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Boxing's not dying...
But what I notice from a lot of hardcore Boxing fans here is they don't accept the fact that Boxing indeed isn't anywhere near where it was on a Global scale and popularity wise from the early 80s to mid-late 90s. Why? Because of the lack of crossover stars.
Look at the fighters that the 80s and 90s bred: Mike Tyson, Oscar De La Hoya, Sugar Ray Leonard, Marvin Hagler, Tommy Hearns, JCC. These dudes had endorsement deals, commercials, etc. How many fighters today can say they have that type of backing or notoriety among the public? Sure, we still have good fights, but a lot of those fighters don't have the type of appeal that gets Hollywood flooding Vegas like how Cesars Palace did in the 80s and 90s.
Now with the UFC, people also need to understand that they hold events monthly and the majority of the fights take place in Vegas. Dana promotes the **** out of it and its seen on TV on a regular basis. So really, it's a no brainer. Boxing doesn't have an organization overseeing the ins and outs of all the fights, it's comprised more of Promoters and different promotions than have contracted fighters. But where the problem comes in is when one promoter doesn't want to do business with another promoter for whatever reason leaving the possibility of some marque fights from happening left on the back burner (i.e. Floyd and Top Rank). You'll never have that problem in the UFC because all the fighters are under one umbrella.
I'll always be a Boxing fan 1st, but the business of Boxing overall is what's caused its decline in the last several years on top of there not being more than a handful of crossover stars to bring more popularity back into the sport.
But what I notice from a lot of hardcore Boxing fans here is they don't accept the fact that Boxing indeed isn't anywhere near where it was on a Global scale and popularity wise from the early 80s to mid-late 90s. Why? Because of the lack of crossover stars.
Look at the fighters that the 80s and 90s bred: Mike Tyson, Oscar De La Hoya, Sugar Ray Leonard, Marvin Hagler, Tommy Hearns, JCC. These dudes had endorsement deals, commercials, etc. How many fighters today can say they have that type of backing or notoriety among the public? Sure, we still have good fights, but a lot of those fighters don't have the type of appeal that gets Hollywood flooding Vegas like how Cesars Palace did in the 80s and 90s.
Now with the UFC, people also need to understand that they hold events monthly and the majority of the fights take place in Vegas. Dana promotes the **** out of it and its seen on TV on a regular basis. So really, it's a no brainer. Boxing doesn't have an organization overseeing the ins and outs of all the fights, it's comprised more of Promoters and different promotions than have contracted fighters. But where the problem comes in is when one promoter doesn't want to do business with another promoter for whatever reason leaving the possibility of some marque fights from happening left on the back burner (i.e. Floyd and Top Rank). You'll never have that problem in the UFC because all the fighters are under one umbrella.
I'll always be a Boxing fan 1st, but the business of Boxing overall is what's caused its decline in the last several years on top of there not being more than a handful of crossover stars to bring more popularity back into the sport.
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