Comments Thread For: Photos: Saleta Working Hard For Andrew Golota Bout

[New England]

been watching boxing since 88(14 years old)& i disagree as i noticed more people paying attention to the sport when you had guys like golota, tyson, holyfield, etc. in the 90s everyone fought each other, there was only 3 world titles(already too many at that point)& there wasn't so many protected fighters. i think the start of sport going downhill was when MMA started taking off & boxing in america started to nosedive. the econony & the lack of good heavyweights in america has not helped either. when the HW division goes in america so does boxing. i know so many people who had no idea who andrew golota was but wanted to see him after those 2 bowe fights because you never knew what was going to happen when he stepped in the ring. any 6'8 athlete in america is not looking at a boxing career, they are looking for either football or basketball. in america boxing is behind football, basketball, baseball, MMA & some places behind soccer & hockey too...boxing is still alive & well in europe but in canada & the US it's dying.

good post joe. i don't agree with all of it (for instance, floyd mayweather makes ungodly amounts of money today with ppv,) but you have some nice points.

hockey is 100 times more popular in my area (the northeast,) than is boxing. hockey is probably the fourth most popular sport, behind football, lacrosse, and basketball.

no big guys are heading to the gym to box. every once in a while you'll see a big guy in an MMA gym, but for the most part all of your guys over 6'3" with athletic talent are playing basketball, football, or hockey. they're going to college for free to play sports. in the case of hockey many of them play juniors or are drafted by the time they leave high school or prep school.

smaller americans are still boxing, though.
adrien broner's demo (5'7" and athletic,) won't be heading to the NFL any time soon.

[joe strong]

good post joe. i don't agree with all of it (for instance, floyd mayweather makes ungodly amounts of money today with ppv,) but you have some nice points.

hockey is 100 times more popular in my area (the northeast,) than is boxing. hockey is probably the fourth most popular sport, behind football, lacrosse, and basketball.

no big guys are heading to the gym to box. every once in a while you'll see a big guy in an MMA gym, but for the most part all of your guys over 6'3" with athletic talent are playing basketball, football, or hockey. they're going to college for free to play sports. in the case of hockey many of them play juniors or are drafted by the time they leave high school or prep school.

smaller americans are still boxing, though.
adrien broner's demo (5'7" and athletic,) won't be heading to the NFL any time soon.

mayweather & pacquiao are household names to boxing fans. if i went to work tommorow i bet if i asked 20 guys who don't watch boxing almost all of them don't know who floyd mayweather or manny pacquiao are but they ALL would know who ALI & TYSON are...a handful of guys in smaller divisions have carried boxing but nothing carries boxing like an american HW superstar...

[joe strong]

I no longer think 45 is too old for a heavyweight to get in the ring (especially after seeing what Foreman did at his age), but I don’t think Golota should be among them. This is bad for boxing. Besides, I never really forgave him for the 2 disqualification losses in a row for low-blowing Riddick Bowe back in ’96. I have no doubt that the riot in the arena after the first bout is what began taking the sport downhill. A lot of fans stopped watching.

i can use this site as an example...i been posting my HW collection since the beginning of november & most i get from current boxers is 100 views(everyone has these or seen tese fighters), ive had a few 90s guys in the 200 views & tommy morrison over 400 views...andrew golota well over 800 views. everyone wants or wanted to see golota fight...