Boxing is DYING! (And has been for 100 years)

To quote a great movie...

Money talks, bull**** walks.

 

Boxing does not have the widespread popularity it had in years past. This can be seen at a low level...much fewer boxing gyms, much fewer fighters. Athletes will gravitate now to other sports rather than boxing. Big fights will always call attention to themselves and rake in the dollars. That does not mean boxing overall is alive and well. Boxing is a sport in need of a massive overhaul. I don't believe it will ever happen however.

 

Money does not equate fame, as Floyd's case proves. A fair percentage of the people I know- or who i've ever met- wouldn't recognise Floyd Mayweather if he was in a two-man identity parade, with the other candidate being Marty Feldman.

 

Hagler was a bigger name than Hearns over here. I think this was to do with the aura he created as champ- virtually unbeatable hard *******, complete with shaven head- and the fact that he beat up our two best middleweights.

 

It also depends on the state of the economy when the bout takes place.

 

Damn near no one would recognize Messi if he walked down a US street.

 

Mayweather-Canelo = 2.2mil PPV buys.

Boxing is dead.

 

It tells me two things.....first, tickets sell out for everything faster now because you can buy them online rather than having to wait in line. Many attendees at these fights also have their tickets comped for them by the casino where they are always staged if they spend a little money there. Still, someone is buying them to be able to give them out, right?

And of course the gate money eclipses what it used to. It should. Gas and food are mnore expensive now too........

 

Walk on then.

 

They just can't stand Floyd, so anything that shows his being equal or superior to boxers of the past will be dismissed and argued against.

 

I can imagine. I can't see a reason why they would, as football (soccer) is hardly the leading headline in the sports pages....just like Mayweather's fights aren't here. In the lounge last year I was having a debate with some tool about who would be the 'overseas sports personailty of the year' and out of the outstanding candidates Bolt and Messi that if the public voted Messi has no chance, he isn't as well-known with the 'casuals' as Bolt is. It's not even close. Bolt is front page news- even his opinion on the playing style of Man Utd made the main headlines/front page of some of the tabloids a few weeks ago!!! Mayweather can beat the **** out of women, go to jail and it will get a sidebar on page 15 or something. He hasn't the global appeal.

Boxing still has loads of fans, as figures and attendances often prove- but most of the fighters are not mainstream figures any more, just like say Formula 1 drivers aren't, despite also earning shitloads. It currently lacks and Ali or Tyson figure, or even your mate Dempsey...one that transcends the sport. But like I said, I still think it's in a pretty good state and as long as it has a healthy fan base, like heavy metal music for example, it will always sell well.

 

Is Floyd Mayweather Jr. as famous and recognizable among the broadest section of society as were Ali, Tyson, Sugar Ray Leonard even ?
Even in America ?
I know he's not very famous here in the UK.

Is he as famous as Usain Bolt and Serena Williams ?
I know he's nowhere near as famous as those two here in the UK.

Is he as famous as Tiger Woods in America ?

Would an 80-year-old granny, for example, quite likely know who you mean when you say "Mayweather" ?

 

True.
I'm in UK but don't follow football so I'm not even sure I would recognize Messi.
I didn't know who Gareth Bale was until the other day.

I'm sure it's not just because I like athletics that I know who Bolt is.