight by clinching. Also, the Swift can only trade no longer than 5 seconds. When he's on the offense he's not throwing any, which he admitted when asked by Jim Grey. And I didn't see the point of Thurman getting inside in the last 2 rounds when he's guaranteed to be clinched.

Also i agree with some of you that thurman seriously needs to keep it real. He keeps talking about KOS for life and being one time yet his past fights hes fighting like a defensive boxer. When he was taking it to danny early and throwing bombs he hurt him and was being alot more effective. Then he just became overly cautious for no reason i didnt like it.

Someone like us who love boxing, I hate watching that crap too. Doesn't interest me that almost all top level fighters are trying to fight without getting stuck in. It's a FIGHT ffs. No wonder Larry Merchant retired. These boring ass fights are just not entertaining.

Tell them to tune in may 6 Mexican style!!! Gauranted!!! Haters talking **** but this will be an entertaining fight mark my words!!!

Watch the GGG vs jacobs fight with them. Someone is gonna get ktfo.

Mayweather does the same thing for 12 rounds that Keith did for 3, yet gets a pass. Floyd isn't spending the entire press tour, talking about "KOs for Life" and "I'm not afraid to let my 0 go; if you can beat me, beat me". You talk as big as Thurman talked, and you're not expected to run out the clock.

Ok, I'll bite. Why the hell does their opinion matter? You're right -- it shouldn't. I'm finally starting to get that now. Boxing's an acquired taste. I used to want everyone else to see how great the sport is, even with it's many, MANY flaws -- but it is what it is as they say. Boxing will always be a niche sport with a niche fan base. The vast majority of mainstream sports fans will never get it. And not that there's anything wrong with that. To each his own.

I can't believe you said Danny Garcia was top 5. You filthy fucking casual. Lol he's a limited fighter, and yeah he has been the beneficiary of some questionable decisions, but he was still most definitely a top five welter going in. Now I'm not so sure...that said he's still definitely a top five guy at 140 though.

And, you can't blame them. That was a boring ass fight. Thurman is going to need to change his moniker if he's going to start being an overly cautious boxer. He promises power and KOs but it's starting to become all talk. I never even seen him try to put Danny away after round 1.

I did my best explaining how big a fight this was -- a unification fight (had to explain unification to them), two top five (in the world), arguably top 3 welters in the ring together, both of whom came in undefeated and in their primes. So yeah I probably set the expectations a bit high for these casuals, but whatever, it really was a big fight. They asked me if I would've paid a full price PPV price tag for it and I said I would have (which is true). So after the fight, no check that, even during the fight...around the 8 round mark, they were already groaning and talking sh*t about how lame the fight was. One guy asked me, "is this how every single boxing fight is?" I told him "no, not at all", but you could tell that in his mind, THAT (Thurman vs Garcia) was every boxing fight ever in the history of boxing. Another was like, "the last five fights I've seen were just as boring as this one". I've always tried my best to defend the sport, but f**k it, I'm done, I mean either you like it or you don't. Would I have liked to see Thurman not hop on his bike for the last few rounds? Obviously. I don't wanna call the dude a b*tch, because the guy would obviously lay me the f**k out in the first tenth of the first second of the first round, but come on, man. There was a chance for Keith to really make a statement and emphatically whoop Danny's ass, but instead he opted for what was basically boxing's version of football's prevent defense. I'm not saying you gotta be stupid and reckless just for the sake of entertainment, but there's a medium somewhere, isn't there? The dude may as well have been on a ten speed bicycle for f**k's sake. But anyway, I digress. The casuals are bloodthirsty -- they wanna see brutal KO's and high drama in the ring. And if that don't happen then to them, the fight "sucks", and the whole entire sport "sucks". They don't grasp the concept that sometimes it's possible to have two highly skilled champions in the ring that doesn't produce guaranteed fireworks, and that yes, sometimes it's way more of a chess match than it is a bloodbath. But I guarantee you this...fair or not, Saturday night didn't help the sport. It only reinforced why the vast majority of the public doesn't go out of their way to watch boxing. I can't believe you said Danny Garcia was top 5. You filthy fucking casual.

I did my best explaining how big a fight this was -- a unification fight (had to explain unification to them), two top five (in the world), arguably top 3 welters in the ring together, both of whom came in undefeated and in their primes. So yeah I probably set the expectations a bit high for these casuals, but whatever, it really was a big fight. They asked me if I would've paid a full price PPV price tag for it and I said I would have (which is true). So after the fight, no check that, even during the fight...around the 8 round mark, they were already groaning and talking sh*t about how lame the fight was. One guy asked me, "is this how every single boxing fight is?" I told him "no, not at all", but you could tell that in his mind, THAT (Thurman vs Garcia) was every boxing fight ever in the history of boxing. Another was like, "the last five fights I've seen were just as boring as this one". I've always tried my best to defend the sport, but f**k it, I'm done, I mean either you like it or you don't. Would I have liked to see Thurman not hop on his bike for the last few rounds? Obviously. I don't wanna call the dude a b*tch, because the guy would obviously lay me the f**k out in the first tenth of the first second of the first round, but come on, man. There was a chance for Keith to really make a statement and emphatically whoop Danny's ass, but instead he opted for what was basically boxing's version of football's prevent defense. I'm not saying you gotta be stupid and reckless just for the sake of entertainment, but there's a medium somewhere, isn't there? The dude may as well have been on a ten speed bicycle for f**k's sake. But anyway, I digress. The casuals are bloodthirsty -- they wanna see brutal KO's and high drama in the ring. And if that don't happen then to them, the fight "sucks", and the whole entire sport "sucks". They don't grasp the concept that sometimes it's possible to have two highly skilled champions in the ring that doesn't produce guaranteed fireworks, and that yes, sometimes it's way more of a chess match than it is a bloodbath. But I guarantee you this...fair or not, Saturday night didn't help the sport. It only reinforced why the vast majority of the public doesn't go out of their way to watch boxing. I agree to a certain extent about big fights turning boring often. Cruz-frampton 2 was horrid as well. You have to be able to appreciate the subtleties to like boxing in general. That's why GGG is so big for this sport, he beats people by KO, not decisions like Floyd. Same with Mcgregor

