Putting boxing back to the mainstream?

[Vamos Rafa]

"Boxing is dead."

Mayweather is retired and Pacquiao had one fight left. Who are the next stars? The best fighters in each division rarely fight one another nowadays. We have promoters who protect their fighters. Then, there's Al Haymon's "Premier Boxing Champions", a failing attempt (IMO) to become the UFC of boxing. Not to mention the incompetent boxing organizations that have flawed ranking systems.

Even here on HFBoards, MMA has its own forum while boxing only has a stickied thread on the General Sports board.

So, how do you fix boxing (and the word fix is sensitive in this sport)?

Click to read more...

 

[plank]

That's a good question and I don't have an answer. Is it the popularity of MMA, the despisal of Don King and others of his ilk or as simple as a lack of superstar talent? I'm a little bit older and used to follow boxing as a casual fan, but I always knew who the heavyweight champ was and most of the other classes too. It's funny you asked this question because at a recent family party, I asked my sport nut relatives "who is the current heavyweight champion of the world" and no one could name him. 15, 20, 40, 60 years ago that would never have been the case even amongst non sports fans.

 

[MetalheadPenguinsFan]

Sergey Kovalev and Gennady "GGG" Golovkin are both awesome to watch.

 

[Alex Jones]

"Boxing is dead."

Mayweather is retired and Pacquiao had one fight left. Who are the next stars? The best fighters in each division rarely fight one another nowadays. We have promoters who protect their fighters. Then, there's Al Haymon's "Premier Boxing Champions", a failing attempt (IMO) to become the UFC of boxing. Not to mention the incompetent boxing organizations that have flawed ranking systems.

Even here on HFBoards, MMA has its own forum while boxing only has a stickied thread on the General Sports board.

So, how do you fix boxing (and the word fix is sensitive in this sport)?

In America there seems to be a strange obsession with the heavy division. We just had an great generation of dynamic and entertaining fighters in the sub-middleweight divisions and nobody seems to care. I guess having a top level American heavyweight is what boxing needs to become visible again.

As I think everybody agrees, we have to get the Politics of of the sport, although the companies and promoters have all of the power and will never go for it.

 

[kihei]

I don't know if anything could help boxing anymore, but charismatic heavyweight fighters might help. Most of the great champions of the past really fired the public imagination, and I don't think that has happened on the heavyweight side for quite a while. Or there may be a deeper problem, that boxing may have simply outlived its plausibility as something to be entertained by.

 

[Alex Jones]

Perhaps, somehow people seem to prefer MMA over boxing, which I will never understand.

 

[Sports Enthusiast]

Maybe if there were fighters who knew how to fight instead of tree huggers like Mayweather who are afraid to take or give shots.

 

[Live in the Now]

Perhaps, somehow people seem to prefer MMA over boxing, which I will never understand.

Huge boxing fan here, but over the last few years I've found myself in that camp as well. Pretty simple to explain actually.

- Less big fights in boxing.
- Less fights of importance where the outcome is in doubt headed into the fight.
- The big fights that do happen aren't terribly exciting.
- Far too many showcase fights with big fighters.

What MMA has in its favor...

+ More variables in the fight equation, which creates a situation where bouts can become unpredictable, more competitive, and more entertaining.
+ You don't have to wait to see big fights, nearly every PPV has one or two.
+ The fights often have finishes.
+ The competitive balance is pretty strong, much less mismatches.


I think the popularity of MMA has taken quite a bit away from boxing, especially in terms of MMA bouts being more complete in terms of being much more like a real fight.

 

[plank]

How about fighters we knew like, "Marvelous" Marvin Hagler vs. Thomas "Hitman" Hearns and great announcers like Al Michaels and Al Bernstein. Hell, even the referee(Richard Steele) was a household name.

In case some of the older guys forgot(kihei) or the youngsters never saw, I present the best three rounds ever:

 

[Sports Enthusiast]

There's no vilian. Though Pacquiao is a tool.

 

[Picaroon]

Just kind of getting in to boxing myself. I think if more people stopped associating boxing with boring fighters like Mayweather and gave it a shot they'd get in to it.
The heavyweight division is awesome right now. I'm loving following Anthony Joshua's career so far. He is a very exciting fighter. Fighting for the IBF title against another good young fighter in Charles Martin on April 9th.
Then there are other great young fighters like Joseph Parker and Fury who is relatively young. Lots of guys that have been uncontested at the top like Deontay Wilder who are going to have to step up to some excellent young fighters very soon. David Haye coming back adds a lot to the mix as well.
There seems to be a bunch of big time fighters on collision courses and things are about to get pretty interesting now that Klitschko's reign seems to be ending. Boxing's popularity seems to rest on the strength of the heavyweight division and now is the time to start paying attention in my opinion.

 

[QnebO]

Boxin has always been extremely hard to follow sport. Too many different titles, understanding the ladder is hard.. but I do like the sport.

