I remember the days of Klitschko, Felix Sturm, Michalczewski, and Henry Maske and in those days it would have huge ratings and huge crowds that would go to attend. Those guys were all household names there too. Is it still like that there or no? All of those guys have since retired.
No, it's not. I'd even say that MMA is passing by at the moment. But there is a trend that some rappers or other clown celebrities are fighting on undercards etc. which is pretty lame as most of them are just dog****. Boxing is absolutely dead in Germany. There isn't even one fighter i could mention who could be a future World Champion in ANY weight class.
What a damn shame. They used to fill 50K arenas and soccer stadiums. What about domestic level fighters. Do they not generate any interest? Germany used to be a big hub for Eastern European fighters to make money in as well. Is that no longer going on. What happened to Klaus Peter Kohl? That guy knew how to promote.
The only top class fighter Germany ever had was Max Schmeling, after that it was mostly Euro Level fighters. Admittedly, Henry Maske and Sven Ottke had a good career, today's boxing in Germany is extremely bad and barely watchable...
Sturm is fighting next month. Culcay and Kabayel are both world rated (of course neither is ethnically German but then nor was Sturm). Pretty slim pickings after that. Feigenbutz sadly might be their best talent under thirty (and best "pure" German), sadly.
Was thinking this the other day German boxing has gone right off the boil compared to 10-15 years ago with the likes of Sturm, Abraham, Klitschkos (fought predominantly in Germany), Huck, Braehmer etc. I used to enjoy catching random German cards on eurosport. Probably rate Culcay as the best German at the moment, and he is pretty long in the tooth.
I was shocked actually, when poking around to verify before making that statement about Feigenbutz above, did a double-take upon seeing that Culcay is 37. He's actually closer in age to Sturm than he is to Feigenbutz.
I also, in the course of researching my response, discovered that Brähmer retired a few years ago. Which isn't surprising in the least, I just had not heard. If still active he'd likely be the best thing going in the country today...and he's even older than Sturm!
the TV companies pulled the plug after the Klits retired in every country other than the USA and Mexico, the popularity/quality of boxing is directly tied to investment from broadcasters. everything starts from there.
Why doesn't saurland bring more Eastern Europeans there? It is a great base for them. GGG started there, klitschkos, etc. There's good money there and it's a good home base. It would be a great home base for Hrgovic and Jalalov. Germany supports there fighters
Feigenbutz is still under 30?! Feels like that guys been around forever, I thought he was about 30 when De Carolis beat him!
Look at how they ruined GGG's prime, they failed to make him into a star. He was already 30 years old with wear and tear on his body when he made his US debut.