How can we as a group make boxing better?

[The Gray Fox]

We can make boxing better by paying for the fights rather than stealing them.
Also we can stop the fanboy epidemic and racial bias.

[Mistadobalina]

many great ideas have already been stated and i'm just gonna go off on a limb for a bit and talk about what boxing can do in terms of getting the younger generation back into it, cus let's face it, you're average american youth today isn't living the same way as an average american youth during the depression era.

anyway, here it goes...

for those of you guys around my age, you'll know that kids and young adults with cash to spend are heavily into streetwear/fashion. whether it be new and exclusive or the old school and retro. this is the era of the hype kids who are dying to have the best gear on the block to show off at the mall. we're talking people who will spend $500-$700 on a deadstock pair of air jordan retro 11's. we're talking guys who will spend that same amount on a new pair of cool grey jordan spiz'ikes that are only available in europe on ebay. the youth of today are spending more on expensive junk than ever before.

boxing, imo, is a sport that CAN take advantage of all those things if it ever gets itself back on network television.

NIKETALK is a huge messageboard that is used by thousands of guys daily to discuss shoes, clothing etc. and guess what, during these olympics there were multiple threads that popped out about boxing - not in the sport forum where the boxing threads are, but in the "jordan brand" forum. these kids were greatly intrigued by the resemblence of team USA's jordan brand jerseys (which many agreed that they'd love to play ball in) and boxing shoes (which resembled the air jordan II's). it may not sound like much, but hell, it got these guys talking.

with the innovation/technology of today, are you gonna tell me that a boxing shoe that is great for the ring CANNOT be made without it having to look like an astronaut shoe, or a canvas styled boot from world war II? hell no. the new nike hyperdunks were released this year (the ones kobe was wearing in that commercial of him "jumping" over an aston martin, as well as worn by practically every team in the oympics) and they are a big hit at the footlockers across the nation. i own a pair and they are so light and comfortable that i'd see no problem with someone running around the ring in them for 10-12 rounds (if the soles were modified for the canvas, obviously) a true boxing shoe that can also look great in basketball shorts and denim jeans while strolling through the mall is very possible.

quickly going back to the rules of boxing, i think it should be made optional that fighters can wear jerseys if they wish (like in the amateurs). the reason being jerseys have such a broad appeal to any type of athlete. these jerseys don't even need to be worn by kids who want to box. kids who play b-ball can rock em. hell, kids can even wear em when going out for a run, ANYTHING. they don't need to be too flashy, nor do they need to have the fighter's name on the back, just something that serves as a rash guard in the fight, but also has a simple, sporty look that can be worn outside. just look at all the "under armour" gear that would-be jocks are wearing these days. boxing trunks/shorts are another thing that can be capitalized on as well using the same method of marketing. a parallel would be those tapout/sprawl board shorts that are worn in mma sparring/grappling but can also be used on the beach or when surfing waves.

i was watching a special during half-time of the team usa vs china basketball game. the commentator said something along the lines that in the business of basketball..."big men don't sell shoes". it's the reason why kobe bryant jerseys sell 6x more than yao ming in his own ****ing country! people can't relate too much to a shaq or a yao, the way they can relate to a dwayne wade, or an allen iverson simply due to the size difference. when these kids see smaller sized guys dominating the court, they believe that one day they can do the same since those fellas aren't all that "big" when compared to the other nba giants. BOXING is a sport that is absolutely DOMINATED by amazing athletes that are of average, small, and even tiny stature, men that these young fok can really look up to...

[Bea5T]

1 belt for class would lead to there never being any fights made


every fighter that does not have the belt would be DEMANDING to fight that one person.....and that would never work out in this day and age

I think wbo should be taken out and just leave IBF, WBC, and WBA

[roundingace]

Ok, I LOVE these kinds of threads because us avid followers can always find things we would like to fix and/or change. I say, in all honesty, why not try out a fan pick bout? All the fans vote or cast wishes in some way to decide on which fighter fights another? Think about it... Yes, that could be HUGE! I find myself humored at the 250,000 votes cast for the likes of Hatton or PacMan but you see my point. The die hard fans will go to any lengths to support their man. The casual fan, while small, can feel apart of the action and all the while, the fight we all want to see, as Boof always reminds us that isn't happening lol, CAN HAPPEN.

Ok, that was a little bit of dreaming but come on, that would be awesome. Back to reality. I really don't think we CAN fix boxing. Boxing has turned into, as many others have stated, a millionaire and corporate billionaire backed and driven force resembling a shell of what it was. Kinda like the NBA, NFL, MLB, etc etc. I guess where I'm hung up on, is from another thread where someone said that PacMan was an idiot for not budging on his wants for the ODLH fight to potentially make $15mill and instead be ok with fighting Soto and only - ONLY - making $1.5mill. Need I say more? The greed has always been there and the elite fighters have all received their share of the pie, but man, we sure have gone off the deep end with it ehh?

I wanna see the scoring more efficient - maybe utilize technology and eliminate humans all together? I'm not even talking about how the Olympics does it, which has been covered very well in this thread, I'm talking about REALLY using technology and coming up with a universal scoring system that is "full proof". Kinda like, "How can we be sure Micheal Phelps touched the wall first" scoring system. DEFINITELY one belt per division. It's honestly ****** to have so many. All it does is create easier promotion for the promoters. Nothing more. The PPV's, IMO, are ok when it's fitting but as we all know, how often are the fights living up to what they're billed as? I want to even go one step further and have a ONE promotional company all these crooks like Arum, GB, LDB, etc. ALL answer to and have to make bouts according to a well organized, fan included, pool.

Hey, it doesn't hurt to dream and I think threads like these can only enhance the sport we love and who knows, maybe one day actually make an impact. I'm all for it so sign me up!

[Kakutogi-Gumi]

Better PPV's would be one of my requests..
You have a main event thats decent and then bare **** undercard fights
hate to bring up the ufc but those guys put on great matchups from start to finish
we need to follow the example...

eeehh. while ufc does have good cards, they've middle of the road cards as well. they don't put much effort in british cards, but there's a fun match or two on them.

[MJ406]

eeehh. while ufc does have good cards, they've middle of the road cards as well. they don't put much effort in british cards, but there's a fun match or two on them.

exactly, it's just unrealistic to expect greatness every time out for an event. Especially month in, month out. **you might wanna look at the next British UFC card though as that one (89) looks quite good.

and someone wanted Big boxing fights every 2 weeks? You'd run out of big fights half way through the year. think about it .. Pac-Man fights David Diaz, 2 weeks later takes on Nate Campbell, then after that the Marquez-Casamayor winner ... NEXT

and to rounding yeah as the current boxing state is, it'll be very hard for us to do anything, as the Promoter's goals are to build fighters up and put them on PPV.

so just based on that ^ it'll be hard to get to Network TV.

and great idea with the whole boxing/sneaker. dunno how easy it would be to make a hip Boxing idea, but boxing as a sport needs to get more commercial sponsorships to get it's name out there. all they need are the right athletes to promote the sport.

[JoartCC]

Common sense