If you were brand new to the sport, would you find it appealing?

[Guest]

Hey, I never give Ali **** about ducking out of Vietnam when I think it's just pathetic that he did that. Doesn't change how I view him as a fighter one bit. As a fighter, he did his job and he did it well. Do I care that he slept around on all his wives? No.

I never asked if YOU cared about a boxer outside the ring. A lot of people do, you don't. I couldn't give a **** what you think. I made this thread for ADULTS to discuss the topic.

[Guest]

You hadn't better mean me, Geronimo.

[Guest]

So do you see how it is related yet, Anorak, or are you still wiping away the tears of your thread being "hijacked" as people like to say? Just because you don't like the best boxer in the world doesn't mean this isn't the time to be watching.

Floyd = tenuous to this thread.

[kayjay]

You hadn't better mean me, Geronimo.

I'll let you guess.


I never understand how people fail to consider the PERSON who is competing in a given situation as an ATHLETE. Ali by the way was not such an unquestionable character. Frazier pwn3d his azz in the ring and out. Floyd's not so bad, just a spoiled kid who is fairly smart and articulate, but not nearly enough so. The American boxer personalities of the past three or four decades have been Ali, Leonard, Tyson, and De La Hoya. Those four are all intelligent, versatile, and interesting individuals. Floyd doesn't fit with that group. He's too much like two other second-generation athletes: Barry Bonds and Kobe Bryant.

[Guest]

I'll let you guess.

Cheeky ****. If a 10-year-old repeating "Floyd is great, **** you, **** you" is me being then I am.

I never understand how people fail to consider the PERSON who is competing in a given situation as an ATHLETE

Say what???

And yeah, Ali had his dark side.

[kayjay]

Cheeky ****. If a 10-year-old repeating
Say what???

How old do you guess Diego is?? I always figured he was 21-3 from the references he makes.

It's funny how no one ever defends Floyd's character (it is indeed defensible, I reckon), they only say it doesn't matter what he does beyond the ropes.

[Guest]

How old do you guess Diego is?? I always figured he was 21-3 from the references he makes.

It's funny how no one ever defends Floyd's character (it is indeed defensible, I reckon), they only say it doesn't matter what he does beyond the ropes.

How do you see it? I think people forget that the sport isn't just for us hardcore fans, there's an audience that it used to have that it doesn't have any more... an audience that could be brought back to it. Floyd isn't the person that can do that. (even between the ropes, if the reaction to his last bout is anything to go by).

As for ****o, his real age isn't important... his mental age is 12.

[BrooklynBomber]

Such an interesting thread screwed up
But I will think about the original question and try to come up with a good response.

[AllEyesOpen]

You know there was a time when boxers(and most famous peoples) lives weren't the topic of discussion, SRR beat his wife, & if he lived now do you think people would think less of him cause it would probably be all over the news? Personally I dont judge fighters or anyone else based on their personal life(unless i have personal experience to base that judgement on) or lack of charisma, some of the greatest fighter in the world couldn't put a sentence together to save their lives, & would sooner punch you in the face then give you a smile.

[kayjay]

How do you see it? I think people forget that the sport isn't just for us hardcore fans, there's an audience that it used to have that it doesn't have any more... an audience that could be brought back to it. Floyd isn't the person that can do that. (even between the ropes, if the reaction to his last bout is anything to go by).

As for ****o, his real age isn't important... his mental age is 12.

I think the nature of sports media has changed with the 'information age'. There aren't fights on free TV (in America - - I can't describe the exposure elsewhere) anymore, but fewer people watch the networks anyway. They have 700 cable channels in some instances, not to mention the internet. It is more difficult, I think, to make any event so big that the entire public will watch (a few exceptions: Champions League Final, Super Bowl, etc.). but the ability we have to pursue a given interest is extraordinary. I was explaining in another thread last week how popular the EPL is in America. I mean the numbers are not necessarily mind-blowing, but there is a certain percentage of Americans who see every game that you can see, most of them live and in the same exact broadcast as you get. That would have been unthinkable fifteen years ago, but since the big media powers (ESPN, FOX, and HBO here, SKY etc. there) open up to a dozen channels each, they can do this. In boxing, HBO, Showtime, and ESPN have made it good to be a boxing fan, if you can pay for the channels (so there is a noteworthy socioeconomic factor here). This is not to mention that when a fight is not on this channels but, say, on English television, you're sending me the dl link within a few hours. As a result of all this information overload, it becomes increasingly difficult to follow diverse things (you could be a fulltime boxing fan, and don't have to wait for that big Saturday fight that the network decides to show), and harder for the promoters to reach any but the hardcore fan. It doesn't seem possible for the trend to reverse. There will continue to be greater exposure to fewer available for more $$$$