Tweet
After watching Kiko Martinez vs Frampton II and Juan Francisco Estrada vs Giovani Segura this past weekend, I realized something. The draw these two fights had were quite significant. Frampton had a stadium built just for this fight, pulling in 16,000 spectators in a packed house to watch him fight live. That alone wass rather impressive. Giovani and Estrada pulled 22,000 fans into the arena in Mexico City for their clash, which is a huge number for guys at their weight class.
It's interesting because these weight classes are nearly non-existent in the US. The average fan would refuse to watch 2 fighters whom combined weight wouldn't match his own. Why? No idea, but they'd rather miss out on some of the sports most action packed fights and clashes than sit through the humiliation of watching 2 small men prancing around the ring. Do I agree with them? Not at all.
Now, most people tend to claim no one cares about these divisions and they should be abolished due to their limited exposure on the main boxing outlets. Yet, these fighters pulled in numbers most American fighters in higher weights would struggle to make themselves, it was however, in their own respective countries. Simply because certain weight classes don't receive exposure on Shotime or HBO, does it mean that it's a dead division no one cares for? I would say no. This weekend proved that the World does indeed care about the smaller men and perhaps the US is missing out on something special.
Aside from placing the fights on major outlets, what could be done in order to make the smaller weights more of an attraction in the US market? Or are they doomed to remain a "freak show" of sort due to their limited physical attributes? Are these weights dead or unimportant since they receive no attention on US television, or is there hope for them in the future? Would they remain a niche attraction in a niche sport? So many questions I bring up but one thing I'm certain of, these weight divisions do matter…. especially to the rest of the world. 16,000 people in Northern Ireland and 22,000 more in Mexico City would agree to that.
It's interesting because these weight classes are nearly non-existent in the US. The average fan would refuse to watch 2 fighters whom combined weight wouldn't match his own. Why? No idea, but they'd rather miss out on some of the sports most action packed fights and clashes than sit through the humiliation of watching 2 small men prancing around the ring. Do I agree with them? Not at all.
Now, most people tend to claim no one cares about these divisions and they should be abolished due to their limited exposure on the main boxing outlets. Yet, these fighters pulled in numbers most American fighters in higher weights would struggle to make themselves, it was however, in their own respective countries. Simply because certain weight classes don't receive exposure on Shotime or HBO, does it mean that it's a dead division no one cares for? I would say no. This weekend proved that the World does indeed care about the smaller men and perhaps the US is missing out on something special.
Aside from placing the fights on major outlets, what could be done in order to make the smaller weights more of an attraction in the US market? Or are they doomed to remain a "freak show" of sort due to their limited physical attributes? Are these weights dead or unimportant since they receive no attention on US television, or is there hope for them in the future? Would they remain a niche attraction in a niche sport? So many questions I bring up but one thing I'm certain of, these weight divisions do matter…. especially to the rest of the world. 16,000 people in Northern Ireland and 22,000 more in Mexico City would agree to that.
Comment