Hardcore Boxing Fans Still Don't Get It, Do You?!

Here's a thread I did about a year and a half ago.


The people on this forum have a very insular view of boxing, we are fanatics, what we want is the best always fighting the best, and little known underrated talents getting pushed, and the overrated hypejobs getting exposed. But.... a lot of what we want may not be entertaining to general audiences, so it doesn't happen and the promoters don't care, because we are not their key demographic, the casual fans seeking entertainment are.

I see a lot of fans say "who cares what the casuals want", well without the casuals pouring money in, the sport wouldn't survive, the casual fans who know nothing are ironically the reason for the sport remaining successful. Most casual fans don't know anything about the sport except the few fighters that break through and become marquee names. Which means they're famous, and people will pay money for "important fights" based on name value and their level of stardom.

Without the cash generated by PPV buys and ratings brought in by HBO and Showtime viewers, the sport would atrophy and fade away, becoming irrelevant. HBO and Showtime are pay services, if they take money from their budget that they receive from subscribers and put on a subpar telecast that no one watches, they will go out of business, their main investors are the subscribers, without us they cease to exist. If we are not adequately entertained we drop the subscription and the money goes away, therefore they can't create content anymore. Which means they must take into consideration what the general audiences want, which is to be "entertained", because the more viewers and PPV buys, the more money they make, and the more live boxing broadcasts they can produce. So the very livelihood of our favorite sport is predicated on the rise and fall of the viewership of the casual fan, who's sole reason for watching is to be entertained.

Unfortunately the casual fan knows very little, they know Mayweather, Pacquiao, Cotto, Canelo, maybe Hopkins and that's about it. They don't even know who Guerrero, Bradley, Rios, Maidana, Lara, Angulo, Martinez, Ortiz and now Algieri are, the promoters are very aware of this, they know hardcore fans will buy the PPVs in kneejerk fashion regardless, but they need a interesting story, new face, and rivalry that they can sell to everyone else and it doesn't matter who the opponent is, they are sold by the main attraction i.e. Manny or Floyd, our money isn't enough to keep the PPV business afloat, casuals are needed. Canelo doesn't have the fame of the other guys, or at least enough to carry his own PPV so Canelo-Lara which appealed primarily to the hardcore fans was a bust, casuals weren't interested.

Without the WWE like backstory the casual fan has little to no interest whatsoever, and won't buy. Why because they need an emotional investment in the fight, they need to care for the competitors, they want the soap opera element to make their blood flow and peak their interest, because they want a good guy/bad guy narrative, they know nothing about skills, styles, how to judge, refereeing, all of that doesn't mean **** to them, they just need the hook to snag and pull them in with, that entertainment value that makes them care, nothing more.

What is entertaining?..... personality.. back stories.. English speaker.. ability on the mic... good looks... knockouts...a fan friendly style,....if a fighter can provide a few of these qualities they can be highly marketable, unfortunately most fighters don't possess more than 1 or 2 of the them, so most fighters are hard to market. So when the promoters get someone who sells they shove them down our throats.
Sometimes they misjudge what appeals to the audience, while somewhat stupid as far as the sport goes some casual fans can spot a fraud, Broner most fans were smart enough to see him for what he was, a sad attempt to duplicate Mayweather and sell him as his heir apparent, which blew up in Haymon and Showtime's faces.

Casual fans definitely know what they don't like, which is Being Bored, what bores them?..... overly intricate boxing matches, they want to be wowed and they aren't going to get that with a trigonometry lesson in the ring, so if a fighter is too technical... no one will care.
Why.....because they find it complicated, which causes them to lose focus, because when you have to think while being entertained it takes you out of the moment, making you lose track and become disinterested.
Therefore promoters don't waste their money or time trying to sell the unsellable, Lara and Rigondeaux will never be stars, because they are not willing to compromise their style to please the audience.

So the promoter makes fights to entertain the general audience, not us, because they want as many viewers as they can get, which makes them even more money.
We can rebel against this trend by not watching the product, causing their ratings to decrease, PPV buys to evaporate and most importantly lose their money, but that is the problem because we are addicted obsessives, and watch everything that comes on, therefore we are directly contributing to the continuation of the model that we find so problematic. We can't stop watching therefore they have no reason to amend their business model.

Promoters will continue to do what they want, how they want, because they know we will always be there for them in spite of our protestations, because we are fanatical, so we are taken for granted as being a constant, which means we don't have to be catered to, but the nonchalant casuals, they must always been entertained, if they aren't they walk out of the door, because they don't care as much as we do.
Its not fair to us the hardcore fans, but that's how most entertainment based businesses work. Hollywood doesn't care about geeks it only cares about the masses.
It sucks but there is really nothing we can do about it, because the hardcore fans voice is not as loud as the casuals, because as usual the tyranny of the majority wins out..

 

Yeah, I totally agree. To me, Fury's the best boxing showman since Ali - a real character who is willing to actually promote interest in the sport by doing things like jumping the ring with his suit on, ready to "square off" with Wilder.

This kind of thing is what BUILDS rivalries, and it is good for the sport. I think Wilder is a total fraud, but if Fury helps pump him up into a viable opponent, and this creates broad interest in the sport, then I am all for it.