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Something needs to change in this sport in America. The attendance and viewership numbers continue to dwindle, and TV networks sit on their hands waiting for the next De La Hoya/Pacquiao/Tyson to appear and pull boxing out of the darkness again.
The promoters are just trying to take the TV money and run, they put nothing into this sport and it shows. Gary Shaw once told Boxing Truth that he spent virtually zero dollars promoting his fights, because the TV and casino money gave him a nice little profit regardless of attendance. Lou Dibella has flat out said that boxing is doing a nosedive, but he has to play the game just like everyone else because he's too small to do anything about it.
Look at how fans get behind their fighters in the UK, Japan, Mexico, and Germany. Meanwhile somewhere in America, two guys are fighting for the US or North American titl for a couple thousand bucks each, and guys in American can defend world titles and still make peanuts. Somethings got to change.
That is not going to attract athletes to this sport. You've seen it already; guys are coming to boxing only after attempts at more lucrative sports fail. If attendance figures continue to fall and America-based fighters continue to get in the game late and come up short, the sport will continue to shrink stateside. And that's less money in the pot overall and worse for fans everywhere.
We need boxing back on regular TV. Haymon is doing that.
We need fighters to be getting paid so that more people will want to become professional boxers: Haymon is doing that.
We need a promoter with a ****ing long term plan to grow the sport along with their business. Haymon appears to be doing something resembling that.
I don't like Haymon. I haven't had a single nice thing to say about him until now. But for the love of God, at least he's doing something. Good or bad? Time will tell. But get off his nuts and let him do whatever the hell it is he's going to do and pray for the best. Because it's looking pretty bleak out there, guys.
The promoters are just trying to take the TV money and run, they put nothing into this sport and it shows. Gary Shaw once told Boxing Truth that he spent virtually zero dollars promoting his fights, because the TV and casino money gave him a nice little profit regardless of attendance. Lou Dibella has flat out said that boxing is doing a nosedive, but he has to play the game just like everyone else because he's too small to do anything about it.
Look at how fans get behind their fighters in the UK, Japan, Mexico, and Germany. Meanwhile somewhere in America, two guys are fighting for the US or North American titl for a couple thousand bucks each, and guys in American can defend world titles and still make peanuts. Somethings got to change.
That is not going to attract athletes to this sport. You've seen it already; guys are coming to boxing only after attempts at more lucrative sports fail. If attendance figures continue to fall and America-based fighters continue to get in the game late and come up short, the sport will continue to shrink stateside. And that's less money in the pot overall and worse for fans everywhere.
We need boxing back on regular TV. Haymon is doing that.
We need fighters to be getting paid so that more people will want to become professional boxers: Haymon is doing that.
We need a promoter with a ****ing long term plan to grow the sport along with their business. Haymon appears to be doing something resembling that.
I don't like Haymon. I haven't had a single nice thing to say about him until now. But for the love of God, at least he's doing something. Good or bad? Time will tell. But get off his nuts and let him do whatever the hell it is he's going to do and pray for the best. Because it's looking pretty bleak out there, guys.
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