Boxing used to be one of the most popular sports in America. Now, just like horse racing, boxing has faded away in the minds of the American public and if boxing doesn't change then it will become less popular than hockey (mind you these are reasons that boxing can control—not issues of football's popularity, or the NBA's).
First, boxing's move to PPV has hurt its popularity. Though it has allowed for large amounts of money to flow into the sport, the number of people watching continues to decrease.
It's Kind of like movies making more money but selling fewer tickets. People don't want to follow boxing closely if it isn't available to the masses. One of the reasons football is so successful is the majority of games played on basic cable.
The lack of a charismatic and unified heavyweight champion of the world has hurt boxing as well. Boxing's popularity has always been based on the heavyweight division. Not saying that other weight classes haven't produced great stars, but when boxing was in its heyday it was men like Marciano, Louis, Ali, Frazier, Foreman, and Patterson that became some of the most famous figures in the world.
The lack of a unified title has hurt boxing as well. Before, it was known who was the heavyweight champion of the world. Whether it was Ali, Frazier, or Foreman, the world knew who was the best heavyweight in the world. Now, who can judge whether the WBA, WBC, or IBF titles is most important?
There is no one the world can admire and no one that will be gunned for by fighters. The last time their was an undisputed heavyweight champion of the world was Lennox Lewis, and before that was Riddick Bowe. Both of them had that title for less than a year.
The lack of inner city boxing clubs has hurt boxing in America too. During the depression up to the 1970s, kids in the inner city areas did not become part of the Bloods or Crips. Instead, they took part in sports and the most popular in the inner cities used to be boxing.
Now, inner city kids don't box but drop out of school and lead lives of crime or become victims of crime. The reason Mexico has produced good boxers is the inner city kids have boxed their way off the streets.
This maybe the most minor issue of all the ones raised, but to me the loss of the 15-round fight has made boxing worse. It used to be a great thing to see a man go the 15 miles as an underdog. I know that Dooku Kim's death was tragic, but it was unnecessary to shorten fights to 12 rounds.
Maybe this is the boxing romantic/Rocky fanatic in me talking, but it should be like it used to be.
These changes have made boxing a passing thought in the American media and population. If boxing doesn't change, then the sport will die and America will not only lose the sport for the future, but eventually forget the great tradition and history of this amazing sport.
19 comments Last one added 9 months ago — Leave a Comment
siddharth sivaraman 10 months ago
Boxing is not quite a minority sport atleast not yet. Secondly please do not put in facts that are wrong starting with fact that all title fights and major fights are 12 rounds not 10 and then perhaps the most famous of all undisputed heavy weight champion of all time after Ali era was Mike Tyson. Lennox Lewis retired as the universally accepted undisputed heavyweight champion.
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Naveen Maliakkal 10 months ago
I apologize about the rounds and I will fix it. What I am saying about the undisputed champions is that there hasn't been one long enough (since Tyson which I agree with but failed to mention) to create long term public enthusiasm towards boxing
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Mitch at sportschatplace.com 10 months ago
Naveen, I am a huge Boxing fan. I agree with you about PPV ruinging the sport and the problem is two fold. While I write this here it is the same thing I tell my friend who is Manny Pacquiao's body guard and he disputes what we all know is true why the sport is dying.
When it all became alphabet soup the best fighters stopped fighting the best fighters. Horrible decisions ruled always in favor of the guy who was perceived to be more marketable.
Then to make matters worse, any fighter who anybody knew started fighting only on PPV even when they fought bums. While the PPV payouts were OK we lost all of the names that used to fight on Saturday afternoons in brilliant gutsy fights, the next Marlon Starlings and Boom Boom Mancini's of the world. We don't have those guys anymore. Those guys were never the Sugar Ray Leonard or Marvin Hagler, but they were just good gutsy fighters who put on a show. I think Bazooka Limon and Bobby Chacon fought every month.
So basically the public lost touch when boxing went all cable but we still saw Leonard, Hagler, Lewis, Tyson, etc. all the time on cable, I can't remember when was the last time we saw Manny and we finally saw Oscar after how many years. Roy Jones? no way when he was in his prime. Tito?/sometimes?
