Does baseball have a true superstar now that Jeter is retired? Genuinely asking. I do not follow the sport closely at all.
Boxing can have super stars the thing is they must deliver when then time calls for like Ali or Leonard !
I only watch the fights by myself in my basement, on VHS tapes, after which I burn the tapes, that's how much of a hardcore boxing fan I am.
Casuals make the sport and events go mainstream. Any major event that attracts many casuals will eventually see a lot of them leave yet others will stick around and learn more about the sport which eventually makes them hardcore. Whether you like to admit it or not, major stars are what attracted all of the hardcore fans(myself included).
Superstars are good for boxing if they tick all the right boxes. That is to say, if they put on entertaining fights, fight the best available opposition and give back to the fans and the sport. Cash cows on the other hand are bad for boxing. Guys who put on boring fights, avoid the best opposition and milk the fans and the sport for as long as they can. Casual fans are okay, too. Everyone who knows anything about boxing started out as a casual fan. No one is born with the knowledge. If I hadn't chanced upon the replay of Hearns vs Duran one Saturday morning when I was twelve years old, I may never have got into boxing at all. Even so, it took me years to learn about the sport itself, its history, the fighters, rules, technique, training and everything else; and I still don't claim to be an expert. There's too much of a 'holier than thou' attitude on this site sometimes from guys who seem to think that only experts can properly discuss or appreciate boxing. What they forget is that boxing first and foremost is supposed to be entertainment and you don't need to be an expert to be entertained. If there are some fans who are lacking knowledge or experience the idea is to encourage and nurture their interest, not ridicule them. For the 'experts' out there this should be easy enough.
This past Mega/Super/New and Improved or whatever the hell you wanna call it fight would've sold a FRACTION of what it did without us "casuals" Honeybun! Believe it.
This. I'm new here. Been lurking for quitr some time now before i registered. I'm not gonna pretend i know a whole lot about boxing, but i know that i know more than the average casual fan. Superstars attract a lot of attention for the sport. Of course, many will eventually find it's not for them and move on. Some will stay and pretend they know stuff. A few will become hardcore fans and really try to understand the sport. I myself got lured in by the May-Pac hype (years before they actually made the fight happen) and got interested enough to watch other superstars' fights (tyson, lewis, ali, and even ggg).
awesome post and i agree with everything you say , sadly the so called experts and multi accounting trolls will always be here to mock anything they slightly disagree with .