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

[elfag]

theyre overpaid at the top and underpaid at the bottom to mid levels

[PRINCEKOOL]

I have always maintained and stated, that professional boxing 'Is not the pinnacle of boxing, in terms of pure competition. It may only be the peak of boxing, in terms of business but definitively not raw competition between the fighters'.

Just yesterday, I stated that Amateur boxing is actually the absolute pinnacle in terms of pure competition 'At its most fundamental and raw level'. I even suggested that? The best overall boxing coaches, most likely are content to stay within the Amateur ranks. And work with the fighters week in week out all year round, on a very in-depth level'.

When a coach decides to stay within the Amateur ranks. At that stage of developments within a fighter's career. Boxing coaches have more input and access to be the architects of a fighters training and preparation to a higher level than in the professional ranks'.

The Amateur ranks of boxing, are also purely about being the best 'In terms of pure competition, at its rawest most fundamental form. The amateur levels of boxing, are the pinnacle of pure competition. Because a fighters only ambition and goal is to improve, get better, or win. That is it.

The professional ranks in boxing, believe it or not? Are not the pinnacle of the sport, in terms of pure competition 'And I am almost 100% sure, that the calibre of athletes who are attracted to the professional ranks, can at times be lower level athletes. In terms of their work ethic, and intrinsic motivations'.

Is anybody surprised here that fighters such as Tyson Fury, were not World to Elite level Amateur fighters? How Tyson Fury has approached the professional ranks, quite simply it would be very difficult for any amateur fighter. To have that same level of work ethic, and still be a World to Elite level Amateur fighter'.

Tyson Fury as a amateur fighter was at best, a top level national fighter 'Fury turned professional after being beaten by David Price 'That was Fury's highest achievement as a amateur fighter. 'And this is no disrespect? Because at the time David Price was a commonwealth bronze medallist, and one of the top Amateur Super Heavyweight fighters in the build up to the 2008 Olympics'.

Note: But in comparison Oleksandr Uysk was a Olympic Champion, Anthony Joshua was a Olympic Champion, and World Championship medalist. David Haye and Carl Froch were both British Boxings first World Amateur medalist for 27 years'. The World Amateur boxing championship was first held in 1974, both Haye and Froch were the first British World Amateur boxing medalist in 2001. David Haye won a Silver Medal, and Carl Froch in the same Championships won the Bronze Medal.

All of those fighters I have just mentioned up above, already very early in their careers 'Were showing signs and traits of being overall superior athletes to Tyson Fury. In terms of their work ethic, and attitudes towards pure competition. Because that is what it takes to be one of the best fighters at a National, European and World Level as a Amateur fighter. The professional game in my opinion, and from observations is fundamentally different'.

The professional ranks of the sport is more about 'Show business, and theatre. It relies more heavily on marketing and political warfare. On a fundamental level it is not just about the fighters, training and competing to be the best they can be. And this culture over the decades has became more evident and intense, especially? When the sport as whole at times, seems to value and prioritize casual sports fans before the more loyal and hardcore fans'.

All of those factors create an environment and atmosphere, that? Really in my opinion is not conducive, for the fighters who desire to just compete 'As a professional fighter you personally in this modern era, need more dimension's to your game outside of the ring. Or you will need to be working with a team of people who can compete for you in the other areas of professional boxing that matter such as, marketing, tactical and strategic business, political warfare'.

To conclude: So overall, fighters may be competing less. Because quite simply, fundamentally I don't think they want to be the best to the same level as amateur fighters. 'It is a more extrinsically driven and motivated level of the sport'.

Many people are criticising Floyd Mayweather Junior, for the intensity of this culture in the professional ranks 'But Floyd Mayweather Junior, never really lost his work ethic or his intrinsic desires to be the best fighter that he could be. Floyd Mayweather Junior's work ethic was supreme, and of the highest standard throughout his entire career. And one of the major reasons why he remained undefeated in the professional ranks, was because? He approached the professional ranks as a fighter, with a very similar attitude of a Elite level Amateur fighter. Hard Work, Dedication'.

People must understand that, all of this is just the nature of the professional game. But if all of you people want to criticize somebody, then you best? Criticise the individual fighters . Because if you are a professional fighter, who on a fundamental level is more extrinsically motivated. Or does not really have a great passion for the game, at some point those character traits are going to show through in the professional ranks. When the going gets tough, what is real will be evident to the fighters themselves and the observers of the sport'.

I am not trying to claim, that those fighters are bad athletes 'Because they are not. But in combat sports, and more broadly speaking? Individual sports, it is clear that athletes need to be more fundamentally hardcore in certain areas. Work ethic, intrinsic desires, overall attitude towards competition'.

Compare an Amateur level Soccer player, to a Amateur level track and field athlete or Boxer 'And it is no comparison, on average? From my experiences and empirical observation's. There will be a higher percentage of lower level athletes in team sports. Who are not really that hardcore in terms of their overall work ethic, and intrinsic desires to train and compete. This trend and culture also expands, throughout all the levels of those sports'.

The main point I am trying to make is? Professional boxing, is fundamentally not about being the best 'In the same way as the Amateur ranks. So of course, fighters may at times compete less, especially in this modern era of the sport. Professional boxing is a combination of, show business and theatre' etc.

[The D3vil]

The leading boxers today fight better competition much quicker, guys cant fight the very best more than a few times a year, pick anybody you like from way back and they fought a low number of the best top guys in amongst 100 cans, the modern eras doesn't allow that to happen, fans are crying if they fight a genuine top 10 guy instead of the top 1/2 guy, if they fought guys with losing records triple their win record fans would crucify them, back in the day with no internet there was not a real lot of push back for fighting bums, people actually supported it so they could see their guy bash somebody, times have evolved, the stakes a higher, the conditioning is more finely tuned and the market doesn't allow for a bum of the month deal like it did back then.

That's completely false.

Between '79-'81, Sugar Ray Leonard, the biggest star in the sport, fought Roberto Duran, the best fighter in the sport 2x, Thomas Hearns a top 5 WW of all-time, & Wilfred Benitez, a top 50 P4P fighter of all-time.

Between '91-'94, James Toney fought HOF Mike McCallum 2x, HOF Michael Nunn, 2x champion Reggie Johnson, and ATG HOF Roy Jones Jr.

There is nobody today fighting those types of schedules.

theyre overpaid at the top and underpaid at the bottom to mid levels

This.

Boxing could use some Communism like the NFL, NBA, UFC, & MLB, where you have a centralized "government" that puts caps on salaries & spreads the wealth around so the people at the bottom can live & the people at the top don't have too much

But y'all aint ready for that discussion.

[BodyBagz]

More earnings per fight
More obstacles now than ever before

[jqSide]

I don't know how it was thirty years ago... Maybe fighters in the past are more dedicated to the sport.

[OnePunch]

over the past decade 2 things have played a BIG factor in this issue. Fighter pay demands got to the point where they could not be met via traditional broadcast revenues, and PBC systematically devalued boxing content over the past decade, destroying relationships with every network that USED to buy boxing content. Now pretty much the only entity actually consistently PAYING for content is ESPN, but their budget is "meh" and their deal with Top Rank expires in August. Pretty much everything else is PPV based, and you simply cannot sell enough PPV events to keep all the fighters active 2 or 3 times per year......


Edit: And before the Haymon Fan Club chimes in and accuses me of being a hater or whatever, what I posted are FACTS, and FACTS dont care about your feelings....

[Toffee]

They're better at making more money from fewer fights.

To be honest, if I was given the option of earning more and working less then I'd take it in a heartbeat.