Mayweather is a Turn-off to Casual Boxing Fans

[BigAlexSand]

Some ****** answers here... In fact I believe more casual fans know of Mayweather than some have a willingness to accept. In boxing their has always been a villain and a hero... We all know which category Mayweather belongs in but that is the business of the sport. In fact not as many individuals would watch his fights with wanting him to lose but is that wrong for the sport? No it is not.

Ali was known for clowning his opponents bordering disrespect. Many individuals either wished for him to lose/KO or wanted him to win. Mayweather does the same thing in the ring, unfortunately he doesn't know how to stay out of the light out of the ring.

I am a fan of Mayweather skill but I'm far from a fan of his morals outside of the ring but this isnt a reality show, this is boxing.

[al-Xander]

The great Roy Jones Jr says he's boring. TBE's vacationing, retiring, ducking persona made him a massive object of curiosity. People wanting to see him lose generates the kind of number he's getting. He's certainly no Mike Tyson, who people wanted to see, win or lose, back in the days.

[Tony Trick-Pony]

I think we are getting into whether he is getting numbers based on his persona which is obviously "Yes."

My point is that after watching one of his fights, would the casual fan be a repeat buyer and I mean someone who does not regularly watch the sport. I mean, how many of you go back and watch his fights over and over again?

I watch Barrera, Morales, Duran, Chavez, Sr, Arguello, etc. fights often, but I have never seen a Mayweather fight more than once.

[Beater_of_ass]

I agree with the thread title in the sense that I don't think Floyd has made more people watch boxing. Not that people don't watch his fights, but that those people only watch his fights and to only see him lose, they aren't tuning into the undercards or WCB. People were watching Manny to see a good fight and I think Manny's made his fans, fans of the sport not all of them obviously but more than Floyd.

My lady watches boxing though not nearly as much as me. It's a good thing the first fight she watched with me was DLH vs Vargas. I can't help but think if I showed her Rigo or someone boring, would she never have taken an interest in it at all. Manny brings that kind of excitement to his fights that would make a casual like that watch it more often as opposed to what Floyd fights look like most of the time.

[jcpryor]

Yet he is consistently the biggest ppv attraction and is the highest paid athlet in sports. Wonder why that is.

[Tony Trick-Pony]

That is exactly what I am saying. A casual boxing fan friend of mine watched Trinidad-De La Hoya and let's say that he did not show any interest after that. Had it been Trinidad-Vargas of De La Hoya-Vargas like you mentioned, I bet he would have shown more interest.

[JACK1190]

It doesn't matter what he is, what matters is he sells, and that speaks for it's self.

[meme_man]

It doesn't matter what he is, what matters is he sells, and that speaks for it's self.

^^^^^^^^^^^^

[krazyn8tive]

The sport has had it's ups and downs. I remember in the 1990s when I would go into a Wal-Mart to the magazine section and find copies of The Ring, Boxing '93('94, '95, etc.), Boxing Illustrated, KO and others but now? If I am lucky, they occasionally have The Ring.

Now you may be thinking this is a product of the digital age we live in. But still, why don't those other magazines have digital copies for download? Again, you can make the argument that there are still tons of boxing websites. You could be right.

However, when baseball, basketball and football have their regular games as well as their major events free for all to watch and boxing requires payment to view any major event with few regular events available, you have to wonder how anyone could be surprised that it's popularity has declined.

Has it declined?

Well, I challenge you to walk into any bar and listen to the patrons talk about sports and I guarantee you are more likely to hear about the other three sports or if you even hear about boxing, it's going to be Pacquiao or Mayweather- the two guys who can't seem to ever fight each other.

Not good for the sport to say the least.

So with this current state being reality, what would a casual observer want to see from the occasion they happen to see a boxing match? My guess is a lot of action, a lot of punching, some knockdowns and probably a knockout.

Does Mayweather deliver on any of these things?

There is usually little action, few punches from himself, zero knockdowns and never a knockout. He wins fights and for some hardcore boxing fans, he proves to be slick and know where to be in the ring and how to land pretty outside punches the judges score points for. So for those fans, all is fine. But to the casual observer?

Boxing needs fighters- ACTION fighters. While Pacquioa has not scored a knockout in a while, his fights always feature plenty of punches and lots of action and as in his last fight, plenty of knockdowns. What about Wladimir Klitschko? Usually scores a knockout and usually a knockdown and generally throws plenty of punches. GGG? Always a knockout with knockdowns and plenty of heavy punches that get reactions from casual observers who could turn into hardcore fans. Marquez? He usually makes for an entertaining fight and sometimes gets knockouts or knockdowns at least, although I dare say he is the most exciting either. Counterpunchers rarely are.

The point is that hoisting up a guy who has such a low crowd pleasing style is not a good move for the sport. How he has managed to sell tickets is the idea that he could lose for the most part. But casual fans get turned off by watching him and in the end, are less likely to watch another fight. I understand that ratings are what they are and even the best is not necessarily ranked number one for reasons such as what they have done lately and landing the fight to prove themselves.

In closing, I think Mayweather is given too much praise overall. No matter how good you are, if your style is dull, how are you good for the sport?

In other news, water is wet.

[KingTito]

Look. I don't like Floyd. I'll be the first to admit it, but he's obviously crossing over to casual fans and is the biggest star in boxing.