So basically we have a situation where the bulk of the people have never seen the guys regarded as the best ever fight. That will ruin a sport. Imagine f NFL fans never saw Peyton Manning or Tom Brady.
Why is boxing sucking wind? BOB ARUM CHARGING 60 DOLLARS FOR MANNY PACQUIAO VS. DAVID DIAZ, we're not talking Oscar vs. Floyd (that was only 50), we're talking David frickin Diaz. Who in the heck wants to pay to see that, my guess is it wouldn't have done too well on regular HBO.
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status unmatched 10 months ago
i box but havnt ever watched a big fight on tha tv cuz we broke n aint got da money ta pay for pay per view shit mann we aint even got cable.... if dey bring it to cable or basic tv da ratings will sky rocket but i mean greed ruins what ever it is apart of dis is evidence dey havta ta realize tht da majority of boxers r straight off the street!!! we the ones tht care respect n love the sport but none of us watch ne current fights only the recordings a few months later lol dats how it is realtalk we'll c wat dey do
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Shlomo Abrin 10 months ago
The problems within boxing notwithstanding, in the US we are simply overwhelmed with sports coverage of all types. Even poker is now a televised sport!
Only die-hard fans, trainers, boxers, and aficionados take the time to mull through the different divisions, fighters, styles, etc. , but in order to do that and still have a life outside of sports, we have to be choosy about where we focus our attentions.
I agree with previous comments regarding pricing and the veritable stranglehold that a few top promoters have over access to boxing. I would also add that, even for me whose sole raison d'etre is boxing, having to wait two years for elite fighters between fights is getting tiresome. I find it hard these days to get exited about the game.
Keep on stickin-n-movin,
Peace
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Naveen Maliakkal 10 months ago
n doubt. Ali would never spend two years between fights. Hell back in the 40s and 50s, fights happened in a couple of months. To me there is no such this as too much good boxing
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siddharth sivaraman 10 months ago
The Great would be heavyweights of today are either playing football or into Basketball why get beat up for little or no money. Boxings salvation lies in other country's joining the sport, the Russians although do not have an exciting line up are for sure putting out some descent fighters and now in the Olympics Indian fighters have also shown that they can bang a bit. But what is surprising is that the bronze medalist Vejindra is looking to go to the 2012 olympics again and win a gold, I would think turning pro would be the right thing to do. Real glory in Boxing lies in the pro cuase the pro ranks is about being a fighter and not just a Boxer landing puches on thick head gear gets boring after a while.
First there was jack Dempsy and then came everyone else. Dempsy made a million dollars when Babe Ruth made a meagre 3000+ a year.
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Naveen Maliakkal 10 months ago
I should have mentioned Dempsey. But in order for boxing to maintain popular in America, Americans need to shine in the sport.
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Shlomo Abrin 10 months ago
re: Two years between fights....
The two year layoff problem becomes exacerbated when one considers that in the 30s, 40s, and 50s, fighters then were less inclined to employ defense as a first strategy and, most importantly, fights were scheduled for 15 rounds, something unheard of today. If you watch many of the old fight reels, you can see two idiots at the center of the ring standing in front of each other throwing bombs.
There is another side to this, however, and it deserves mentioning.
An extended lay off gives fighters a chance to heal up. Not such a bad thing. Many fighters in the olden days would be forced either to take fights while still recovering from a previous or retire. I would think that doctors, essential to a safe and healthy sport, would back a somewhat longer waiting period between bouts. We want boxers to compete, not get killed. Training alone, and I still do more than I should, also takes a toll on your body.
Promoters like long layoffs for the top fighters because they get to 'negotiate' deals, dangle 'carrots', and seek out safer opponents rather than accept quick fights with a mandatory or other belt holder. A good card does not appear miraculously overnight. Unfortunately, the business end of boxing hurts the sport but, ironically, may actually help the boxer.
