why do you guys even like boxing/boxers

[jqSide]

It's an awful sport that doesn't have any form of continuity. Big wins don't even lead to anything. It's an individual sport where boxers on top ignore each other and fight their own individual showcase fights. It's bad enough that they hide under their promoter's skirt, it's even worse when fighters in the same house won't fight each other.

You just have to accept as it is. Let them cherrypick fights and hope for upsets. Cherrypick gone wrong types are exhilarating to watch. Showcase fighter only has to struggle like he's fighting Mike Tyson. That's satisfying to watch. That's why I don't object too much when they cherrypick fights. Nothing fans can do about it, anyways.

That's why HBO gave up boxing in favor of the Game of Thrones series. People have something to follow. HBO realized they've been spending more money on boxing just to please a bunch of greedy promoters and fighters. Game of Thrones series is highest rated all over the world and it employed thousands of people from actors to set designers, animators, tailors, makeup artists, carpenters, writers, advertisers, you name it. Thousands benefited, literally.

[BKM-]

maybe a long time ago the sport would have been a lot nicer to watch

Even when I started watching which is exactly 20 years ago, it was still a great sport. It had many of the problems we have now, but they slowly went full ****** over the next two decades.

The worst thing that happened is that stars stopped fighting eachother frequently, and that star power no longer overlapped to the next generations.

I was never anti-Mayweather like so many and I really hate to say it, but him ducking Pacquiao for half a decade untill they were both past it, and dedicating his career to protecting his 0, really set a bad precedent.

The generation after him really took notice for the worst and it's not surprising, look at where it got Floyd? This sport is ****ed.

[maguirre]

That's why HBO gave up boxing in favor of the Game of Thrones series. People have something to follow. HBO realized they've been spending more money on boxing just to please a bunch of greedy promoters and fighters. Game of Thrones series is highest rated all over the world and it employed thousands of people from actors to set designers, animators, tailors, makeup artists, you name it. Thousands benefited.

Absolutely! I checked Game of Thrones' budget per episode a year or so ago. $5 - 6 million per episode. Which is less than a semi-big fight in boxing.

[lopetego]

I was never anti-Mayweather like so many and I really hate to say it, but him ducking Pacquiao for half a decade untill they were both past it, and dedicating his career to protecting his 0, really set a bad precedent.

The generation after him really took notice for the worst and it's not surprising, look at where it got Floyd? This sport is ****ed.

Mayweather set the bad precedent for all the bad things we currently suffer:

Fighters protecting their zeros at all costs, avoiding all dangerous fights
Greedy fighters demanding tons of $$ for any kind of bum match
Promoter wars
Network wars
Fake hypocritical drug testing
Unreasonable whimsy diva demands
Top fighters ducking each other and fighting on social media instead
Superstars fighting bums and still demanding millions for it
Superstars marinating and delaying big fights for years.. or forever
Excessive PPV prices
The fad of circus exhibition matches

You name it, Floyd is the root of all evil and his putrid legacy might have damaged the sport permanently

[elfag]

HBO really was the golden age. 1999-2012ish the build up to the fights, the 24/7 all of that. the big fights USUALLY got made.

[elfag]

Mayweather set the bad precedent for all the bad things we currently suffer:

Fighters protecting their zeros at all costs, avoiding all dangerous fights
Greedy fighters demanding tons of $$ for any kind of bum match
Promoter wars
Network wars
Fake hypocritical drug testing
Unreasonable whimsy diva demands
Top fighters ducking each other and fighting on social media instead
Superstars fighting bums and still demanding millions for it
Superstars marinating and delaying big fights for years.. or forever
Excessive PPV prices
The fad of circus exhibition matches

You name it, Floyd is the root of all evil and his putrid legacy might have damaged the sport permanently

pac and floyd still fought and they were on different networks. now these guys wont even fight when they are free agents and on the same networks.

floyd also had his fights broadcast at the movie theaters live. they dont do that anymore.

Floyd set PPV records, whatever his purse and whatever the cost of the PPV he earned his high purses because they made money.

DAZN is the real culprit here, they overpaid a ton of guys and were losing money but with the excuse that they will gain more subscribers in the long run. They were paying GGG like 20 million to fight lithiuanian cabbage farmers and look at crawford they pay him 10-15 million to fight dishwashers.

