If boxing is to become mainstream again, who will lead it there?

[Enayze]

Floyd Mayweather!!!

[salsanchezfan]

I don't know that it can become mainstream again. Hate to be a joykill, but with the advent of cable (read: pay-TV), there's simply too much money to be made on PPV for big-time fights now. This means that only hard-core boxing fans or a bunch of guys getting together for stag night will bother with the bill at the end of the month. This is not mainstream.

I grew up in the 70's and 80's, an age when there was still a ****load of free, really good quality matchups almost every weekend in the spring and summer (football cut into boxing programming a bit in the fall and winter), and things are so different now, much for the worse.

If Oscar DLH had been fighting 25 years ago, he'd be bigger than Dallas in his heyday. Most, even the casual sports fan, have heard of him, but how many casual sports fans have actually seen him fight? Unless you wanna shell out the $50 or so for the chance to see him, you're out of luck. Therein lies the problem. Boxing has made itself inaccessible to the masses. Until this changes, no boxer will be mainstream.

[IwatchBoxing]

True, no boxer is gonna fix boxing, boxing needs to fix itself...

Dream vision:
1 "real" Belt
Less Divsions (no more Morales)
15 rounds
No worthless PPV'ers (one every season hopefully!)
Free TV (like Smackdown ect..)

I'll be happy to protest against PPV's anyday, people call me when your ready

[Tha_Greatest]

Yeah, but the numbers weren't exactly MAINSTREAM. I mean I know a couple guys that barely know boxing they bought that PPV just because it was Gatti. Exciting fighters sell boxing, until we get an exciting heavy boxing aint going to be mainstream.

The Average american fan want's to see KO's. They dont respect the sweet science they want to see a guy knocked straight out on his ass.

Somebody that will become the leader of boxing will have to be someone with K.O power, he has to be American, he has to build his record up with many bums going down in one round and he has to have a super ****y personality with a bad guy imageand he talks crazy too much, He needs to become champ early(Vargas had the potential), and he has to be in a division full of talented opposition. He has to fight 3 to 4 times a year as well so the people dont forget him.
He has to be in a promotional company like Bob Arum, Oscar or with Don King. Oh yeah, He has to be an Olympian as well

[Pico Hollywood]

I say Andre Ward, PBF, Jeff Lacy and Crowd Pleasing Fighters that can win

[masterdirector]

Give it a year or more and the guys in my avatar will see to it that Lacy gets that chin checked. His days are numbered.

It'll take someone like myself to bring boxing to the mainstream. **** a national commission, that's not what boxing needs to solve its problems. That'll create problems because it'll be government involvement. Little good can come from that. And taxpayers will be pissed, especially non-boxing fans. So most people.

What boxing needs is a private association, like the NBA or PGA or WTA or something. Promoters would become useless. Big fights would get made ALL the time and would be aired on free TV eventually. Sponsors would sign on. Boxing would grow its fanbase very nicely this way. One champion in each division. Champions wouldn't pay sanctioning fees, thus they wouldn't pay a penalty for being champ. College boxing could return. Guys could get better exposure before they even turn pro.

Imagine seeing a hot young prospect that fights for Maryland, or Duke, or Georgetown or whoever you like. Imagine boxers getting endorsement deals. Imagine video games having all 700 boxers in the IBL (International Boxing League, tentative name). Could even maybe have some sort of minor leagues of boxing. You know, sort of like Europe now.

[Foreman]

I agree that no one fighter can fix boxing. To the average person, boxing ranks somewhere between "I don't care" and "who gives a crap." Stop 10 people on the street and no more than 2 would know who the middleweight champ is.

The only way to get mainstream interested in boxing again is to have a white heavyweight olympian that succeeds big time as a pro without all the dramaqueen antics of tyson.

The only way people care about boxing is if it gives the U.S. another gold medal at the olympics. The media is always quick to promote a new "white hope", so the average guy would actually hear about this up and coming fighter. The public loves success and hates failure so he would have win convincingly and often. And lastly, people are getting tired of all the police blotter, self serving, whining, crying athletes today, so this fighters had better be clean and gracious.

[InThisCorner]

I think the only way to get boxing popular is to have another Tyson...We need a guy that is knockin guys out and shootin his mouth off and gettin attention.