 

[Morozov]

Boxing, at least in America, needs a dominant American Heavyweight knocking people out.

As someone else touched on, America loves the Heavyweight division. The European guys basically killed it.

 

[Sports Enthusiast]

Just watched the movie Cinderella Man. Damn if boxing was still like that it'd actually be good.

 

[Carolinas Identity*]

I love boxing. I can not stand MMA, however. I know it is super technical and involves more skill than I will ever understand, but to me, it is, or rather, it *looks like* to me, two guys rolling around on the ground in quasi bear hugs trying to get a leverage advantage.

I love boxing tho, and I agree with the sentiment that we lack are lacking an overtly charismatic heavyweight and//or a "villain"

Mayweather was kind of a dick, but I also found him very likable, he is a troll, and I find it hilarious. What he did to De La Hoya on his ring entrance still makes me laughmy ass off. Pacquiao, I always hated, and his recent anti LBGT triads have pushed him even farther down my list. Ricky Hatton, while being a good "bad guy", was a tool.

I am a big fan of the two Klitschko's tho. Especially Wladimir.

 

[Sports Enthusiast]

Most MMA matches I see end in decisions. For all the action its disappointing.

 

[Carolinas Identity*]

Most MMA matches I see end in decisions. For all the action its disappointing.

This

So much this

 

[Vamos Rafa]

I love boxing. I can not stand MMA, however. I know it is super technical and involves more skill than I will ever understand, but to me, it is, or rather, it *looks like* to me, two guys rolling around on the ground in quasi bear hugs trying to get a leverage advantage.

I love boxing tho, and I agree with the sentiment that we lack are lacking an overtly charismatic heavyweight and//or a "villain"

Mayweather was kind of a dick, but I also found him very likable, he is a troll, and I find it hilarious. What he did to De La Hoya on his ring entrance still makes me laughmy ass off. Pacquiao, I always hated, and his recent anti LBGT triads have pushed him even farther down my list. Ricky Hatton, while being a good "bad guy", was a tool.

I am a big fan of the two Klitschko's tho. Especially Wladimir.

Why did you "always" hate Pacquiao? I get that you're a mayweather fanboy. But I really don't see any reason to hate him other than being a fan of his rivals.

 

[Carolinas Identity*]

Why did you "always" hate Pacquiao? I get that you're a mayweather fanboy. But I really don't see any reason to hate him other than being a fan of his rivals.

I wouldn't really call myself a "Mayweather fanboy", but I do indeed like him. A lot. Pacquiao, I don't know to be 100% honest, he just always seemed to rub me the wrong way for some reason.

Now that I am stopping to think about it, it is really hard to quantify. There is just... something about him that I do not like. And recent event have only reinforced that.

 

[Vamos Rafa]

I wouldn't really call myself a "Mayweather fanboy", but I do indeed like him. A lot. Pacquiao, I don't know to be 100% honest, he just always seemed to rub me the wrong way for some reason.

Now that I am stopping to think about it, it is really hard to quantify. There is just... something about him that I do not like. And recent event have only reinforced that.

Mayweather has had his own homophobic rants (and racist) and is also a convicted woman beater. I guess you just like unlikeable people and you dislike likeable (for the most part) people. Going against the flow. I can't judge you for being a fan of Mayweather because he is a fantastic boxer but I'll just say that it is hard to be a fan of Pacquiao if you like Mayweather. You can't be a fan of both and I'll just leave it at that.

 

[Carolinas Identity*]

Mayweather has had his own homophobic rants (and racist) and is also a convicted woman beater. I guess you just like unlikeable people and you dislike likeable (for the most part) people. Going against the flow. I can't judge you for being a fan of Mayweather because he is a fantastic boxer but I'll just say that it is hard to be a fan of Pacquiao if you like Mayweather. You can't be a fan of both and I'll just leave it at that.

you might be on to something. i do often pull for the so called "heels" in WWE

 

[Sports Enthusiast]

I wouldn't really call myself a "Mayweather fanboy", but I do indeed like him. A lot. Pacquiao, I don't know to be 100% honest, he just always seemed to rub me the wrong way for some reason.

Now that I am stopping to think about it, it is really hard to quantify. There is just... something about him that I do not like. And recent event have only reinforced that.

You're not alone in feeling Manny does that. Not a Floyd fan either though. He puts me to sleep.

 

[alko]

Yeah, boxing need another Mike Tyson. Klitschko's were great, but more for Europe fans. Fury is something like Tyson, big monster bad guy, but again. For Europe fans. Boxing simply needs USA promotion.
Mayweather and Pacquiao could be great in their time, but opposite, they were almost strictly for USA or Asia fans.

And now we come to second point, they are in Lightweight level. Fans want to see brutal monsters fight.

 

[BKIslandersFan]

Always feel like Boxing can return to being very popular, probably not the same as its heyday, but still, if they can get their act together.