Boxing has to be the biggest joke in sports. Only, it's not even funny anymore

[Combat Talk Radio]

It's too bad Kellerman lost his train of thought because he was on the right track until he realized what the truth would imply.

I said it before, NSB shouted me down. I'll say it again.

Boxing. Needs. Entertainment.

Characters. Guys who can entertain and THEN go in the ring and back it up however they do.

Naseem Hamed was fast and awkward, not skilled. But his entrances and antics won over the casuals.

Edwin Valero couldn't "sell out a family dinner", but he was tough and skilled. Got over with the hardcores.

Mike Tyson's casual appeal didn't start with the blowouts. It started with his crazy ass interviews and pressers. *ish like "SPINAL!" and "F you till you love me" and fornication with female interviewers.

Most casuals can't name a single fight George Foreman had, but there's not a person in the US over the age of 18 that hasn't heard of the Grill.

"Pretty Boy" Floyd verbally destroying everyone.

Ali and Frazier: "sit down, Joe!"

James Toney calling into a live broadcast to call out Eubank and Benn.

Mayorga...'Nuff said.

Boxing can't survive with just two guys shaking hands and walking in to throw jabs at each other, because that's not what sells casuals, and casuals are where the money is.

That means guys like Crawford who can't self-promote worth a damn have to rely on opponents that can.

Meanwhile, guys like Carnelo have it easy. He fights smack talking threats and (except Floyd) goes in there and embarrasses them.

The fight should be the icing on the cake, after an entertaining fight promotion filled with some kind of drama.

Why do you think Broner keeps getting big paydays? Because of how he promotes the fight, every time.

It's entertainment that's missing.

[TMLT87]

Those criticisms could apply decades ago too, and the doom and gloom predictions of boxing dying have been going on long before most of us were born. It is what it is, the sport aint perfect but its not going anywhere. There will always be fights and fighters every now and then who people want to watch.

[Scopedog]

The sport's not in a good place (when was the last time it was?) but I really don't see it dying out or anything like that, the sport occupies too much of the public's headspace for that to ever happen. With how it's been mismanaged and ruined for generations now you'd think it would have died out long ago, but there's reasons why it's not.