What can Cuban fighters do to better promote themselves?

[-PBP-]

Why do fans of Cuban decent have to be the primary fanbase of a Cuban fighter? This is in response to people saying "There's not enough Cuban Americans to make a Cuban boxing star".

Black boxing fans aren't the one's who made Roy Jones Jr., Floyd Mayweather, Bernard Hopkins, Andre Ward, Jermain Taylor, Winky Wright, etc. etc. into stars. They fought their way to the top and attracted fans of all races and ethnicities with their talent and success.

[Cubanborn87]

Why do fans of Cuban decent have to be the primary fanbase of a Cuban fighter? This is in response to people saying "There's not enough Cuban Americans to make a Cuban boxing star".

Black boxing fans aren't the one's who made Roy Jones Jr., Floyd Mayweather, Bernard Hopkins, Andre Ward, Jermain Taylor, Winky Wright, etc. etc. into stars. They fought their way to the top and attracted fans of all races and ethnicities with their talent and success.

You have to take all the cubans from the 60's and 70'd out of the equation they dont relate to boxing and never did , the cubans that follow the sport are the ones that have gotten here in the last 20 years for the most part, we are probably talking about 400k people as the total cuban demographic pool that the fans are possibly coming out of.

[MalikKnucklez]

Black boxing fans aren't the one's who made Roy Jones Jr., Floyd Mayweather, Bernard Hopkins, Andre Ward, Jermain Taylor, Winky Wright, etc. etc. into stars. They fought their way to the top and attracted fans of all races and ethnicities with their talent and success.

I agree with the fact that Cuban fighters don't and shouldn't bet their success & marketability on a Cuban constituency. But all of the examples u just gave were American fighters who fought in America.

[daggum]

fake wedding proposals.....

[-PBP-]

You have to take all the cubans from the 60's and 70'd out of the equation they dont relate to boxing and never did , the cubans that follow the sport are the ones that have gotten here in the last 20 years for the most part, we are probably talking about 400k people as the total cuban demographic pool that the fans are possibly coming out of.

Yeah that's a drawback but I don't think that should prevent them from becoming mega stars. IMO their marketed all wrong. I don't believe anybody at Top Rank or Golden Boy knows or is willing to put the effort into marketing the Cuban talent on their roster. Perfect example, Erislandy Lara is fighting on a ShoBox card in Biloxi Mississippi after the breakthrough performance of his career. How is that helping to build Lara's fanbase?

They got Rigo on Pacquiao undercards, but think about it. You throw a fight party with casual boxing fans what's the question they going to ask you? "What time does the main event start? OK I'll be over at 11". It's not really giving Rigo the exposure he needs to be a crossover star. He should be fighting in Miami against agressive come forward fighters that he can knock out and look good against.

But hey, what do I know?

[HBGBoxingFan]

Cubans can't gain any more traction here than Haitians, Thais, El Salvadorians, or Slovakians due to two reasons:

1) There isn't enough of an ethnic base there to market boxers to and make money. They can do shows in Florida and maybe do okay, but that's it.

2) This small base is squeezed even further because of division between black and white Cubans. Many white Cubans look down on black Cubans and don't want anything to do with them, let alone support them in boxing.

Source: My white Cuban girlfriend.

I was talking to a guy at the Mayweather-Cotto fight and he brought up the same exact point, when I was talking about how I couldn't figure out why a guy like Gamboa doesn't have a huge following in the Cuban community. He said the white Cubans won't support him because he's a black Cuban. That's a damn shame.

[.:: JSFD26 ::.]

I was talking to a guy at the Mayweather-Cotto fight and he brought up the same exact point, when I was talking about how I couldn't figure out why a guy like Gamboa doesn't have a huge following in the Cuban community. He said the white Cubans won't support him because he's a black Cuban. That's a damn shame.

They must be racist themselves I guess. One of the most ******ed **** I've ever heard.

He has won multiple featherweight belts -- even if they were eventually stripped from him -- and he is on his way to a major fight after what looked like an effortless performance in a dominant eighth-round technical decision against Daniel Ponce De Leon on Saturday night before a pro-Gamboa crowd of 2,085 at the Adrian Phillips Ballroom at Boardwalk Hall.

2000 people in just 21 fights. Only 14 of them being in the US. Oh btw, that was in Jersey. Not even in Florida.

[CubanGuyNYC]

Why do fans of Cuban decent have to be the primary fanbase of a Cuban fighter? This is in response to people saying "There's not enough Cuban Americans to make a Cuban boxing star".

Black boxing fans aren't the one's who made Roy Jones Jr., Floyd Mayweather, Bernard Hopkins, Andre Ward, Jermain Taylor, Winky Wright, etc. etc. into stars. They fought their way to the top and attracted fans of all races and ethnicities with their talent and success.

I absolutely agree. Being a great, exciting fighter makes you a star. If you also happen to be charismatic the sky's the limit. It doesn't matter what race or nationality you happen to be. People will pay to see you. It's been proven time and again. If a Cuban superstar rises, he would not only enjoy widespread popularity, but he would spark interest in boxing within his own people. There would be fresh new fans and young athletes eager to become the next star from the community.

Bottom line: What can Cuban fighters do to better promote themselves? Win. Repeatedly. And in spectacular fashion.

[-PBP-]

I agree with the fact that Cuban fighters don't and shouldn't bet their success & marketability on a Cuban constituency. But all of the examples u just gave were American fighters who fought in America.

I think the same principle can apply though. Fight locally (in this case, Miami, NJ, etc.), and build up a fanbase. With Roy Jones, 16 of his first 20 fights was in Pensacola/Alabama. Pernell Whitaker was fighting in little Norfolk, VA early in his career. Whereas, like I like I said in my other post, Lara fighting in Biloxi Mississippi after the breakthrough performance of his career? How did that move benefit his career? He could of fought at the Hard Rock or AA.

The main disadvantage is the late starts to their careers which prevents them from getting 20 fights under their belt and slowly building up a following. With Rigo, he's in his prime with only 10 fights under his belt.

[CubanGuyNYC]

I agree with the fact that Cuban fighters don't and shouldn't bet their success & marketability on a Cuban constituency. But all of the examples u just gave were American fighters who fought in America.

In the 50s, Kid Gavilan fought regularly on television. He was a star. So was Kid Chocolate, back in the 30s, before television. They were major draws, despite being black Cubans in notoriously racist eras.

Roberto Duran was a big star. He didn't need a major Panamanian fan-base that to make him so. Duran marshaled a general Hispanic fan-base, but he was transcendent. Greatness will always rise and be recognized.