Boxing is so dead!

It could be way better though. In my idealistic view boxing would be a worldwide talentpool. For example I think Pac should hsve boxing academics in his country alone pumping out talent every year. Same for japan, african countries, eastern europe, mexico etc.
Overall they lack good gyms, trainers, the whole foundation sucks.

Boxing has plenty of problems you could wrote a few essays about but in relation to the topic I would say there is too much money in boxing nowadays eventhough the sport is dying.

Guys that fight every now and then make a shitload of money. They rather linger around hoping for a payday then fight consistently.
Especially at heavyweight.

Its always the same guys being recycled while the top guys dodge each other. Guys like chisora and porter.

Srr and other guys had to fight consistently to get paid. Even in the 80's hagler was a warrior like that.
Now you have youtubers making more than he did as champ bsck then. Why would boxers risk their health and put in hard work when they can fight every now and then and still make bank?

 

I would hardly call Paul v Fury a “bloody, fan friendly slug fest”

 

The love of money is ultimately killing every product (and everything) in the world.

 

If you ask a casual fan they will say because of all the belts they don’t know who the champion is anymore, and that the best don’t fight the best.

 

With the scorecards we saw in Mexico it looks that way. No more major fights in Mexico against Mexican fighters.

 

Boxing has been in decline for years, big fights happen less and less and boxing fans don't get as much as they deserve...

 

Boxing will never die but as guys are not becoming household names it is really becoming much more niche. boxing needs to have a league like UFC where the top guys are forced to fight each other. Problem is boxers are overpaid relative to the revenue they generate and that prevents big fights from being made

 

It's obviously been in decline for decades, much in part due to it's refusal to modernise and other sports doing so and becoming more marketable sporting brands that are more TV and consumer friendly.

As for the current situation, it's simply in a lull. Wasn't so long ago Joshua was seen as the next heavyweight cash cow, cross over star, you had Canelo and even bigger star in the US, DAZN threw a whole chunk of money at the sport, resulting in others like ESPN also to throw more money in to trying to establish streaming platforms for boxing. UK boxing was thriving and we were getting good match ups quite regularly.

But now Joshua and Canelo have both been beaten, a lot of fights that were hoped to be made a few years ago still have not been made. DAZN are struggling, we have a bunch of older heavyweights in the divison not fighting each other and the young stars have yet to establish themselves as big draws. I think we are simply in a transitional period waiting for the next generations Joshua or Canelo to spark off more fan interest and maybe the surprising numbers for Tank/Garcia maybe the first sign of a new era with a new brace of stars who can draw and get fans excited again.

 

Theres been a decade on decade decline since the 80s. I do think the floor has probably been hit by now in regards to how far the sport can sink though. Which when you look at the crowd Canelo just did, or the PPV numbers Tank/Garcia did, still isnt too bad.

 

Now is a great time to be a boxing fan!

When I first took an interest some 60 years ago, my only window to the sport here in Denmark was through Boxing News, The Ring and Boxing Illustrated. That's about it... no boxing on TV, no old fight films to study, nothing! All I could do was to patiently wait for the magazines to arrive... so I could catch up on fights that had taken place weeks, sometimes months, earlier!

So here's one oldtimer, not longing for the "good old days"!

 

There are some very good fighters but poor promotion and terrible governing bodies not helping the sport. Lots of good fights ahead, just fewer than I would like.

 

The money Mayweather blueprint has ruined boxing. Carefully navigating and avoiding tough matchups to preserve the all-mighty 0. The Saudi sugar daddy money is making these top HWs lazy too.

 

If AJ, Wilder, Fury and Usyk don't engage in fights against each other, then who?

Who is really worth a shot that much. All fighters below the top 4 are extremely questionable.

If Ruiz really is the best below 4th, then damn. He'd likely get mauled vs any one of the top 4. Wilder would KO him, and the others would just jab his head off.

They can't fight Zhang because he's in a rematch with Joyce.

Whyte? Chisora? Parker? Ortiz? None of who are really exciting prospects now.

Usyk vs Fury
AJ vs Wilder

The two fights above are the only fights that should really be happening or anyone cares about. If this **** aint happening then HW boxing is dead, and it's just Fury slapping around pie boys, AJ cruising to UD's vs **** opposition, Usyk slapping around crap like Dubois, and Wilder KOing bums in 2.

CAN'T WAIT - LATE 2023 EVERYBODY!!

Wilder cruising to a KO vs some random guy.
Fury cruising to a UD vs some random guy.
Usyk cruising to a UD vs some garbage mandatory.
AJ waiting 7-8 rounds before throwing anything meaningful but deciding not to go for the KO because he already dominated from range.... against some random guy.

 

This HW era is winding down now, it peaked like 2017-2019. It'd still be nice to get the fights but i'm not sure a single one of these guys are in their prime anymore, and interest in the fights (not including the ones involving Usyk since hes a relatively new addition to the mix) doesnt seem to be anywhere near what it once was. AJ/Wilder should have happened late 2018 in place of Wilder/Fury 1 and AJ/Povetkin, with Fury fighting the winner in 2019.

 

This shows that you are dumb hypeboy fanboy. "The big four" dont exist - they all pick opponents except Usyk - meaning: current "big four" (three) are extremely questionable in quality because they reject to fight top contenters that you brush off because they arent know or unpopular - Sanchez, Bakole, Hrgovic, Zhang, Kabayel, Wallin, even hypejob Joyce. Joyce would be in the "big 5" on your list if he had won, but you didnt mention Zhang - he breaks all 3 of your champs - Wilder, AJ and Fury.

You are living in delusional fanboy mind - none of the mentioned fighters are great, and they will never be - beating old Vladimir aint a badge.

Extremely questionable my ass, your IQ is questionable - if they were so bad, why do the "big four" reject to fight them.