What would it take to save boxing?

[mrpain81]

yeah that's a hell of a Free HBO line up you posted and all the bouts certainly catch my interest .. particularly Mosley/Margarito and Berto/Collazo

speaking of FREE, non PPV bouts .. Cunningham/Adamek last night was awesome. man o man what an exciting bout. De La Hoya and Pacquiao can get credit for being on PPV in the "biggest fight of the year"

but big props should be given to Versus for coming through with one of the more exciting fights of the year. not too often a Championship fight is seen on basic able.

anyway it's a good idea for HBO to cut back on PPV as HBO had a PPV every month this year except for April, May and August ... & besides do we really need to see David Diaz on a PPV card?

I'd have to think the low PPV buys for Pavlik/Hopkins and Diaz/Pacquiao made the people at HBO put this whole PPV thing into a bit of perspective.

but I took an entirely different stance

your right about there probably being too many PPV complaints

however look at it from HBO's perspective .. if they can get over a Mill buys with a ****ty under card

why not put in some more $$$ for better quality fighters on the under cards?

then again why bother putting effort into match making anyway .. people don't care all that much toward under cards (casual fans)

but is watching the "biggest fight of the year" even with a ****ty under card worth the asking price?

I mean sure it's the biggest, but doesn't mean it's the best.

Adamek/Cunningham had 3 times less fan fare that the Dream Fight did, and IMO it was 5x as entertaining as Pacquiao/DLH.

I'm really happy with the Versus network putting on that great fight last night, you had the legitimate #1 vs #2 in the division fighting on basic cable. I really hope Versus can keep the momentum into the next year, the only way for that to happen people need to tune in and make boxing a good investment for the network.

About the PPV I think I'm just not looking for so much, after "The Bite" "Delahoya running the last 3 rounds" and "The Draw" I think a big PPV without controversy and a clear winner is a great thing for the sport.

I think Pacquiao vs DLH ended up being better for the sport then Mayweather vs DLH, sure the undercard were blowouts but casual fans like to see fights ending. If the fights would go to the decision people would still ***** about the undercard even if the fights were entertaining. I think boxing fans have been looking at the glass half empty and getting carried away, this has been a great year for boxing IMO.

[MJ406]

yeah really I've mostly seen mismatches and freak shows (on Versus) so much credit for having that great Cruiser weight clash.

well yeah maybe people's standards for PPV are too high. but I'll say this again, $55 isn't exactly chump change ... when Golden Boy CEO Richard Schaefer made the comparison of the Dream Fight to the Super Bowl .. and sure there maybe some truths, but Schaefer forgot one thing .. the Super Bowl has never cost $55 to watch.

sorry to sound like a broken record but I just can't look past the $50+ asking price.

and yeah putting the Dream Fight into perspective after it's all set and done, it really wasn't all that bad .. it could lead to a DLH retirement, and maybe usher in the post DLH boxing era.

then again maybe not, but hey it's a hope.

your totally right ... there is pretty much no winning on PPV under cards ... if there blowouts, complaints about the lack of competitive match making

long drawn out decisions = tedious and boring.

I won't go as calling the year Great, but taking the year into perspective, if you can look back on it .. there were certainly plenty of good fights this year such as Marquez/Vazquez 3, Pacquiao/Marquez 2, Diaz/Campbell, Pavlik/Taylor 2, of course Cotto/Margarito, and more recently Pacquiao/De La Hoya, Cunningham-Adamek.

IMO not great, but probably not as bad as it's made to look by some.

**the Campbell/Guzman cancellation was a real downer IMO, but this year had it's highs and lows

[Kakutogi-Gumi]

HBO getting out of PPV.

It costed $18.33 per fight. $12.50 if they shown the whole card. Yet HBO insisted that most of that money go to watching three old guys jabber on an on because HBO and TR/GBP doesn't know how to build a proper card.

[Derranged]

good followers like Mexicans.

Yea incredibly biased fans will help.