Has the internet hurt or helped boxing popularity?

I bought the magazines back around 2000, but I stopped and moved on.
I got back into it around 2005/6 when Ricky Hatton was at his peak but I fell away again

 

has obviously helped it, pretty much everyone has a smart phone and will see boxing related stuff on all social media apps.

 

I think it hasn't helped, there is such a wide variety of entertainment available a second away on your phone/the internet so unlike before when you'd watch what's on and only have a limited choice, now everything is spread too thin. Sure more people overall might have seen whoever's highlight KO of the weekend because of social media, but less people would have watched the bout / even care about it than before.

 

Helped greatly.

Fans can watch any fight anywhere in the world these days - even Wednesday morning cards in Oz.

 

It's helped in giving access to fights past and present you want to view, fighters records and information on nuggets of history. Often what comes with that is a tad of knowledge of what you are searching for.

The more modern viewing though is more highlight reel ko's or very small segments of a fight, which really gives a very instant view of a fighter 'excellent' or 'useless' less balance. Platforms that I would have no interest online tiktok etc, everything dumbed down for me.

 

Made it worse. You get sick of a fight by the time it actually happens, if it even happens at all. Look at Fury/Joshua, Khan/Brook etc. Done to death in the media with constant back and forth online and on Youtube to the point you're not bothered if it happens or not because you're sick of all the crap.

 

Yes and no - chance for exposure for fighters who wouldn't be given the time of day by most promoters otherwise, but the endless churning out of "content" wrecks my head. Things like Eddie Hearn VS Jake Paul Gloves Are Off or those stupid fight promos we get now for the Turki sponsored main events (the Eubank Benn one was particularly bad)

 

I just want to see a fight announced then the next time I see or hear from them is the weigh in, then the next time they're walking to the ring. We don't need press conferences, media tours, grand arrivals, public workouts, fight week press conferences, face to faces, gloves are off etc.

 

I agree. Only recently have I jacked in all of the noise beforehand. It's really tedious. The amount of announcements for prospective announcements I've seen is beyond a joke. I think more people are fed up of it. Fury is a prime example. He got beat twice and now people don't seem to be that bothered about all the shite he's coming out with now. I'll take notice once he announces something official and then I'll follow the press conference, weigh-in, then the match itself. Stuff the rest.

 

It’s made the sport more accessible than ever. You can watch current fights, classic bouts, highlights, and behind-the-scenes footage anytime on YouTube or catchup on streaming. Promoters like Eddie Hearn have used social media to speak directly to fans, also to sell his own brand of bull****, and so have the fighters.

Crossover fights—love them or hate them—have brought a completely new audience into the sport.

But let’s not pretend it hasn’t hurt the sport too.

To follow boxing properly now, you need subs to 3 or 4 different apps or streaming services at a minimum. Casuals are bombarded with noise, hype, and recycled soundbites from people who rely on guys like Hearn just to keep their content going. That old-school ritual of buying Boxing News on a Friday—or picking up a monthly mag—is gone, replaced with clickbait, hot takes, and content you scroll past in seconds. I still have a digital subscription to Boxing News, but I couldn’t tell you the last time I read it properly— Although I briefly scanned it last week when the Allen-Fisher cover caught my eye, beyond that I am playing catch-up

Worst of all, overhype and underdelivery have become the norm. We’re in the PPV era where every decent prospect is sold as the next superstar, only to get iced, or fizzle when the spotlight gets too bright.. Matchroom’s “fast car” model was built on Joshua’s PPVs—but since then, every half-decent ticket seller has been pushed to the moon, only to lose, fade away, or get exposed. That’s part of why Warren and Queensbury have taken the top spot in Britain again.

 

Aye, that silly teaser post implying he was coming out of retirement but it was just for soccer aid or something. Almost as bad as the days on Sky Sports when it was constant "BREAKING NEWS - Joshua says he would consider fighting Wilder"

 

Regarding the crossover fights - I'm not keen on the brought a new audience argument. Because the audience in question aren't there for boxing they're there for whatever YouTube Minecraft fanny happens to be flailing about the ring and if crossover/YouTube boxing died a death tomorrow (if only) their audience would drop actual boxing like a bad habit

 

Yup, agree with that. Didn’t help that on the KSI vs Logan card, BJS and Haney stunk the joint out. That’s when Hearn needed knockout artists, not slicksters going through the motions.

 

I understand what you mean, but it's up to the individual whether he / she wants to watch that all crap on youtube leading up to a fight.