I've given you a like for a polite reply, which is rare with opposing views on here, but I'm afraid I respectfully disagree. Unlike in days gone by, boxing now has serious competition from combat sports fans from MMA, who seem to outnumber us by about 5:1 on every stream chat I'm on. The point I'm trying to make is, boxing as a sport now the London oly's are long long gone needs to keep ahead of the game. With Eddie basically moving to the US, Frank being moribund save for Fury, there's a real risk IMHO that boxing here is going to go back to the post Hatton doldrums where it really was a niche sport for all intents and purposes. Of course, promoters don't give a toss about that as long as they can send their kids to private school and have holidays in Antigua, and good for them, but if they don't reinvest in the sport then I won't pay PPV's.
MMA does seem flavour of the the month, but it has taken a long time to get going, it has been going for over 30 years in Japan and 25 in the USA, so it is no overnight success. And it also relies on 'Superstars' for growth. So for the moment I am not that worried about it as long term competition for boxing. Also MMA relies very much on the PPV model in its strongholds. Boxing has become more and more global in recent times, with strong roots in the UK, US, Australia, Western Europe, the 'Far East' and Latin America. It has grown in all these markets outside the US, and has gained traction in new markets such as the 'Middle East' and Eastern Europe. Boxing at the moment does not need to worry too much about MMA.
I have the opportunity to watch more boxing than I ever have done on TV. ITV4, SKY, BT and PPV's straight off and then there is streaming options...
As I mentioned in a previous post, the talent we have in the UK is immense. It is a little frustrating that we do not have as much 'mainstream talent' as we should have with such a strong crop of fighters, and yes that is in part down to poor promotion. But fighters need to realise just being a brilliant boxer sometimes is not enough.
I'm not sure British boxers are any better than they were 20 or 30 years ago but with the U.S.A. more or less resigning from the sport, all the other nations have been given a bigger share of the top positions.
Even the cartoon fight KSI v Logan Paul was more popular than 99% of boxthing contests last year. PPV is killing the sport - similiar to what money is doing to football. All the dosh goes to the fat cats who cannot get enough.
It is arguable as to if the best of today are better/worse than 20/30 years ago, but what I think there is little doubt about is that today there is far more depth of very good to excellent talent. Probably as strong as any era post WWII. And although you rightly point out the USA is no where near the force it was 20/30 years ago, the gap has been filled. The Latino market is stronger, the East Europeans are now on the scene and due to better communication there are fewer 'surprise' packages from other places in the world.
Football has not been stronger post WWII due to the money increase. And Boxing has in a capitalist system developed to the point of PPV. Technologies are seemingly going in the direction that more content is required, so this may change the boxing pay model. But if you want top quality performers, you are going to have to pay for them one way or the other.
That’s more to do with them being “celebrities” than PPV. Look at Josh Warrington, I think we all agree he’s in Britain’s P4P top 5 and is a world champion yet his Instagram following is 76k. Logan Paul is 16 million, KSI is 6.3 million. If you look at IFL (or similar vids) on YouTube and look at their views compared to what these “celebrities” get there will be a gulf. Unfortunately being a top boxer alone these days doesn’t do much for you; see Billy Joe Saunders, Warrington etc. You need to have something else. It wouldn’t surprise me to see me active boxers going down the Amir Khan route and going on these reality TV shows.
Football is all about huge sums focused on less than 20 clubs in Europe which has destroyed 95% of the competitions across many countries in Europe and within leagues in nearly every country. I would argue that Liverpool have seen far stronger days with much less money and facing more intense competition.
I would agree with all that. We just need to look at the more capitalistically developed leagues in the US to see where Football is going. There will come a point of no relegation and then a European Super League will happen. But Football at the top level has never been better to watch (as a customer experience), the drips that come from this help the middling clubs. The smaller clubs always have and always will struggle, that is the romance and hold of the sport, and it would be a worse sport for it, if that were to change.
This content is protected Here’s a look at Ruiz Jn (in his last fight), for those who haven’t seen him. I seem to remember a few commenting on him without actually seeing him fight. I like him. He’s actually a really good boxer. Fast hands, good judgement of distance and is actually pretty decent at working his way in on the inside to land his shots. I think Joshua can land a big right hook on him eventually but should be a fun fight.