[BKM-]

Mayweather set the bad precedent for all the bad things we currently suffer:

Fighters protecting their zeros at all costs, avoiding all dangerous fights
Greedy fighters demanding tons of $$ for any kind of bum match
Promoter wars
Network wars
Fake hypocritical drug testing
Unreasonable whimsy diva demands
Top fighters ducking each other and fighting on social media instead
Superstars fighting bums and still demanding millions for it
Superstars marinating and delaying big fights for years.. or forever
Excessive PPV prices
The fad of circus exhibition matches

You name it, Floyd is the root of all evil and his putrid legacy might have damaged the sport permanently

Him, but also the new generation in general. Kids today want instant gratification. And they are easily influenced. Like I said, look at where it got Floyd. Everybody knows how he went about his career and they see all the cars, houses, bling bling as a reward, it justifies everything. Yesterday I watched "Counter Punch". That little weasel Christopher Colbert repeated what I just said. It was the perfect example of how boxers think nowadays.

If Floyd was around decades ago and accomplished the exact same things in the same way, it would have had a bad influence but it would not ruin the whole sport like it did in the 21st century.

[maguirre]

Even when I started watching which is exactly 20 years ago, it was still a great sport. It had many of the problems we have now, but they slowly went full ****** over the next two decades.
The worst thing that happened is that stars stopped fighting eachother frequently, and that star power no longer overlapped to the next generations.
I was never anti-Mayweather like so many and I really hate to say it, but him ducking Pacquiao for half a decade until they were both past it, and dedicating his career to protecting his 0, really set a bad precedent.
The generation after him really took notice for the worst and it's not surprising, look at where it got Floyd? This sport is ****ed.

I haven't paid much attention to what you laid out here. But when Spence started behaving lackadaisically for years about the Crawford fight, that's when I thought Floyd must have whispered something on his ear, that fights don't have to happen early and Spence just have to keep on ignoring fans. That fights become even bigger as years pass like archeological artifacts in museums that get tripled in value by age. That's when I've finally got it, that fights don't have to happen right away. You have to count years.

Floyd's own words:

"People said I was scared, a coward, to fight Manny Pacquiao. Everyone can have their own opinion. I always said, 'if it's meant to happen, it'll happen.' At one particular time, that fight was worth $60 million. I waited until the time was right, when things were on our terms and we were the A side and we could do things our way, we turned that into a $600-million fight."

https://www.boxingscene.com/mayweath...lovkin--106117

[PerfectJab]

The question and answers focus on the (politics) of the sport boxing, not on boxing itself.

I don't like a lot of things outside of the ring but how I feel about boxing hasn't changed. And even if I my feelings change about boxing today, I can still lookup old fights/fighters and rediscover why I love boxing.

Boxers need everything: technique, stamina, power, alertness, reflexes, stress control, pain tolerance..... the list is endless. And the fact that lacking in any department could literally put you life at risk, sets boxing apart from all other sports.

Personally, I like to watch boxers with great technique. To me that's just like watching art.

[BKM-]

I haven't paid much attention to what you laid out here. But when Spence started behaving lackadaisically for years about the Crawford fight, that's when I thought Floyd must have whispered something on his ear that fights don't have to happen now and just have to keep ignoring fans. That they become even bigger as years pass like archeological artifacts in museums that get tripled in value by age. That's what I've finally got it, that fights don't have to happen right away. You have to count years.

Floyd's own words:

"People said I was scared, a coward, to fight Manny Pacquiao. Everyone can have their own opinion. I always said, 'if it's meant to happen, it'll happen.' At one particular time, that fight was worth $60 million. I waited until the time was right, when things were on our terms and we were the A side and we could do things our way, we turned that into a $600-million fight."

https://www.boxingscene.com/mayweath...lovkin--106117

Correct, that quote from Mayweather was in the back of my mind while I was making these posts. I don't like to settle in life. Tyson-Lewis, Jones Jr.-Calzaghe, De La Hoya-Mayweather etc. were **** fights. Precisely because they happened way too late. The "better than nothing" is not a sustainable mentality.