Does trash talk and brawls really sell tickets?

I despise the trash talk as well

You'd assume that trash talk sells, but that you can sell just as much with name recognition from skill.

Sadly, even the highest grossing fights of the ones recognized for skill use alot of controversy.

Dempsey vs Carpentier had alot of trash talking and false media bashing about Dempsey, Moore vs Marciano had Moore constantly calling out Marciano and doing antics to hype the fight.

So, sadly, although skill can sell, well done trash talking will sell more in all situations. This says more about the people buying than the fighters

There must be some way to sell just as well, media hype but with kind people. It won't happen with current fighters, but boxing might be able to return to it's former glory with classiness

 

Certainly not to me. I detest manufactured drama -unless I suppose it involves someone as funny and charismatic as Ali.
But that's exceedingly rare.

 

I despise all that garbage...pure buffoonery it is. Maybe boxing is just so sorry and in such advanced state of deterioration that it's necessary to sell tickets. It's just that in more civilized sane times...with the classier individuals that used to populate the sport, buffoonery wasn't necessary or desired for that matter.

 

Yes it sells.

 

Even Ali's comparatively easy banter and schtick got old after a while.

 

Although the poor schmuck's carrying on can probably be related to being punchy,...the recent bad form shown by Riddick Bowe (directed to his relative polar opposite Lennox Lewis)..can be labelled as Exhibit A in buffoonery. Lewis pretty much brushed him off and didn't lower himself to Bowe's level.

 

That is todays culture

I would prefer legitimate animosity as in Hagler/Hearns or Duran vs anyone but unfortunately it has gotten worse....it will continue to get worse with the way McGregor ignited fans like a cult following and ended up getting into the ring with FMM for millions it is hard to picture it going back....fans like entertainment even if the fight sucks.....the fake kind you see in UFC with Conor McGregor and the Diaz bros just feels like fake theatrics and is out of control most of the time...Tyson Fury has employed the same tactics as McGregor as have others and fans respond....myself I love seeing **** talkers beat up and humiliated like McGregor's last fight.....but theatrics never sell me the fight real fans tune in for the matchup

 

I wonder about this whenever I see old clips of Ali’s ridiculous (and occasionally nasty) buffoonery.

The trash-talking really seems to have picked up in recent years after Mayweather used it to develop his highly lucrative brand, and the semi-fake physical confrontations seem to have spread from the UFC and MMA (I could be wrong but it seems like it’s been way more common there for quite some time now).

 

Trash talk has been around since John L entered bars and said I'll lick any man in The house (Not literally of course). Most of the old guys trash talked...you think Ad Wolgast, Stanley Ketchel, Harry Greb, didn't trash talk?

That doesn't mean we should like it ...guys like MacGregor should be muzzled when they on tilt....but we're not dealing with nuclear physicists here, are we?

 

Trash Talk Fight One: "I tink I seez someting".

Trash Talk Fight Two: "I won't feel like The Champion, until I take care of 'Smelling'. "

 

Haye vs Bellew is a great example of this type of behaviour selling fights.
If there was no trash talk, no ''beef'' and no controversial actions (like the press conference at Liverpool) there would be significantly less PPV buys. I think pre-fight trash talk and ''bad blood'' helps a fight gain more interest and attention. However good fights such as AJ vs Wlad don't require trash talking to sell.

 

It's what sells the fights to the casuals. And if you want to make BIG money, you need the casuals.

 

It sells if the fight is a good matchup. I remember Mayorga used to have wild press conferences but no one cared. There has to be the matchup to get the interest, and a natural feud works better. You could tell Fury and Wilder were acting a little, but the matchup was so great.