Is the future of boxing being destroyed?

[MickyHatton]

With the increased roll out of pay per view, is the future of the sport of boxing(and others) being taken away?

Boxing has always been seen as the sport of the working class masses and was seen as a way 'out' or a way to make your way up.

In the days before TV, fans relied on word of mouth, radio or newspapers to fuel their appetite for boxing, there was usually only one recognised champion at each weight and due to the limited media reporting options everyone was on a similar footing and would know all they needed to know about their favourite boxer and the sport and this would fuel their interest.
Once TV arrived the fights and coverage were initially covered 'free' and this helped to again fuel the desire for the sport.

Now with the increasing lack of free media coverage(in general) and with the pay per view coverage taking over don't you think that the majority of the future potential boxers wont have access to the sport?, there is already a drop in numbers taking part so where will we be in 20 years?

Is there anything the sport can do to alleviate this?

[Southpaw Stinger]

Is there anything the sport can do to alleviate this?

Assasinate Don King.

[MickyHatton]

Assasinate Don King.

There would be plenty to take his place!

[Abe Attell]

We need to bring back "Real" boxing to honor the Gods

http://www.hellenism.com/olympics/boxing.htm

Origin:
Boxing was added in 688 BC and is one of the oldest sports. Boxing was first mentioned in Homeric poems, and was one of the games held in honor of the Patroclus. According to mythology, Apollo was the inventor of boxing; he defeated and killed Phorbas, a boxer who urged travelers through Delphi to compete with him. Apollo outboxed Ares in Olympia.

The model boxing match in ancient mythology was the contest between Polydeukes and Amykos, the king of the Bebrykes, who lived in Bithynia on the Black Sea. The king would urge all strangers traveling through his country to box with him and then kill them in the contest. Polydeukes was one of them, who proved to be too tough of a competitor for the king, and he made the king swear to leave travelers alone.



Equipment:
Boxers wrapped himantes, or straps of soft ox-hide around their hands to strengthen their wrists and steady their fingers. Himantes were wrapped around the first knuckles of the fingers, then ran diagonally across the palm onto the back of the hand, leaving the thumb uncovered. Then they were tied around the wrist or around the forearm.

The forms of these himantes, or thongs, evolved, and in order to make the blows harsher, straps of harder leather were added around the knuckles of the fingers.

Because these himantes were time-consuming to wrap, during the 4th century BC boxers started to wear a kind of glove that was formed from ready-wound leather straps. These gloves, called "oxeis himantes" (sharp thongs) which left the fingertips free, had hard leather straps and an inner layer of wool to protect the hand. The forearm was secured by leather straps as well.

The Roman invention of the caestus, a boxing glove reinforced with iron and lead, transformed the Greek art of boxing into an inhuman and deadly contest.



Rules of the Game


Ancient boxing differed in many ways from modern boxing.
The contest area is unknown.
There was no time limit on the duration of the contest. Opponents fought until one withdrew by raising one or two fingers to show that he admitted defeat, or fell to the ground.
Sometimes, if both contestants agreed, the referee would allow them time to regain strength.
Classification of the boxers by weights was unknown; instead, they fought with whomever was chosen by lot.
It seems that they favored effective blows to the head.
The position of the boxer in relation to the sun was crucial. If one managed to force his component into a position facing the sun, he would gain an advantage in that his component would be blinded by the glare.
When a contest continued for a long time, the opponents had the option of klimax. During a klimax, each man stood still and received a blow from his opponent without making any attempt to avoid it. The exact rules of boxing are unknown, but we do know that the following were not allowed: holds, blows to the genital organs, reinforcing the thongs with extra layers of straps, and the use of pig-skin straps. The referees examined the thongs before each contest.
Characteristics of a Good Boxer
According to Philostratos, the good boxer should have long and powerful arms, strong shoulders, a high neck, and powerful and flexible wrists. Handicaps are a thick shin (preventing agility) and a large stomach (prevents supple movements). In addition, the boxer should possess persistence, patience, endurance, great will-power, and strength.

