Why boxing is "dead"

[uncle_rico]

You ****ing ****** idiot.

Hang on man, I think T.E.S has a point. While what you pointed out is correct (boxing does have geat athletes and tons of guts) you have to wonder - do the casual fans see it? Probably not. Unfortunately, the casual fan does see the negative things ianwigley pointed out. The casual fan doesn't appreciate what a fighter has to put himself through and focuses only on the end result. This would explain why most people know who Mike Tyson is (even before all the controversy) but have no idea who Pernell Whitaker is.

But the main problem is, boxing just isn't part of pop culture. There's no link, no connection. Think about why people love football, baseball, and basketball. Most people played at some time in their lives and fall in love with the sport. Not true for boxing. There is no little league boxing or high school/college boxing. This explains why UFC is becoming so popular; wrestling is a huge hs/college sport and kids can relate to UFC - there's a natural progression from wrestling to ufc.

Regarding the original post by souza, I agree; the casual fan only wants to see wars (certainly the diehard fans appreciate a good technical match).
I find myself feeling the same way about UFC; I watch a little every now and then, but once these guys get themselves on the floor and start elbowing, huggin, and kissin each other, I get bored and find something else to watch. I realize and appreciate what they are doing takes tons of practice and skill, but to be honest, it bores me to death. OTOH, some kid who spent his whole life wrestling might really appreciate that part of UFC. So, I suspect the people who don't appreciate the technical fights in boxing simply never boxed. So, what's the solution? Getting kids boxing! Make boxing more popular for kids and teens. Otherwise, no matter what boxing does (better fights, no more sanctioning bodies, no bull****, etc...) it still won't matter.

[310BADBOY]

No, its just these guys who fight at a STAND STILL and claim they are boxing.

Or guys who throw 10 jabs a round and claim to have outboxed their opponent.

Thats what people hate.

A good boxing match can still be a war.

Vazquez-Marquez was a Boxing match in every sense of the word. That wasnt a brawl at all. It was a war, but not a brawl.

Wright-Taylor is another example. Those guys Boxed for 12 rounds and it was wildly entertaining.

Thats what people want and expect. Not guys like Klitschko who will stand there and not do anything, not even attempt a counter. Or guys like Hopkins that do nothing BUT wait for the counter...

yup vasquez marquez was a boxing match and was very entertaining

[The Noose]

Boxing obviously aint dead.
Just not anywhere near as popular as it used to be.

A heavyweight star would help.

[Zn1]

Boxing obviously aint dead.
Just not anywhere near as popular as it used to be.

A heavyweight star would help.

i heard mike tysons makin a comeback muhahahahaha

[Jan(DK)]

boxing is dead because it's no longer a sport. its a business. there are no more athletes, only businessmen. theres no glory, only money. theres no fame, only controversy.

sanctioning bodies, mandatories, robberies, snoozers, promoters, padded records, protected fighters, fixes, greedy and whiny fighters, and there is absolutely no healing going on.

boxing is dead. all we watch now are just business transactions.

Hopefully not dead, but i see you point. What we wants is better matchmaking. I think the mandatory is the way so see the best against each other. No champ should duck a mandatory for fighting "Hollywood-fighter" for $$ and still be a champ. We wants to see the best against the best. We wants to see a fight with out for sure to know the outcome. Thats why live sports is the most thrilling to watch and instantly would prevail a lot of $$$ for the hole sport/boxing.
I want to see
Calzaghe - Kessler,
Lacy - Mundine
Bute - Froch
Klitschko - Maskaev
Hopkins - Tarver
Taylor - Wright
Mayweather - Margarito

And you name it!!!

(Remember to watch the Kessler - Andrade fight on the 24. marts on HBO. Then you have to add Kessler to your list. Kessler simply is the real deal - a Viking Warrior)

[me2007]

i dont agree that PBF should get a lot of praise for 'outboxing' people, and ko artists or brawlers should be frowned upon.

Boxing is about inflicting damage upon our opponent and getting him out of there. Who said it should be about winning on points. It is entertainment after all, most people prefer watching 6 rounds with a KO at the end than Mayweather running around the ring for 12 rounds and boring people to death with a points win.

Boxing isn`t dead, there are just more sports for people to watch than there used to be.

One champion per division would clear alot of problems up for boxing...if not all of them..

Boxing is a business, so are all sports, anything where money changes hands will be business orientated....promoters and fighters want the most money possible, which is why many shy away from fights they might lose or leave them fights to the end of their careers....

Real boxing should be about two guys fighting on the cobbled streets with no gloves on...going 200 rounds smacking the crap out of eachother.....it is now gradually being turned into a gay sport full of greedy, media hungry losers who spend more time coming up with funny quotes than actually getting down to some good old fashioned fighting.