Bivol Beterbiev not big enough outside of boxing fans?

No one in English speaking Canada knows who these guys are. I mean no one. I have lived in Vancouver and Toronto and boxing just isn't a big deal here. I don't know about Montreal since Beterbiev trains and lives there but in English speaking Canada, the only people who i know who follow boxing are UK immigrants and some other immigrant groups.

So yes, its partially to do with them being Eastern Euro's but i also think boxing's popularity has greatly faded in America and Canada among casual fans. Rise of NBA/NFL, hockey and even UFC have overtaken boxing in popualrity in the North American market.

UFC is the bar sport here. Every month, they put on a card and the bar is full of guys who want to watch.

Boxing is still fairly big in UK, Mexico, Eastern Europe, increasingly so in Central Asia especially in Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan, to some degree in China and Japan, and also to some degree in Australia.

But yes, i don't expect English speaking audiences in North America to know who these guys are. I am not sure if boxing's popularity can come back in US and Canada.

 

From Montreal, nobody here knows who Artur is either. Jean Pascal and Adonis Stevenson were much more popular.

 

It's a shame really. But as a diehard boxing fan I really couldn't care less if the average person doesn't realize the magnitude of this fight. Don't cast pearls before swine imo

 

Both could walk around the city I live in and probably not get noticed

 

Bivol has had an ok following since the Canelo fight, but this fight isn’t getting nearly as much recognition as it should. I kind of blame Beterbiev for not doing jack to promote himself outside the ring. Bivol has done all he could to get his name out there, but there’s really only so much you can do being a Russian with a dull personality and defensive boxing style.

 

I don't care, I am a boxing fan and look forward to Saturday!

 

This should sell 175k -200k PPVs

 

This.

 

I care because without interest there is no money to make fights. But nothing to do about it, so I'll be watching for as long as they put it on TV.

 

Both are great fighters and real men who don't play BS social media games all they care about is fighting. Bivol is more well known because of the Canelo fight and he has the Mayweather Canelo proxy support from the usuals. Beterbiev's promoters should have done a better job the guy is 18-0 with 18KO's his record speaks for itself.

 

The fight is well promoted here in the UK

However, Beterbiev's AMERICAN promoter Top Rank has barely lifted a finger in promoting this fight. All their footage is old recycled stuff, there is no documentaries, no behind the scenes footage, no 24/7 style type of show etc etc etc


It's like they don't even care. They did the same with Crawford too and when he freed himself from Arum he got himself a $20m payday against Spence. But he could have gotten it sooner or years later had he been with somelike Hearn etc.

Americans say they are the biggest fight fans and best promoters but I don't believe that anymore.

I hope Turki takes these people off the chessboard or reduces them to pawn status.

 

Beterbiev is massive amongst the Muslim fans. The people who followed Khabib also follow Beterbiev too.
GGG could barely speak English (Beterbiev at least tries) and got a huge push by HBO..

Top Rank have barely tried. They have the most destructive fighter since Mike Tyson and have barely pushed their promotion of him. It's pathetic.

 

Fantastic fighters, but they both sadly have very little marketability.

 

Why do you care ?

It's one of the best fights of the decade, I don't want Jake Paul fans to watch it. They don't deserve it anyway.