So yeah, just what the topic says. I mean, I'm only 36 and even when I was growing up it seemed everybody knew at least a little something about current boxing and cared about it. Even non fans or casual fans knew names like Sugar Ray Leonard, Marvin Hagler, Thomas Hearns, Roberto Duran, Mike Tyson, Evander Holyfield, Pernell Whitaker and Oscar De La Hoya. Every 4 years after the summer olympics, we would hear about the next class of top American boxers, most of which would win gold medals and major networks would cover them when they turned pro.
I'm thinking sometime around the mid to late '90s, maybe after the second Tyson/Holyfield fight. Also what's the last big fight you think everyone wanted to see and cared about? I say probably Hopkins/Trinidad in 2001, since it was in MSG and took place right after 9/11, even though when guys like Pacquiao, Mayweather or even Cotto fight there is major cable coverage and huge PPV buyrates, I just don't hear even casual fans talking about boxing today, like they used to.
So I guess my questions are why do you guys think this happened with boxing and when did it start? I say it started around the early 2000s, when De La Hoya was getting past his prime and after Lennox Lewis retired. I think it happened because of no more major network TV coverage, too many alphabet title belts, which started to confuse a lot of people and no dominant heavyweight that Americans consider exciting. Even when Lewis was champ, there might be some mention of him in the local news, some TV ads, talk show appearances, stuff like that. I think he was even on that Fantasy Island show, the version with Malcolm McDowell, at the time.
So why do so few people care about boxing these days and do you guys think it could someday be as big as it was even 10-20 years ago? Do you guys think boxing will ever be considered a major sport again? I know it'll never be as big as say, the '20s, when it was second only to baseball in sports popularity, but it would be nice to know some guys in person to be able to talk boxing with again, like I knew in high school and college.
I'm thinking sometime around the mid to late '90s, maybe after the second Tyson/Holyfield fight. Also what's the last big fight you think everyone wanted to see and cared about? I say probably Hopkins/Trinidad in 2001, since it was in MSG and took place right after 9/11, even though when guys like Pacquiao, Mayweather or even Cotto fight there is major cable coverage and huge PPV buyrates, I just don't hear even casual fans talking about boxing today, like they used to.
So I guess my questions are why do you guys think this happened with boxing and when did it start? I say it started around the early 2000s, when De La Hoya was getting past his prime and after Lennox Lewis retired. I think it happened because of no more major network TV coverage, too many alphabet title belts, which started to confuse a lot of people and no dominant heavyweight that Americans consider exciting. Even when Lewis was champ, there might be some mention of him in the local news, some TV ads, talk show appearances, stuff like that. I think he was even on that Fantasy Island show, the version with Malcolm McDowell, at the time.
So why do so few people care about boxing these days and do you guys think it could someday be as big as it was even 10-20 years ago? Do you guys think boxing will ever be considered a major sport again? I know it'll never be as big as say, the '20s, when it was second only to baseball in sports popularity, but it would be nice to know some guys in person to be able to talk boxing with again, like I knew in high school and college.
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