Uh Oh...Boxing Piracy Article

[Tha Greatest]

NETWORK TELEVISION











is the answer...

[bfg]

UFC is getting more fans by being on Spike regularly and it is even more fringe than boxing. If boxing goes back to the networks, or even ESPN/Spike/other cable channels than it would generate more fans which equals cash. The ****ing PPVs are what is killing the sport...

[masterdirector]

UFC is getting more fans by being on Spike regularly and it is even more fringe than boxing. If boxing goes back to the networks, or even ESPN/Spike/other cable channels than it would generate more fans which equals cash. The ****ing PPVs are what is killing the sport...

EXACTLY

Of course, they can't get on Network tv just yet. They have to build up to that.

A boxing league would really make this work. Clean up the sport, have one champ per division, no promoters, winners/loser's share of purses, the league ranks fighters and schedules all fights. We'd get big fights all the time on free TV.

Teddy Atlas is going about fixing boxing in all the wrong ways. A national boxing commission is not the answer, an international boxing league is the answer.

[bfg]

I agree but I think boxing needs a bigger fanbase in order to begin reforms. The fans have to demand changes in the way boxing is run before anything will actually change. People are still making too much cash to see that they are killing the sport. It breaks my heart when you watch the old heavyweight broadcasts and hear them refer to the title as the biggest in sports. Now it is not much more than a joke. All the fighters just want $$$, which obviously is understandable but there seems little motivation for the best to fight the best. None of the current crop exactly inspire awe but someone like Brewster or Toney at least are crowd pleasing. Hopefully one of them manages to unify. But no heavyweight fight should be PPV until there is actually something worth paying for. Hauser is ****** for assuming that it is the internet that will kill boxing...the promoters have been doing that for years.

[-Jay-]

Great post mate, good k comin your way for that. I bought 3 fights in 2005 b-hop and Jermaine Taylor 2, Tyson vs McBride and RJJ Tarver 3. And only one was worth the money in my opinion. I've got quite a large number of fights on my computer, and will continue to download them. Lawsuits will fly, but the consumer will always win where the internet is concerned.

[bfg]

Yeah, it is near to impossible for the law to keep up with the rate that the technology is advancing and I really doubt that anyone will pursue any lawsuits in regards to this. Even with movies and music you really have to be downloading/uploading a pretty big amount to pop up on the radar. Plus, if the server is located in Sweden the laws allow for sharing (at least according to some websites) and it is hard to get these websites taken down. **** the promoters for making PPVs $50 for ****. They should concern themselves with making boxing popular again rather than just raping the consumer for all their cash.

[Ranger2408]

There are barely any upcoming fights i would pay 50 bucks to see, maybe mayweather V zab.
Other than that its ridiculous, British Boxing used to be great because it was free and the best fought the best, people loved it back then, same here too.

Tyson, hagler, leonard etc all the great fights and fighters of the 80s and 90s, now what do we have?

John ruiz V apeman.
Fraudly Harrison V danny "what a joke" williams,

"Schiaffo all the promoters"

[kallsop]

If you don't like paying $50 for a mediocre PPV, don't buy it. The promoters will lose money and soon there are no more mediocre $50 PPV's. Problem solved.

There is no such thing as "free" boxing. Fighters get paid, promoters get paid, the venue gets paid, the judges and referee get paid, and on and on. A cable channel like ESPN is great for boxing because a lot of subscribers have ESPN. HBO and Showtime are down a notch in number of potential viewers, and both lag far behind an over the air network.

So how does boxing get back into the network schedule? It won't. There are far too many bogus belts from too many alphabet groups, and far too many mismatches due to faked ratings and undeserving mandatory challengers. It all spells confusion and dilution, and nobody will invest into that mess.

I just don't know how this ship rights itself. At least half of the wieght classes can be scrapped, and there needs to be only one champion at each weight. I have stopped paying attention to the alphabet belts and if enough do, that's a start.

Obviously there is no motivation for each alphabet group to play along, and they will protect their own piece of the pie, even as the pie shrinks and they will all eventually starve.