Serious question regarding where Boxing stands

[b Murphington]

In USA, it's been down for a while. There's just little to no interest. In this country, there's just too many other mainstream sports these days for boxing to compete for viewership and fans. Boxing doesn't even get a lot of coverage on ESPN. The one exception was the whole May/Pac thing. And the end result of that fight really hurt boxing more than helped it. I'm sure the lack of action turned people off of the sport. One of my friends said the fight ******.

In other countries, boxing appears to be surging. UK seems to have quite a few big fighters and I think they have a pretty decent boxing fan base over there.

Some European countries have a big boxing following I believe. Even Canada seems to enjoy their boxing. They seem to go crazy for Stevenson up North, as well as any other big Canadian fighter.

We need to bring it back to the old days where fighters only cared about fighting. There seems to be too many politics. Too much of, "I'm A side." "I'll only meet you at this weight, or there's no fight." "I need a tune up fight."

[Bullrider]

Boxing just has no structure. It is horribly ran, has been since the late 80s, and it's totally alienated casual fans for a generation now. It's been a slow drip for years, but now you are seeing the full effects.

It's a combination of factors:

Moved from network TV to premium channels and PPv, missing out on the average fan. Having the big fights on PPV doesn't really hurt as much as not having network TV access

Horrible matchmaking, pre-PBC nearly all the major fights were not on network TV, the only ones on network TV were total mismatches which pretty much killed network card ratings to the point that they got cancelled: world wide of sports, Tuesday night fights, tnt fights, etc

Top guys not fighting each other in timely manner.. The 70s and 90s were both loaded with heavyweight talent, but the difference was that the guys from the 70s fought each other all in timely manner.. We had to wait years for tyson v evander, lennox, etc bowe-holyfield was about the only big fight that happened in a timely manner.

Too many belts, too many sanctioning bodies, too many paper champs... Way too confusing for an average fan to understand. This is one of the most damaging things to boxing.. Most of the rankings make no sense, and way too many mediocre fighters find themselves in eliminators or title fights

Fans need to make some adjustments with how they view every fight. Mismatches are here to stay. It is what it is now. Fans might as well enjoy every fight, ***** and all.

[Citizen Koba]

I've been following boxing for about 18 years,when Solo boxeo was airing I literally would cancel plans or planned around it,I always defended boxing and did a bit of training as well,never missed a PPV and really tried and study it.My question is,what is the real opinion to fight fans today,not casual fans but people like us,people that we wouldn't care about the naysayers.Reason why I am asking is that I have lost most of my interest on boxing and not because the sport but the promoters and fighters,people asking fighters to jump 3 weight classes to prove themselves,fighters not caring to fight real opponents,just interested on staying on the top and making million dollars(I think is valid,but at some point you need to fight the best).I have spoke to casual fans and they have no idea who is good or not,they know the name canelo or GGG,but have no idea who Ward is,or Kovalev,nobody seems to care about Pacs coming fights,NObody will watch Garcias fight for sure..Is boxing really dying or is just me and the about 100 people I have asked?

I blow hot and cold on it at times,and reading the same pointless threads on boxing forums day after day probably doesn't help, but it depends what you're watching it for. If it's only for the big names and the best against the best then yeah, it's hard work and it ain't a good time, but if you just like watching good competitive fights then get yourself on the internet and you can find exciting fights going on all the time from around the globe - sometimes it's guys you've never heard of, but you find some real gems in there and a competitve match is a competitive match, there's still plenty of entertainment to be had.

[Sugar Adam Ali]

Fans need to make some adjustments with how they view every fight. Mismatches are here to stay. It is what it is now. Fans might as well enjoy every fight, ***** and all.

Yeah hardcore fans will watch regardless,,, but casual fans and mainstream media have no time for that crap...

2 guys fist fighting should always bring a crowd, but boxong has somehow destroyed it..

The sport itself osnt obsolete, but how it has been run is,,,, but the sad thing is, I don't see any change in the future... PBC I thought would at least attempt to rectify the situation by cutting out the sanctioning bodies and having their own belts, Amd tough matchmaking like ufc, but it is just more of the same,,, catchweights, multiple champs, mismatches, etc..

[Cheeko12]

I'm probably more excited than ever with all the young talent coming up. This has the potential to be an incredible era of boxing.

I agree . All we need is for these champs to try an unify

[Bullrider]

I just wish the lowly cab drivers of the world could have access to some type of funding so they can get the best training before entering a very dangerous fight. Supporting cab drivers financially for their training in itself would provide psychological boost to the fighter.

Some enterprising individuals need to start this kind of funding and start raising funds.

[Sparked_26]

The sport has utterly abused its fans this year.

Does anyone know why a guy like Gary Russell Jr has only fought twice in two years? I am guessing he's another one who got paid handsomely for beating Hyland for example and someone somewhere has made s stand telling him he is not getting paid a bigger purse relevant to the risk to fight someone who could actually have a prayer at competing. That is pure conjecture on my part by the way.

Some boxers are more candid than others. James DeGale says straight up that he has been getting paid very well in America but he has fought good opposition. I think some of these fighters have been allowed to have an inflated sense of value. The argument is always 'well it is a dangerous sport so they should be compensated'. I agree with that but in a lot Of these fights it is the guy in the other corner who is on a real hiding to nothing.

[Bullrider]

It's high time for fans to take mismatches very seriously. Fans can't just brush them aside and assume the result is a foregone conclusion. Fans need to start doing something about these fights by supporting the underdog. Like for fans who have access to such fighters should provide moral support, give them a simple pat in the back, a sincere handshake, anything that could make him feel this is a fight he could win, give him the biggest applause when he's entering the ring on fight night, etc.