Additional Information
Changes in the himantes (thongs) brought important changes in the technique of the game. When the thongs were soft, boxing required agility, skill, flexibility and a good technique, but when "sharp thongs" were introduced, boxers paid more attention to defense, and the contest became heavier and slower, with more emphasis on brute force rather than on skill.

Greek


Roman

[Abe Attell]

Check out this ancient boxer:

The boxer Melankomas of Karia floated like a butterfly but did not sting like a bee. He did not believe a brave man caused injury to others or allowed others to injure him. His style of boxing was purely defensive. During a match, Melankomas exhausted his opponent by defending himself against punches but never throwing any. Frustrated and exhausted, his opponents gave up.

[ferocity]

the only good thing about ppv is that the fighters are getting paid more, but its ridiculous to have the Marquez, Ponce de Leon and Lazcano fights on ppv with unknown fighters

[grayfist]

In a story posted on the main page of this site prior to Pacquiao-Larios, Oscar was reported to have enthused that he felt that he was more famous in the Philippines than in his own country. He reportedly illustrated this by saying, whenever he arrived in the Philippines he was met by more media in the airport than he had ever been met by media in Mexico. He blamed Mexico's PPV which has robbed the masses of access to the sport.

If that is true, then, fan following in Mexico must be close to the pits, if not in there already. But, I'm not too sure that the number of fighters from Mexico--at all levels-- has diminished and if it has, to what extent. Looking around, it seems that there are still quite a number of them, and many are champs and challengers.

My take is that, if there's any direct and clear bearing PPV has on the popularity of boxing, it is that it does little (or nothing) toward making boxing a mainstream sport.

The current Philippine experience may serve to illustrate how much free TV can help spread boxing's popularity. In that country, most of what are served up as PPV in the US are aired on free TV, thereby helping make not only "Pacquiao" a household name, but also increase the recognizability of such names as "Boom Boom Bautista", "Z Gorres", etc. Why, even "Barrera", "Morales", "De La Hoya" and the like enter some conversations of majong-playing senoras, school-age kids, street urchins, cab drivers...Edit: and, of course, politicians.

[Abe Attell]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_TTCPz0nBeY

[Abe Attell]

My take is that, if there's any direct and clear bearing PPV has on the popularity of boxing, it is that it does little (or nothing) toward making boxing a mainstream sport.

The current Philippine experience may serve to illustrate how much free TV can help spread boxing's popularity. In that country, most of what are served up as PPV in the US are aired on free TV, thereby helping make not only "Pacquiao" a household name, but also increase the recognizability of such names as "Boom Boom Bautista", "Z Gorres", etc. Why, even "Barrera", "Morales", "De La Hoya" and the like enter some conversations of majong-playing senoras, school-age kids, street urchins, cab drivers...

"Free TV" = MLB, NFL, and NBA...

Boxing used to be on radio and regular television

You could air commericals during the rounds: have a split screen so that you don't have to "Cut" to commercial, just have the sound on for the commerical...plus, constant advertising statements by the announcers...advertising on the mat, ring card girls, fighters shorts (or maybe not), etc.


They could add the advertisements into the commentating during the fight, examples: Jim: "Nice hook to the head, he will need some Aspirin for that headache"...Larry: "Yes, nice shot, like the shot of Jack Daniels I drank while driving my BMW"...Jim: "OOOH, Low BLOW, reminds me of Las Vegas"...Larry: "Reminds me of Columbia"

[grayfist]

"Free TV" = MLB, NFL, and NBA...

Boxing used to be on radio and regular television

You could air commericals during the rounds: have a split screen so that you don't have to "Cut" to commercial, just have the sound on for the commerical...plus, constant advertising statements by the announcers...advertising on the mat, ring card girls, fighters shorts (or maybe not), etc.


The could add the advertisements into the commentating during the fight, examples: Jim: "Nice hook to the head, he will need some Aspirin for that headache"...Larry: "Yes, nice shot, like the shot of Jack Daniels I drank 2 minutes ago"

And, "crawlers" too. You know, words and logos that crawl from left to right of the screen...