Extended periods between fights also allows for a longer span for the fighters overall career. Many fighters, injured repeatedly without time to heal or after undergoing surgeries, would be dead or incapable of normal human function by the time they were in their late 20s. Had Roy Jones Jr., for all his greatness been around back then, his career would have been over a decade ago.
American boxing has become more popular of late, in this writer's opinion, because finally someone decided that crossing the Atlantic to find good opponents was a good idea. Americans like to see other American athletes kick ass overseas or at home on the foreign competition. Hatton vs. Mayweather might not have lived up to all the hype, but it sold tickets. My coworkers, not boxing fans by any measure, took interest in that fight.
The new problem, however, is that European promoters, whose fighters are now being courted for fights in America, have started down the same path as Don King and Bob Arum. One can watch the control Warren or Palle now hold over careers and boxers and the sort of conditions they demand.
Maybe the disease is spreading.
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chase ruttig 10 months ago
Boxing is dead because there are no more American fighters in the Heavyweight division, it is as plain as simple as that, we are looking for the next Mike Tyson.
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Naveen Maliakkal 10 months ago
I wouldn't say we are looking for a man to self destruct, but i get what you are saying. There is no doubt that a charismatic American heavyweight would cause a renaissance of boxing in our American culture.
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Dave Mallon 10 months ago
I agree with most of you in some way. With the Cage fighting phenom being what it is today, if there is not a huge Tyson like superstar draw very very(Critically)soon, boxing will be gone!! Not as a sport but it's popularity will diminish beyond return. It has already begun and probably started with the demise of one Michael Gerrard Tyson. I'll alway's be a fan of the sweet science myself but the future unfortunately weather you like it or not is UFC,MMA etc. Peace brothers and sisters, Dave
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Shlomo Abrin 10 months ago
Let's face it. The promoters and managers are like politicians. We common folk see a problem and pretty much know what to do to fix it and think to ourselves "Hey. That's a no brainer." Then, not surprisingly, the politicians take years and years to come up with the wrong plan! And some of them wonder why it is the people are skeptical of government.
Same with boxing. We see a guy win a title and say "Hey. his next opponent should be the guy holding one of the other belts." After all, it makes perfect sense that the best fight the other best to unify the belts. (For example, it's kind of obvious to everyone that Kelly Pavlik should be fighting Arthur Abraham or Felix Sturm.) But, sadly, the promoters have other ideas. If they want the fans back, they could try making the fights that fans want. It's demand and supply 'box-o-nomics'.
Sticking & Moving Always
Peace
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Brandon Keener 10 months ago
I do agree with the article. I have to say that no it just seems like the better fighters are in the Middle or Welterweight areas. Hopkins, Calzaghe, Meyweather, the golden boy, Pacman and Hatton. All lighter fighters, all great stars. It is sad to see the time when a former Heavyweight champ, Chris Byrd, has to try and reinvent his career by dropping two weightclasses to Super Middleweight to try and contend again. Bad bad day for the sport of boxing.
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Naveen Maliakkal 10 months ago
There is no doubt that there is talent in the lower weight classes. But I agree that the lack of a great heavyweight along with the previously mentioned factors have made boxing into an irrelevancy.
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Sam Brown 9 months ago
Nice article. I was wondering about today's television ratings versus the ratings of yesteryear. Do you know what the television ratings were for the huge Ali-Frazier fights? I am doing research for the sports-media company that I work for and was wondering if you had any insight into the matter.
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Naveen Maliakkal 9 months ago
I wasn't able to find that out. However, I don't think it is a stretch to say that it was more highly watched than any PPV fight ever. But that doesn't matter to them. Just like the movies, its all about dollars. They don't care if less people see, just as long as they make more money.
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Sam Brown 9 months ago
yeah I found some crazy figures like a billion people watched the Rumble in the Jungle, and 300 million watched the Thrilla... crazy is its true.
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Naveen Maliakkal 9 months ago
Those are probably global figures. And that is another think I forgot about this fight. Ali, Frazier, and Foreman has international fame that I don't think current American fighters have.
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