I'm curious of the attitudes of fans in different eras. 1.) How were fans back in the past? Were they as fickle? Did they hop on bandwagons, follow the hype, and abandon their favorite fighters once they started to lose? 2.) Also, during fights, what was their threshold for excitement? Did they need the fighters to always be on the offensive? Would they boo if the fighters engaged in a boxing match rather than brawl? If fans did not boo, could this be attributed to the greater boxing knowledge that the average boxing fan knew? Or did it reflect the demographic of the audience or just the culture of the time? Or maybe they were exactly the same as people today? Thoughts?
i can only imagine most general fans knew more about boxing than this generations casual fans since it was more mainstream back then.
People were pretty much exactly the same. It's human nature to look favourably on the past and call it the 'good 'ol days'. Sure boxing was more mainstream but now anyone with an internet connection and youtube can view a fight from the other side of the world. Did fight fans crave offensive fighters? Absolutely. Why do you think an offensive animal like Jack Dempsey found so much success yet a defensive wizard like Gene Tunney struggled to capture the imaginations of the people. The real difference is perception caused by the ease of information and global information. What essentially was 'local barbershop talk' and national newspaper articles have been replaced with 24/7 access to the opinions of people from around the world. Every generation has hardcore fans, casual fans and bandwagoners.
I am sure you had guys saying "this guy is a bum" etc.. but I know that with the internet it has created an environment of trolls.. So with people being able to express their opinions more openly and easily everyone becomes a critic,which over time means more people do not respect the sport or fighters the way they should for the most part..
Fans in general were more knowledgeable because they were more exposed to the sport firsthand. Fewer fans today actually participate in the sport or have firsthand knowledge of it beyond being a fan, which creates a disconnect between the fighters and fans that wasn't there 70 years ago. Between that and of the inability to troll anonymously, like today, I believe that fans were more respectful of the fighters then than now.
I believe the fan were more respectful of fighters, back in the 40's and 50's the fighters were their modern day heros. Most men at some point wanted to be a fighter went to a gym and tried it out. Back then more of the fans knew the type of work it take to be in shape and throw punches for 3 minutes. It's not easy and not everyone can do it, but today most seem to think that they can. Not knowing the dedication and hard work it takes the be a professional make it easy for a Keyboard cowboy to call a fighter a bum. Another thing, back in the day if you walked up to a fighter and called him a bum you could find yourself waking up in the hospital. The fighter back then would get sued for everything he owned if he lit you up. Times have changed and so have the fan, and so has all of the people.
People followed boxing by reading sports column in the morning paper so their opinions were well aligned with Dan Rafael's and Kevin Iole's of the time. Naturally, there was no trolling unless you wanted to start a bar fight. Boxing fans are much more engaged today thanks to abundance of information sources. Hell, you can even chat with Eddie Chambers on ESB. It is a brave new world.
People listened over the radio. Its human fighting. That never gets old unless they wrestle on the ground