Comments Thread For: Reading The Reactions: What Matters, What May Never

[BIGPOPPAPUMP]

By Lyle Fitzsimmons - In a past life as a newspaper sports guy, I frequently encountered a colleague who – whenever an assigned opinion column deadline drew near – would lament his way around the office saying, “Uh oh, I’ve got to find someone to rip.”

Rather than using the weekly or monthly task as a platform from which to educate, opinionate or celebrate, that particularly coworker and far too many others simply identified “column” with “attack.”

If there wasn’t a target, there wasn’t a reason.

And quite often in the finished product, there wasn’t a point.

It was a philosophy I never really agreed with or understood.

It reeked of limitations in some areas, and perhaps overcompensation in others.

And since taking a Tuesday slot here with Boxing Scene, I’ve tried to maintain a variety.

When there’s a bull’s eye to be blasted, I’ll be first to take my shot. But if circumstance calls for interpretation or crusade rather than demonization, I do my best to serve those purposes, too.

Most weeks, the choice is pretty clear.

But truth told, even as I write this on the trusty Acer laptop… I’m not quite sure which way to go. [Click Here To Read More]

[jjbj2]

An Opinion.

How about this, what if main****** boxing starts airing a mix card where the main event can be a women's championship bout and the undercard is a mix of female and male boxers. And you can have the flip side of the coin where the main event is a men's championship bout and the undercard is a mix of female and male boxers.

I don't really care what gender of the fighters are fighting as long as I have a vested interest in watching the whole fight including the undercard or main event.

Arum had the great idea of putting Christy Martin in the undercard of Cotto. People would still watch Cotto's undercard and his main event. Although, Miss Martin pulled out.

Anyways, yea, mix the two up then you'll see interest in women's boxing go up. I think combat sports are the only sport that can mix it up like wrestling does in WWE/RAW whatever. UFC/MMA can do it too. So, why not boxing?

[LeadUppercut]

How about this, what if main****** boxing starts airing a mix card where the main event can be a women's championship bout and the undercard is a mix of female and male boxers. And you can have the flip side of the coin where the main event is a men's championship bout and the undercard is a mix of female and male boxers.

I don't really care what gender of the fighters are fighting as long as I have a vested interest in watching the whole fight including the undercard or main event.

Arum had the great idea of putting Christy Martin in the undercard of Cotto. People would still watch Cotto's undercard and his main event. Although, Miss Martin pulled out.

Anyways, yea, mix the two up then you'll see interest in women's boxing go up. I think combat sports are the only sport that can mix it up like wrestling does in WWE/RAW whatever. UFC/MMA can do it too. So, why not boxing?

I had better be careful what I say here.....
I have no interest at all in women's boxing, and I'm not sure exactly why ?

Maybe because it is not the real deal ?

I dunno ?

I've seen a few women's fights, some have good skill, some have good power.

A couple of those fights were pretty entertaining as well.

I honestly don't know why I have very little interest in women's boxing ?

[danthepup]

Despite the joke that Olymic boxing has become, a gold medal winning female boxer from the US would certainly lift the profile of the sport. Esspecially if she is TV friendly, and doesn't look like she is loaded with PEDs. Remember when the Soviet female athletes were all built like men and the US female athletes were the attractive ones? Now its the other way around.

[JoeDaWg]

I had better be careful what I say here.....
I have no interest at all in women's boxing, and I'm not sure exactly why ?

Maybe because it is not the real deal ?

I dunno ?

I've seen a few women's fights, some have good skill, some have good power.

A couple of those fights were pretty entertaining as well.

I honestly don't know why I have very little interest in women's boxing ?

I totally agree wit that statement. I just don't have any interest what so ever in women boxing. I kind of know why though, I just don't like the product. Men and women are DIFFERENT. No matter how equal we become or strive to be women and men have different body types. They are not as fast, can't jump as high, are not as strong, look its just not that fun to watch. I have zero interest watching women play basketball or box, just like I have zero interest in mens gymnastics or figure skating. Im not saying they shouldn't be allowed to compete or should get back in the kitchen or anything like that but reality is reality. Its just not worth my time, there are more entertaining things on tv.

[tredh]

I don't want to see women fighting cause it just doesn't look right to me. I mean why would I want to see some women I might want to **** get beat up and now look ugly with a Hasim Rahman knot on they head!!! Boxing isn't basketball I will never watch female boxing. Not a option for me.

[Lorily]

It's sad but it's true... womens boxing just doesn't garner any attention. It's unfortunate because, to be honest, I have seen some female fighters (although rare)that are better then some of the male fighters out there today, and I've seen some cards where the female fight was more exciting then the rest of the card all together.

Personally, I'd like to see them do what jjbj suggested in his post and incorporate more of both (Male AND female) fights in to a card. Although there's the risk of insulting or offending (pissing off) some of the harder core Male fans, if there's ever going to be a shot of bringing any kind of popularity to Womens boxing, incorporating the two is the only way I can see the current situation possibly change. If left segrigated on its own (as Women only Boxing cards) it stands little to no chance of ever moving from where it already is IMO. Adding more Women fighters to the undercards of Male boxing bouts would open up the eyes more to the casual fans, especially those who are already there to see there favorite popular fighter. I think when people think about women in boxing, unfortunately they tend to envision the Tanya Hardings of Celebrity Fights or such. They picture two unskilled chicks wild swinging, hair pulling and cowering when they get hit type fights. It will be hard to get the general public to think otherwise unless it eventually makes its way up through the main ****** and then in to peoples living room T.V.s. A really good place to start or atleast attempt a solid go at it would be through ESPN Friday Night Fights and some of the other sports channels like Versus. Bringing Womens Boxing in to the Olympics is also another great way of introducing a better, more skilled, popular crop of Women in to modern day boxing.

Lyle, as far as the point you made in 'Reading the Reactions', there is something that you should keep in mind - Yes, you are absolutely correct in saying that just the mere mention of Floyd or Mannys name brings on pages and pages of comments from the viewers as opposed to the crickets in an article related to someone or something else. However, although it does envoke drama, its the same drama over and over again, with the same people argueing the same points endlessly. But, please keep in mind that even though a topic by any other name than Mayweather or Pacquiao does not bring on the same kind of viewer hits and outward reactions, it still holds worthyness even if the average reader doesn't reply to it. Keep in mind that a lot of those "hits" in the FMJ/Pac articles are the same people returning to continuously argue the same point over and over again. Please - don't give up and more importantly, Please don't give in. There are more then enough people that can sit back and enjoy reading an article regarding other points of interest that have nothing to do with Floyd or Manny - and that doesn't include all the drama, hatred, rascism, personal attacks, invalid opinions and endless, pointless back and forth on who is right or wrong - that those two names bring out in the comments section. "Hits" or "comments" don't mean anything if it's the same people day in and day out saying the same thing over and over about the same two people. Perhaps if more journalist would become less compelled to mention Floyd or Manny just for the hell of it for more ratings , more interest could/would be payed to other deserving aspects of the sport. The bold sentences in this paragraph are my main point on the subject.

For whatever it's worth, this is just my two cents worth of course. PEACE.

[TaurusJ27]

I hear the same thing about wnba. Only female boxer I'm familiar with is christy martin.