What needs to happen in order for boxing to regain its popularity of 90s/early 2000s?

[Aztekkas]

Lmao.....What does that have to do with anything

Boxing would lose its freak show allure and would allow fans to focus on real weight divisions. Ain't no one got time to watch no midgets throw 2000 punches just to end up with 36 minutes of a pillow fight.

[boogbx]

The fighters fought and weren’t caught up on social media and images.

90’s and earlier didn’t have social media, and promoters like King made PPVs with amazing undercards.

Who remembers Jesse James Leila vs Azumah Nelson on the undercard of a Chavez fight? I sure do and that’s what I miss about boxing.

Now it’s too much hype of a main event with a terrible undercard, of course you gonna turn off anybody but die Garda. Even us die hards get sick of it but fortunately I’m in a financial place we’re I can order PPV’s and not hurt my family.

I’ll always live and support boxing but this new breed is quite sickening. Shut and fight already. That’s why Loma and USYK and other fighters like them need to be held on a pedestal and worshipped for their integrity and willingness to fight the best.

[champion4ever]

The watershed moment for boxing in the states happened 20 years ago. It was the first Holyfield/Lewis undisputed Heavyweight bout back in 1999; Which was declared a draw. Ever since then, boxing has been on a decline in America and is no longer a mainstream sport.

It starts at the amateur level. One has to get more youngsters involved and interested in the sport at an early age. The Golden Gloves is a great start. From there the Pan AM games and then preparing them for the Olympic Games. There needs to be more resources at the amateur level in order for the sport can reemerge again.

[15 Rounds again]

I'm sure we've all noticed a steep drop in the popularity of the sport in the past 15-20 years, but what is causing it? I remember big fights were talked about regularly among the general public just like football and basketball are, but what happened?

The Lewis/Tyson press conference brawl for example. That was shown nonstop on every news outlet throughout the entire day.

Wilder's hostagingbof the belt has to end, and so called fans supporting his ducking has to end. Fans can play a part by putting pressure on guys like Wilder and Finkel and Haymon, instead of ******ly defending them when they willfully block the fights fans want to see.

TBH I am a bit fed up with Wilder myself, just too frustrating listening to him mouth off and then run away and even announce he's running away ("we're going in a different direction" - Finkel) and somehow some 'fans' dont get pissed off they endorse that behavior. It doesnt even make sense. It's like shaking hands with a guy who screwed your wife.

[HitmanTommy]

The watershed moment for boxing in the states happened 20 years ago. It was the first Holyfield/Lewis undisputed Heavyweight bout back in 1999; Which was declared a draw. Ever since then, boxing has been on a decline in America and is no longer a mainstream sport.
.

That may have very well been the very moment of the sports decline.

[HitmanTommy]

It's like shaking hands with a guy who screwed your wife.

[MDPopescu]

What needs to happen in order for boxing to regain its popularity of 90s/early 2000s?

I'm sure we've all noticed a steep drop in the popularity of the sport in the past 15-20 years, but what is causing it? I remember big fights were talked about regularly among the general public just like football and basketball are, but what happened?

The Lewis/Tyson press conference brawl for example. That was shown nonstop on every news outlet throughout the entire day.

... I guess that the popularity drop is somehow due to the advertising bans and the "millennial generation"...

[buddyr]

1. get rid of a few belts. The WBO has now crept in and became a real title after no one acknowledged it for many years. Add in that the WBA has about 5 or 6 champions in each weight class and all of them have interim champions. It's very confusion to the casual boxing fan. Especially when you have a "champion' that's undefeated and is satisfied with protecting their "0".

2. Top fighters fighting at least 3 times a year. I even think that's not enough, but it's a hell of a lot better than twice a year. Fighters are fighting will into their 40s because they're only fighting twice a year. Some fighters turn pro and fight 2 or 3 times a year. wtf.. And that's not even on free tv, but have the nerve to complain about money and popularity. When Floyd turned pro, there was a time he fought twice in 4 weeks on TNF.

3. PPV. Self explanatory. We don't need to be paying $70 for a fight that's Wide World of Sports material at best.

4. PPV Undercards. As bad as some of these ppv main events are, the undercards are worse. As much as we hate Don King, he never robbed the public with his fight cards. Julian Jackson fought on Tyson and Chavez cards. If you didn't know, Mcclellan vs Jackson(both fights) were undercard fights and so was the first Jones vs Hopkins.

5. Promoter beef - self explanatory

[The3]

Take the power away from promoters and tv networks , champions must fight each other and only top 5 rank fighters

[mikehdaddy]

I think boxing is as big right now as it’s been since the 1990s. Several Mayweather fights have drawn the largest POV buys in history.