Floyds post-ODLH resume includes: Hatton, Marquez, Mosley, Cotto, Canelo, Pacquiao. Yeah, surely he's the problem. My goodness. And alot of the fighters were selected at specific times, with specific requests Did he fight Mosley, cotto, pacquiao in their prime? No Did he not put a catch weight on canelo (who imo would never of won that fight, but it still taints floyds victory) What about the glove situation with maidana ? That was ludicrous Floyds great, I can respect that His defence is magnificent and he is definitely an atg But the man carefully managed the tail end of his career Which is my point again And that's when he was given the most exposure, so a lot of boxers try and replicate what he did, because that's what he's renowned for Take minimal damage, minimal risk for high reward Smart? Sure Good for the fans? No, ***** no he had a negative impact on boxing for the fans Period And now we have "fans" fighting over contracts and offers . And when the fight is "ready" and when it needs marinating Not who should fight who We're fans Not promoters

You can't blow up a fight to casual fans because their mind will immediately go to Rocky (or their favorite Rocky movie). Not many fights are resembling that, it can happen but you are going against the odds. You are putting boxing in a bad spot, because their notion of a good fight is totally based on fiction. You have to constantly lower the bar to casual fans then when the fight actually turns out good they may want to see more. Another mistake is watching with a bunch of casual fans, one or two is ok because you can talk it through to them directly. Going up against a group is much more difficult and not even worth the effort on the subject. If I find myself among a bunch of casual fans I just stay quiet and pay attention intently then if someone asks why am I watching that closely what appears to be a boring fight I can try and explain it to one person. .

Mayweather does the same thing for 12 rounds that Keith did for 3, yet gets a pass. Whoaaaa there is a difference between fighting on the back foot, staying out or range and running. Does mayweather run. Yes, he has but to say kieths running is how mayweather fights is saying you don't even watch boxing

Floyds post-ODLH resume includes: Hatton, Marquez, Mosley, Cotto, Canelo, Pacquiao. Yeah, surely he's the problem. My goodness. Pacquaio was hand selected, 5 years past prime and impaled by Marquez. Hatton was a bum. Mosley was nearly 40 and without his PEDs hence the gassing. Marquez was a blown up lightweight who obviously couldn't adjust to the weight. Also cheated on the scales by this scumbag. Cotto was damaged goods after pac and margarito beatings. Canelo was green and drained at the weight. Pale as a ghost. Floyd is the biggest and craftiest cherry picker the sport has ever seen. He puts Canelo and Garcia to shame.

I agree and this is basically what I'm saying..The will is not there and that's on Garcia not Thurman..Garcia needed o dare to be great and take the risk of getting hit with a big shot cause he was behind and needed to change the tone of the fight.. This is really the point,Khan fought Maidana from the outside and if Maidana let him would have done it the entire night..Not quenstioning Khans Heart,just why make something harder then it need be??Same for when Khan fought Peterson,if Peterson did not show heart and go into the jaws of the loin then Khan would have coast to an easy win without ever making the fight interesting..Same goes for Bradley many times.. I guess my point has been it takes two to tango,again you bring up Mayweather..Go watch Mayweather on the come up,his fights with Chavez JLC Augustus they brought the fight to May and he let the dog out..Even his fight with Manny Pac brought the dog out for a sec and when May responded Pac back down for whatever reason..May is not to blame for this,any fighter would do it,if you can win a fight without taking the risk you'll do it..It's on the opponent as well to make a great fight..Again it takes two to tango.. Garcia came forward a lot, especially from round 8 onwards and Thurman literally jogged around the ring. Garcia comfortably won 3 of the 4 rounds at the end and itst he only reason he got 5 rounds on my card. Thurman should have had it in him to end it and at the very least, press a lot more often post round 6. He didn't. I wont argue about May/Pac, the great Phillipino was a joke that night. But I often hear all this about May having to dog it out...yeah he had it tough, so tough that I think he lost to Castillo first time round but at no poin twas he overly great in the ring in the same way as ALi, Leonard and co. He coasted too much, even on his way to being a top p4p fighter. It was one of the reasons that no matter how much HBO pushed him and Arum compared him to Ali, it never came to fruition. He became a star in spite of his style and mentality, not because of it. He became a star because of his antics. These guys today lack even that. Like I said, they will all realise, a little too late, what it takes to be a star.

Floyd had a great resume up until Oscar From then on "money" may was there He carefully selected his opponents Fought once a year And has undoubtably influenced a lot of upcoming boxers to try and replicate The only problem is now fighters won't even fight anyone half decent Floyd was a massive influence Good on him for earning what he earnt And people obviously paid for his fights But to me , the sport suffered big time Now fighters are paranoid to lose there 0 , out of fear of losing there "loyal" fans Which is why they all carefully chose who they fight, and when they fight Floyds post-ODLH resume includes: Hatton, Marquez, Mosley, Cotto, Canelo, Pacquiao. Yeah, surely he's the problem. My goodness.

Winning fights or getting competitive is ninety percent mental. In this case, both guys were afraid to get hit. Peterson, for example, just decided to lay it all out on the line and trade with Garcia in the second half of their fight. He was taking Swift's vaunted power all of a sudden and inflicted welts and bruises on Garcia's face at the same time. It wasn't that vaunted after all.

Casuals are the main source of income in the boxing business.