Comments Thread For: Why are today's leading boxers fighting less frequently than they were 30 years ago?

[Lance98]

Mayweather is not to be blamed as he himself said that everyone wants to be money mayweather without going through the pretty boy mayweather phase where he grind hard to get to where he is at. Blame it on these lazy fighters that didn't study boxing and misinterpreted the message. Mayweather always worked hard even when he was at the top. He took his camps seriously and trained like a madman.

[Rayzah]

They should add a thumbs-down/dislike button in the forums. Mayweather has surely influenced this current generation of fighters with "keeping your "0", health 1st, & rehydration clauses, to name a few. Which in turn has influenced the behavior of today's top stars. (Tank & Canelo are suckers for rehydration clauses) That's why it's great to see people like Tim Tyszu that stay active with little downtime.

[brettWall]

A fighter having fought once a year for the last five years and still regarded as being in the #1 P4P rankings just doesn't make any sense in the overall grand scheme of things. If 2 fights a year is the average for fighters, then such fighter has virtually avoided 5 fights in the last 5 years. It's so silly to compare that to a guy who is active and takes more risk by fighting more often. The insult to the intelligence is such fighter still gets to have the potential of being awarded a HOF plaque someday. The bigger insult is the active guy don't even get to have a certificate of appreciation for his being active.

[Zelda]

If you're making $20 an hr, you need to work 50 hrs a week to make $1,000
If you're making $40 an hr, you can reduce your workload to 30 hrs a week and still make $1,200.

Guys back then needed to fight more and only the competitive fights made money, so they had to increase output. They were also more dependent on promoters who needed fights between known guys to sustain the business. Working hard and fighting frequently was the culture and people worked to live.

On a positive note, though, back then, touching your 30s was a signal to call it a day, and reaching your mid-30s meant you were too old. Nowadays, careers are generally longer because boxers really plan their careers to increase longevity. Work-life balance is a thing now and affects everyone, including sportsmen. Fewer people are willing to put in the hard work and discipline needed to fight frequently.

[real raw]

Money. But not SIMPLY money it’s that they have a better business acumen then they woefully under educated and under informed boxers of the past. Fighters these days have been shown how to make money on the back end, they have been shown how to make investments etc. I do believe they are being paid over what they are worth especially when it comes to risk but the only thing that will change that is the promoters. Also it had a lot to do with HBO and Showtime getting out of boxing. ESPN boxing isn’t what it used to be and there are less boxing casts on channels. The sport is in a bit of trouble

I have no problem with fighters making the most money they can make. I actually think they are leaving money on the table by fighting so infrequently. Fighters only have a few years in which to apply their trade and can actually win fights. No big fights, no big paydays. How much money has Gary Russell left on the table due to inactivity?

[CPNUTKnockoutFreshMart]

I have no problem with fighters making the most money they can make. I actually think they are leaving money on the table by fighting so infrequently. Fighters only have a few years in which to apply their trade and can actually win fights. No big fights, no big paydays. How much money has Gary Russell left on the table due to inactivity?

You are absolutely correct. At the end of their careers the vast majority of these inactive fighters are going to wish that they had fought more frequently. A lot of these guys not only make less because they fight infrequently, they make less when they do fight because fans don't know them or lose interest in their careers. Gary Russell Jr is a great example.

[JuniorTorres720]

I'm not expecting a fighter to fight 10-15 times a year, but 3-4 times a year would be a sweet spot imo. Shoot, 5 would be just perfect!

[brettWall]

I still don't know the answer to this question.

[MulaKO]

We can blame this on Mayweather and the outrageous amounts of money he got paid for his fights. 100 million for a fight against Conor McGregor at a minimum. To top it off, Mayweather used his "0" to capitalize and make his money. This is crazy. Then Canelo and other greedy fighters are trying to keep their almost perfect records to make as much money while incurring the least amount of damage to their bodies. Nowadays the top fighters get paid a lot more money than yesteryear which means they don't have to fight as often. If promoters and the financiers brought down the purses and put in more stipulations for fighting frequently then fighters would fight more often. Now you got sleeper fighters like Shakur Stevenson and Devin Haney trying to get paid for their services in the most boring fights for consumers.

Hungry fighters, fight more often and give us the best fights. Fighters in the 30s through the 90s have proven this. History has proven this.

Your right bit can we bare the blame on Floyd ???
He started this chit , right ???
Not attacking you but I got into it some other folks way out yonder
My point being he started this fughin trend

[rickJen]

Simple answer is because they can afford to take extended holidays.