Comments Thread For: Why Doesn't Boxing Attract More Young Fans?

[GrandpaBernard]

Boxing isn’t taught in schools unlike tennis and football

That’s why boxing doesn’t automatically rotate in a fresh crop of fans annually

I like boxing this way. You either seek the sport out on your own or someone you know gets you into boxing

[Greenfield02]

Let's be honest here, because the main stream media always uses their logic (especially here in the US) and the example they use as attracting " young viewers" is white suburban kids. Even this article states that contrary to what people believe boxing has a bigger viewer ship amongst 18-49 audience than a lot of sports, but those viewers are not white, which is what the media cares about in order to cover it. Boxing's young viewers ( which there's plenty) are Hispanic, Black, and Asian, amongst other ********** that watch, but the media don't care about them they care about what the white population is watching and then they write stories like this one. You don't play boxing like other sports and boxing is an individual sport that can not be compared to organized team sports that represent cities. While I do agree that in the burbs kids play football, baseball, and other team sports and rarely take up boxing, but kids in the hood, minority communities and places in poor countries, kids take up sports like boxing and other combat sports because you have to fight to survive from a young age and boxing fills that need. That's why the best fighters in the world are **********, you have to fight to survive from a young age, so kids relate to fighting unlike growing up in the burbs where you don't relate to something like that. So end the end boxing attracts many viewers, it's just not the viewers the media want.

[wildman]

Let's see....where to start. No boxing on free tv. Ridiculous PPV prices for one fair main event and garbage undercards. Multiple bogus titles. Elite fighters ducking each other while fighting second rate opposition. Fighters getting high rankings and "title" shots after ten or twelve fights instead of learning their craft. Corrupt judges. And on and on......

[boogbx]

The problem with nationalism in boxing is who will they support and watch if Canelo is not fighting and or he loses and or retires? Either you’re a boxing fan or you’re not. People who watch Canelo just because he’s from Mexico are not any different from the white Americans who bought mcgregor-mayweather because they wanted to see the popular white Irish guy bet mayweather. This is a major problem with boxing in the USA, it’s marketed along ethnic lines. All american People watch basketball and football even though the majority of those sports are black. Most of
Your popular female tennis players recently have been black Americans, white Americans still watch.
Boxing has got to find a way to create real fans across the board rather than having one or two guys who get support just because of where they were born.
Don King created that in the USA with how he marketed JC Superstar. I saw every last one of his fights during the 80s and 90s, that’s when I saw a shift in boxing to that strategy, and it blew up after mike tyson lost and then went to jail and lost much of his popularity in doing so.

I see wh at you are saying but it’s not so much about nationalism as it is, boxing is a huge part of the culture.

In Mexico you still have to prove you are chingon with the fists and Mexico produces many more world champions than Canelo.

It’s more about the culture. Unfortunately boxing is also soft with match making so we don’t get to see the Caleb Plants of the world truly prove their talent or worth. He had some great ratings against Uzcategui.

[_Rexy_]

Nobody fights the best.

[DeeMoney]

Plus why haven’t we had a new Fight Night video game???? That was a good classic.

You can still play Champions now and then, and just download new fighters.

[doom_specialist]

Marquee fighters underperforming in significant matchups has to be one of the problems. "Smart" fighters don't appeal to the masses, and trying to explain to a casual fan why the "chess match" is exciting normally doesn't go over well.

EDIT: And they're $75 a pop at least.

[Removed Now]

Very true.

Didn't know that about wrestling, though.

That's very cool!

It’s big here on the east coast. I went to college and the wrestling team was packed from kids from jersey that could had went D1 but they had drug charges or just couldn’t make the grades. Then from wrestling it’s easier for those kids to get into MMA. It’s more of a clear path. If you can’t find a boxing gym how does a common kid try to get into golden gloves if they don’t live in a major city ?

[Removed Now]

You can still play Champions now and then, and just download new fighters.

So we playing old games but UFC has a new game every year . Boxing has to better.

Wrestling and UFC games are very popular. I remember my brother and I used to play Wrestle Media for hours. That’s how you get those casual fans.

[-Kev-]

Boxing is a violent sport between real people. Kids are not into violence like that unless it’s video games.

I loved boxing as a kid but that’s because my father watched it a lot. Kids will tend to watch what their dad watches.