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He does have a point, though I disagree that its dead. This is why I usually tend to buy more MMA cards, I get my money's worth. I usually feel ripped off when I pay for only 1 fight unless its really good. UFC gives me like 3-4 good fights at most. I love boxing more than MMA but I'm just being real.Comment
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Boxing is so dead yet it wasn't that long ago that 2.5 million people spent 60 dollars on a fight. It wasn't that long ago that boxing set all time records at the Staples Center and Madison Square Garden. It wasn't that long ago that we had gates 3x the amount of any MMA PPV. It wasn't that long ago that we had multiple fights across seas that over 50,000 people went to go see. The boxing is dead thing is ****** and complete ignorance. Boxing is a global sport and to say its dead is like Americans saying Soccer is ******(except boxing in America is more popular than Soccer). The less PPVs the better and as boxing thrives in other nations the more regular t.v. and regular hbo broadcasts the sooner it will turn the sport around in America. What this ass doesn't realize is that he is the reason our sport went down the tubes, now he will drive MMA into the ground too.Comment
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We're talking about overall consistency. Boxing without a doubt isn't dead, but it also isn't anywhere near as popular as it was in the mid 80s and into the mid 90s. You had crossover stars in different divisions (Leonard, Hagler, Tyson, Hearns, Chavez, etc). Today, you can count on on one hand how many crossover fighters there are in the sport and whether you'd want to admit it or not, the casual fans are the ones whose asses are in those seats more than the actual Boxing connoisseur.
Boxing promoters ****ed up when they saw how much money they could make with PPV, and by doing that they totally shut out the networks who used to carry Boxing on ABC, NBC, etc. The only network that carries Boxing on a regular basis is ESPN (One day for 2 hours out of the week), because even with HBO...you technically pay for that monthly.
I'm not one who thinks one is better than the other, but on a grand scale popularity wise and overall in your face promotion...you gotta give the UFC its due.Comment
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Problem is fighters now in this day and age are all looking for huge paydays off one fight. They want that ODLH money everytime out and that is not possible. There are no cemented paydays for the one putting up the money to promote the fights in the first place. the networks like HBO won't pay for fighter to take certain fights with other fighters because they feel the fight wont sell. The fan as a whole want to see action packed fights or just support certain fighters not because of their skill level but because of the style of fighting don;t really care if they see their fighter in a mismatch so long as it is a fight they can watch. UFC put together fight cards based on drawing fans to the sport. Boxing and boxers feel that just because Floyd Money man is involved or others like him that is a big enough name to make people spend ther money. maybe once upon a time when people had the extra sratch to throw at a fight and needed something better to do on a Saturday night then watch SNL you know. But when SNK reruns are more action packed then a fight card people tend to rather watch SNL on basic cable then spring for the 49.99 plus tax to see a mismatch and a bunch of nobodies before that fight in front of an empty arena....We need more card like the one in october you are going get Kessler Taylor and Froch on the same card on Showtime not PPV. We need more cards liek that were maybe you see a night of Champions a MW Champion fight a WW Champion fight and a JWW Champion fight......Get some money from HBO or SHow and some money from outside sponsers...Maybe put it on TV like ABC or NBC or ESPN have some moeny put up for it....I wouldnt mind seeing some commercials if it ment better cards....LeftyComment
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It might not be dead but its in a moribund state and losing ground and viewers at a steady rate. This has been clearly ilustrated by Don King telling Garry Shaw at the Bradley vs Campbell fight "This is why we're losing viewers".Comment
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Junior Witter was fighting for a World title last weekend, yet not one UK channel showed the fight. Anything worth watching is PPV and gets a couple of hundred thousand UK viewers at the most - in the 90's 10 million+ people watched the Benn/Eubank fights.
Boxing just isn't mainstream anymore, at least not in the UK. All caused by too many people wanting to make too much £££ out of it.Comment
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Boxing needs to restructure or it might really die in the next twenty years. The solutions I see all pander to the casual fans and the general public but would work well for hardcore boxing fans as well. I'm not saying anything that hasn't been said and in fact most of what I'm saying is just a return to the 'good old days', but here is what I think needs to happen for boxing to stay ahead of MMA.
1. Boxing needs to lose a few sanctioning bodies. They confuse hardcore boxing fans, casual boxing fans and the general public. Four people can't be champion in one division. I realise that the Ring magazine belt is sort of a solution but it doesn't go far enough. Firstly, there needs to be a union for professional boxers and not just because so many get badly treated by greedy promoters at the lower end of boxing, but because it creates a democracy in the sport. This democracy is important in the next stage; the merging of all sanctioning bodies into one authority (like every other sport). Only with the united power of the majority, if not all, the fighters in boxing could this possibly happen. I know the reason multiple sanctioning bodies exist is a lot to do with the perceived injustice in terms of rankings, among other things and that having one authority isn't going to be a perfect solution, but it does make the sport a lot less confusing and credible. With one organisation, boxers couldn't avoid challenging opposition if they wished to reach the top.
2. Boxing needs to lose a few divisions. Keep heavyweight, cruiserweight (light heavyweight re-branded for the sake of difference in name), middleweight, welterweight, lightweight, featherweight, bantamweight, flyweight and strawweight. Again, it makes the sport less confusing to the casual and the general public, not to mention making it harder for fighters to avoid dangerous fighters by hopping into other divisions easily or staying put in a dead division. The talent in boxing isn't spread as thin in this system and if a fighter wants to make it to the top, he really has to earn it.
3. Boxing needs to lose a few pay-per-views. Only the megafights of boxing that can genuinely claim value for money justify the price PPV events claim. The casual fans and the general public are put off by being asked to fork out for most vaguely credible fights. The increased popularity that would hopefully arise from the simplifying solutions I mentioned in the last two points should negate the loss in revenue from ppv sales in terms of increased network support and the extra advertising revenue that comes with it.
None of the above will happen, but I think it needs to.Comment
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