What's the future for this sport that we have so much nostalgia for?

A good fight is like drinking wine that has been aged to perfection .

 

PPV is whats killing boxing. How can you gain interest for non hardcore fans by charging them to watch it?? New fans are brought on by luck, as they happened to be in a bar that was broadcasting a big fight. There is nothing exciting about watching mismatches, which is all the networks offer for free with a young up and coming fighter with no following.

Europe will soon catch on to what the US already went through and then they will be plagued by PPV.

 

Box stopped to be a popular sport many years ago. Blame Cable and PPV

Box's popularity peaked during the golden 70s and the beginning of the 80s. There was a brief resurgence during the 90s thanks almost exclusively to Tyson, and that's it. Box today is OK but nowhere the levels of popularity it had in the past.

I remember when I was a kid during the 70s and 80s. In my country, the big fights would be shown in public channels for everybody to see. There would be a lot of talking and press coverage weeks or even months before. It was a little like the superbowl or the world series: even people who were no regular box fans or followers were well aware that Ali was going to fight Foreman or that Leonard was set to face Hagler ... ahhh the memories!!!

Today, I doubt a lot of people outside the box followers know what Klitshkos o Pacquiao mean :yep

Sure the golden eras when big fights would be talked by everybody are long gone forever. But box is still OK and going on well. Not in the best of the shapes, but it is still standing.

 

I agree with the threadstarter, MMA is more exciting nowadays. Outside of the possibility of a few mega fights that are being talked about recently, too much boxing today just sucks. Of course we still have a few excellent fighters, that will always be the case. That doesn't mean we're in a good era for the sport, at all.

 

MMA is a totally different sport. It's popularity should have no bearing on boxing's popularity or lack thereof.

People are free to like as many, or as few, sports as they choose.

 

This summer has been horrible for boxing. All the cancellations have drained my interest.

Hopefully it'll liven up by the end of the year