Is America Really Declining Boxing Wise!!

It's pretty obvious.

You get the best American fighters in serious fights and look at how many people in attendance, compare that with Pacquiao fighting in the Philippines or Hatton/Calzaghe(I know he's not British)/Witter/Danny Williams fighting in England. Other countries seem to appreciate the sport, their fighters and serious events more. They even carry their support overseas when a fighter from their hometown fights elsewhere, didn't really catch enough American supporters in England showing support to Lacy and that was years ago. It's only DLH being supported right now in America and for obvious reasons.

They had Mayweather and instead of showing support like the British do to Hatton or the Pinoys to Pacquiao they insulted him. Same thing happened to RJJ, Hopkins and many others.

 

I really don't like it, HATE it actually especially when I see British people praising all their fighters, from Danny Williams(yes, even Williams) to Hatton to even Khan then you can't help but get jealous. Guys like Mayweather and RJJ wipe the floor with guys like Williams, Hatton and even Khan in terms of skills yet they get insults and garbage criticism instead of support.

 

Here's my post from the other thread about this since it's quicker than typing out basically the exact same thing. Any opinions on it are welcome:




Four things affect this moreso than any other:

1) Boxing not being on free TV anymore- makes it harder to maintain the image that a fighter is something you'd want to be if there's less easy, mainstream exposure.

2) The downfall of the US amateur program (fewer gyms, no more boxing in schools, etc)

3) A good economy, so people don't need to fight. Luckily, our government and the Fed is doing everything it can to "fix" that one.

4) More globalization of the sport at the professional level

Combine them, and you get less raw material to work with and less US dominance even if the fighters we are producing are good because there's more competition. The NBA/NFL excuse is a copout because boxing has thrived in the past with those sports still there, and the decrease of US boxing talent is across the board, not just in the heavyweight class.

Not all's lost, though- the sport just needs more exposure, the amateur system isn't a lost cause, and as more broke families are out there more young people will turn to boxing. But work has to be done.

As for the globalization issue, we've just got to adjust to the fact that being the best in the US doesn't automatically mean best in the world anymore. As other countries' boxing programs get their act together, it just forces us to step our game up from the ground up. There's still a level of arrogance that needs to die off so we can address the real issues instead of talking like the rest of the world's HW's are garbage just because our guys aren't on top right now.

 

Couldn't agree with you more Scar. And all this happens while even mediocre players/ benchwarmers in other sports get hyped and respected here even if they don't have half the skill at their respective crafts as top level fighters like Floyd and Roy had/have. I'm actually ashamed of how it seems like the trend is to hate on guys by what they cannot do, rather than mix in an occasional criticism with genuine respect for what they actually can do and accomplish.

 

In my opinion, it is definitely declining in America. You can blame any number of things, I think a lot of it is that media (be it internet, digital cable, whatever) have pushed boxing into a really specialized niche. It's not mainstream anymore and we don't see much coverage on ESPN (the channel, website or magazine) Sports Illustrated, Network Television, etc. The less mainstream it becomes, the more it pushes youth away from even trying it. I grew up in Portland, and hockey (which for anyone who doesn't know is extremely unpopular in the northwest, both to play and watch) was more accessible had I wanted to play it than boxing. Obviously Portland isn't a boxing hotspot, but it's not a hockey hotspot either. I would bet that most American cities are becoming increasingly similar (with obvious exceptions like NY, Detroit, Philly, etc).

 

the best athletes are going to other sports

 

Whites americans haven't been participating in boxing for years. It's pretty pathetic really for a country as big as ours.

 

the reason american boxers are not having the success they once were is obvious.

many more boxers from other countries now particpate than was ever the case before.

it dilutes the american success rate.

 

The answer to your question is a resounding yes. Boxing is on the decline in America and the proof is the lack of commerical coverage. ESPN is this nations #1 sports coverage tv station and Sportscenter is it's number show. Rarely do we see highlights, discussion, or any kind of coverage of boxing on Sportscenter. Nower days their are never any boxers who are used for national tv commercials, interviewed on talk shows, and make guest appearances on sitcoms. These spots that used to be reserved or filled by the likes of Tyson, Leonard, Hagler, and Ali, just to name a few, are now being consumed by mostly basketball, football, and baseball stars such as Lebron James, Peyton Manning, and Derrick Jeter. Boxing has been trumped in commercial appeal by the other popular sports of America and so the branding of the sport and its stars have become less recognized.

 

exactly
there is no boxer today that has any sort of "q" rating with the possible exception of oscar, and even that isn't very high compared to the way it was just 20 years ago

whereas when i was a kid in the 70s and 80s, marvin hagler was doing deodorant commercials and ray leonard was doing 7-up commercials... boxers appeared regularly on the cover of sports illustrated...it would be INCONCEIVABLE for that kind of stuff to happen today

 

Boxing in America talent wise is still good. We have 2 belt holders in every division from lightweight to middleweight. And title holders at cruiser, lightheavy and feather.

14 belts overall. More then any other nation. Mexico is next with around 8.

 

you say it as if its a good thing. so you can get your excuses in about most of todays champions being from outside the us.
its like a kid saying " if i can't have the cake no-one can " .silly.

 

Well said, I assure you if Floyd or Roy were British they would be praised day and night even through the media and publicly in the UK. In the states you see ***gots working as commentators insulting the hell out of these great fighters and the public clap for it, see if anyone can do something like that in England.

 

One of the best guys for bashing boxing on espn is Tony Kornheiser. I actually heard him say a couple of months ago that there weren't any good up and coming fighters.