Comments Thread For: Klitschko-Haye: Not The Fight To Save Boxing, But…

[BIGPOPPAPUMP]

By Jake Donovan - We’ve been down that road before. A fight or event is sold as must-see, the one where if you couldn’t watch any other even that year, this is the one you had to see.

It’s not fair to say that Wladimir Klitschko’s lineal title defense against David Haye this weekend in Hamburg, Germany (Saturday, HBO, 4:45PM ET) is the one event that you can’t miss.

But it’s certainly one that can go a long way towards resuscitating the heavyweight division.

Or killing it altogether.

There are a bunch of sayings surrounding the heavyweight division in relation to the shaping of the sport. One is, “There’s boxing… and then there are the heavyweights.” Another is, “As the heavyweight division goes, so does boxing.”

None are any longer applicable, especially after major boxing player HBO considered the division taboo. The network had always made it a point to showcase the lineal champion, or at least its most recognizable face.

Under current terms, the younger Klitschko would remain in HBO’s rotation, yet that hasn’t been the case for more than two years.

It hasn’t been that long since HBO saw it necessary to turn its back on the division altogether – Vitali Klitschko managed to score a couple of slots late in 2009, including his 10th round stoppage of network favorite Chris Arreola. But it was the sleep-inducing non-performance of opponent Kevin Johnson that left the brass thinking twice about investing in the big boys.

Once Arreola fell short against Tomasz Adamek a few months later, the heavyweight division was blacklisted altogether.

At least until it came through on the very short list of fights deemed worth a damn by the viewing public. [Click Here To Read More]

[edgarg]

By Jake Donovan - We’ve been down that road before. A fight or event is sold as must-see, the one where if you couldn’t watch any other even that year, this is the one you had to see.

It’s not fair to say that Wladimir Klitschko’s lineal title defense against David Haye this weekend in Hamburg, Germany (Saturday, HBO, 4:45PM ET) is the one event that you can’t miss.

But it’s certainly one that can go a long way towards resuscitating the heavyweight division.

Or killing it altogether.

There are a bunch of sayings surrounding the heavyweight division in relation to the shaping of the sport. One is, “There’s boxing… and then there are the heavyweights.” Another is, “As the heavyweight division goes, so does boxing.”

None are any longer applicable, especially after major boxing player HBO considered the division taboo. The network had always made it a point to showcase the lineal champion, or at least its most recognizable face.

Under current terms, the younger Klitschko would remain in HBO’s rotation, yet that hasn’t been the case for more than two years.

It hasn’t been that long since HBO saw it necessary to turn its back on the division altogether – Vitali Klitschko managed to score a couple of slots late in 2009, including his 10th round stoppage of network favorite Chris Arreola. But it was the sleep-inducing non-performance of opponent Kevin Johnson that left the brass thinking twice about investing in the big boys.

Once Arreola fell short against Tomasz Adamek a few months later, the heavyweight division was blacklisted altogether.

At least until it came through on the very short list of fights deemed worth a damn by the viewing public. [Click Here To Read More]

Jake Donovan may be the Managing editor of BoxingScene, but either he has forgotten how to write an incisive article, or this is the worst of his efforts I have ever read. It reads more like a gloss from a training camp. I've always had a high regard for his work, and keenly looked forward to it, but THIS.........

Dreadful.

[Malius]

This article assumes that the only place where boxing matters is the US.

[BetterCallSaul]

Who cares about American networks?

- This fight is being aired in 120 countries worldwide

- Will attract 1m+ PPV buys in the UK, 80% of the German viewing audience, and over 500m viewers worldwide

- 57,000+ fans will be there live in the arena

This is a huge fight. It won't revive the HW division. No two men can do that. But boxing is about the here and now, and on Saturday, the HW divison will stage it's greatest match-up in almost a decade. The wait is killing me.

[chiguy91]

Who cares about American networks?

- This fight is being aired in 120 countries worldwide

- Will attract 1m+ PPV buys in the UK, 80% of the German viewing audience, and over 500m viewers worldwide

- 57,000+ fans will be there live in the arena

This is a huge fight. It won't revive the HW division. No two men can do that. But boxing is about the here and now, and on Saturday, the HW divison will stage it's greatest match-up in almost a decade. The wait is killing me.

great post. from what numbers the klitschkos pull on german tv ratings and all the competition there is out there with european titles, boxing seems to be doing fine over there. only thing hbo and american outlets are concerned with is their isn't american name really in the mix of it all.

[Sage84]

Who cares about American networks?

- This fight is being aired in 120 countries worldwide

- Will attract 1m+ PPV buys in the UK, 80% of the German viewing audience, and over 500m viewers worldwide

- 57,000+ fans will be there live in the arena

This is a huge fight. It won't revive the HW division. No two men can do that. But boxing is about the here and now, and on Saturday, the HW divison will stage it's greatest match-up in almost a decade. The wait is killing me.

Great post.

Exactly, who cares about US tv. We have the 4 best HW's in the world fighting each other this year, we cant ask more than that. It might not be a golden age for the big boys but you can only work with what you have. All 4 should get respect.

[fastblack]

This fight is between a good decent classy intelligent dignified sportsman and a true champion fighting well-- dave haye.

[The Hammer]

Who cares about American networks?

- This fight is being aired in 120 countries worldwide

- Will attract 1m+ PPV buys in the UK, 80% of the German viewing audience, and over 500m viewers worldwide

- 57,000+ fans will be there live in the arena

This is a huge fight. It won't revive the HW division. No two men can do that. But boxing is about the here and now, and on Saturday, the HW divison will stage it's greatest match-up in almost a decade. The wait is killing me.

Good post.

[nycsmooth]

Srry, I just can't get excited about this bout between a nothing challanger who won't fight in the US and an average champion who would have been ko'd by ali and holmes...face facts the hvywt division is the weakest and most boring in boxing, followed closely by the 175#ers.....

[ThePrince]

Can we stop with the 'one fight to save boxing' nonsense already? What is the sport being saved from exactly? Sold out arenas with 20-40K people in the stands in Germany, Canada, etc? A 66 rating in Denmark for Kessler's recent fight? Boxing being featured on CBS, TNT, TBS, HP and Nike commercials? Ratings climbing seemingly every week on HBO?

The sport is doing better than it has in nearly a decade and it feels like this is only the beginning of a revival of sorts. No one fight is going to 'save' the sport, no matter how hyped- see DLH-Mayweather for proof of that.

Solid fights and more exposure on different platforms is what's bringing the sport back to prominence, as long as that continues, nothing needs 'saving'.