"Gatti’s murder shows boxing’s irrelevancy"

I realize that fighters like Sturm, Valuev, Dzinziruk, etc. have put together respectable careers for themselves in Germany, but that's... Sturm, Valuev, and Dzinziruk. I'm not trying to start a "whose judges are worse" pissing contest, but it will literally take decades for Europe to catch up with places like Las Vegas and NYC as the places you come to actually be somebody in boxing. Even if some of the money dries up, the history and the setting will always be there.

I'd love to see guys like Cotto or hell, even a guy like Tim Bradley get better press, but every sport loves their phenoms. You're right we can't all get in a circle and do a raindance for another Tyson, but you can't manufacture a phenom either. Victor Ortiz and Oscar learned that lesson.

In any case, I've never felt that MMA is some kind of mortal threat to boxing. They are two completely different sports. The NBA and the NFL manage to coexist, why can't we with MMA?

 

definately, she would paint Gatti as an evil man and responsible for the poor womans breakdown and eventual murder of the man that abused her.

 

Then she'd finish by calling him a glorified club fighter who has no place in Canastota.

 

I actually thought Gatti's death got decent attention from the media. ESPN covered it, and it was front page on yahoo. Google's a better search engine than yahoo IMO and probably taken over as the main one, but yahoo is still probably used by many people as a search engine. I asked my mom and sisters if they heard about a boxer getting murdered by his wife, and all of them had read the story.

Of course Gatti's death would not get the attention of Michael Jackson. MJ was one of the most famous people in the ****ing world. It won't get the attention of someone like Mike Tyson. Tyson is one of the most famous athletes/ex-athletes in the world as well.

 

Why focus on something so trivial? That's ****ing pathetic. His true fans are mourning his loss.

 

Gatti was not an elite caliber boxer or a superstar so it's not really a surprise. He wasn't particularly famous outside of boxing. It's not like he was Oscar De La Hoya or something

 

I disagree with the general premise of the story. Gatti's death received a little less media attention than Steve McNair's death and McNair was a player in the USA's most popular sport. It also seems to me that even active NFL players who are unfortunate enough to die get about the same kind of media attention as Gatti's startling obituary and Gatti was a retired lightweight-jr. Lightweight champion whose contests were mainly displayed on subscription television channels. Boxing isn't what it used to be but rumours of its demise are greatly exagerrated.

 

ESPN Classic paid him tribute the other night.

 

What a ****ing grotesque, moronic article to write.

The man is dead, no-one gives a **** what the level of media coverage of his death says about the popularity of boxing.

Those in the know are already aware the media is heavily controlled and manipulated anyway. If an event occurs that doesn't sufficiently distract the majority of the peasantry, it won't make the front pages.

 

this was written by a true coward who had a hang up against boxing for some reason.

 

Ditto

 

Because the NFL clearly have the better following in the US. If you look at the list of the top 100 highest grossing televised events in the past 50 years...2/3 of that list is superbowls...its ****in' disgusting.

Mostly because football is a man's sport. It has become a tradition in American culture to have bbq's and gambling and all that ****. It's fan friendly...meaning there's tackling and contact, but nothing "TOO BRUTAL" for people. There's the whole drama with the ticking clock ****. There's overtime. All sorts of ****.

The only reason Oscar or Tyson became big in the first place is because they were interesting characters. Oscar was an attractive male that brought in female fans, which in turn brought in their male counterparts and saw that not only is Oscar good looking but can kick some ass while doing it.

Tyson was his own ****in' drama TV show. Not only did he beat the living **** outta people which people liked, but he was highly dramatic. Who else in boxing says **** like "I want to eat his children"? Seriously...the closest thing that came to was Ali...and he's his own star .

The key to American fanbase for boxing is not some ****in' rising undefeated talent (look at the case of Mayweather...not as huge as those 3 above) but you have to have either.

A - Good looks and publicity that comes with it. Oscar made a music record that brought bitches on his jock like no tomorrow. He was bilingual so he was able to be not only "latin" but white fanbases are able to digest a "brown" fighter because he can speak perfect english.

B - Dramatic story/antics. Oscar came from the ghetto, he had that whole my-mom-died-and-I-was-motivated-by-that bit going for him. Ali with his whole political I-won't-fight-in-Vietnam thing as well as changing his name. Tyson had his supermodel incident and all the weird interview sessions about fornicating to go with it. Nobody will come close to that kinda ****.

C - Many many many outside publicity stunts. You gotta fight the star to be a star and still do **** OUTSIDE of boxing. If more boxing stars did movies, TV appearances, late night talk shows, mainstream radio interviews, charity work, and basically ***** the living **** outta your name WHILST still kicking ass and taking names...

If someone had one of these or all...then you got yourself the next big ass American boxing star.

Unfortunately...no one in America OR boxing for that matter...fits this criteria. So we get no concern for what happens in the boxing world.

 

what the idiot reporter don't get is that half of new jersy is mourning Gatti, with millions of boxing fans around the world.. no, he was not a pedophile, cheating husband or someother kind of ****up.. he was the ONE AND ONLY HUMAN HIGHLIGHT REEL! RIP

 

Well said man. :good

Best post of the thread.

RIP Arturo

 

Come on, the guy just got out of jail for domestic abuse. He could've screwed around a lot. That's his personal life, who knows what went on?

Gatti was an extremely entertaining fighter to watch, who gave so much of himself in the ring, and that's what he should be remembered for.