Joe Calzaghe- I think Boxing Is A Dying Sport

he has a point.

 

Who cares if MMA is harvesting right now? Boxing has endured years, and is still here to stay. People are like that, they get curious and wants to try out new things. They come back to what they love doing after. It's a cycle.

 

care to expand on that.

 

He is correct.

Where are the up and coming stars? Where is the next generation of De La Hoya, Trinidad, Mosley, Hopkins, Jones Jr, Toney, Mayweather, Pacquiao, Morales, Barrera? Everyone used to know who the HW champion of the world was, now I bet 1 out of 10 people at BEST would know, because not only are there 487 HW champions, none of them are real stars.

The sport is dying and it's terribly depressing. Once the last of that generation is gone (Pacquiao will probably be the last, or maybe Hopkins ), who will be the big draws? Cotto? Who else? If they can get over their ****ing greed, they can change the sport before it's too late. **** off the ABC belts, make ONE champion. This will force the best fighters to fight each other, because there is only ONE objective for each division. **** the PPVs off unless it's an ultra-mega-super-fight, and then only charge $30. This will generate more interest in the sport because it's ACCESSIBLE! How are we going to get NEW boxing fans when nobody can watch world-class fights without paying $60. **** that for a joke. People will turn on ESPN and see some ****ing club-fighters moving like half-dead walruses on sleeping pills and think the sport is a joke.. but that's the highest quality available for viewing outside of PPVs!

We need some people who love the SPORT, not the cash it puts in their pocket to turn it all around.

 

I would tend to agree typically. But boxing's enemy is NOT MMA. There is room for many sports. In europe the popularity of Football (soccar) never detracted from that of boxing. In America the popularity of football, basketball or baseball has never negatively impacted that of boxing.

Boxing's enemy is itself. What the MMA proves is that there is a love for organized pugilistic sports. However, boxing's issue's are its own. They include a lack of organization, too many belts, to many weight classes, very little marketing and very few fights between top tier fighters.

Everyone on this board loves boxing. Most of us grew up on the sport. But what does boxing do to attract youth to the sport? What does boxing do to promote its personalties? Boxing can't just sit back and rely on its history.

Goldn

 

Lets get those ppv prices cheaper... people boxing would never die, just because the heavyweight division has been in a downfall doesnt mean the whole sport should be categorize as a dying sportatsch, always room for improvement just like any sport... Boxing is as good as ever, don't let the media influence you...

 

Yeah, i cited MMA, because that was what Joe was talking about. Its 2 different sport, might as well compare it to soccer and basketball. JOe was probably reacting to what happened between his fight with Jones, which he co-promoted. The return of investments didnt turn out as expected. But come-on..they arent exactly the prime commodity of the sport, and the match up was long over-due. Not to mention the recession.

 

Calzaghe tries to make it sound as if he's one of the poster boys. That's amusing considering his girl-punching amateur style is a ****ing embarrassment to the sport of boxing, and a massive turnoff to would be fans around the world. His US programs have all tanked, epicly. Only die hard observers like ourselves (and his countrymen) have any clue who the **** he is. Joe Calzaghe could have a showcase at any point in the future and it wouldn't attract a single fan to the sport. Boxing is just like anything else; it's about aesthetics - and Joe Calzaghe is an eye sore if anything. He's one to talk..

 

JuanMa Lopez, Rey Bastuita, Victor Ortiz, Abner Mares, Andre Berto, Jesus Rojas, Andy Lee, Chad Dawson, Anthony Peterson, Alfred Angulo, Yurkois Gamboa, James Kirkland, and the list goes on.

Boxing will never die, and I'm sure the fans were saying the same thing we are after the great Middleweight era of the early to mid 90s...then Mosley, Barrera, Morales, Hoya, Trinidad, etc all emerged from nowhere.

 

you cant blame mma or football (soccer or what ever you want to call it) its purely down to ppv. your everyday people just dont get to see boxing because of it. in europe because of the srangle hold hbo etc have on the big fights we cant even see the fights untill 4 and 5 in the morning. and only die hard (or stupid) fans like myself stay up to watch them.
we have to take away some of the power the broadcasters have and to an extent the agents. have the fighters contracted to terestrial tv channels. christ there is enough fighters out there for every channel to have a fighter. then they would get there fair share of viewers. it would also give young fighters a better chance to come through as tv channels would be constantly looking out for the next big star rather than pumping money in to established fighters

 

Fair enough, there is some talent there, but nowhere near on the same level IMHO. That's just the way I see it. Tito had already knocked out Blocker for the IBF 147 title and defended it 5 times (4 by KO) when he was as old as Ortiz is now.

Oscar had fought and beaten the likes of Chavez, Whitaker, Quartey, Gonzalez, Hernandez etc., had held titles in 4 divisions, was P4P#1 and was about to face off against Trinidad in the fight of the millenium at the same age as Juanma Lopez is now.

Roy had beaten Toney and Hopkins, and was P4P#1 when he was the same age as Dawson is now.

The point I'm making is, these guys were well and truly stars at an early age. They are STILL the stars and big names TODAY, when younger guys should be taking their place.

 

Exactly he hid in Wales behind the shitty WBOGUS title than came out of hideing when to fight a 43 yr old and a guy less thn 2 months away from hitting 40.

 

I was disgusted when I read Calzaghe's comments. While most of them had grains of truth, at the same time he was one of the worst offenders of what he was talking about. The guy wouldn't fight outside of his home town. He didn't try to unify for the better part of a decade. He never would take a risk for greatness.

When he finally does step outside of his country and fight a couple of name fighters, it was when they were MANY years past their prime. As the previous poster said "what a hypocrite"! It makes it even worse though because comments like his are not going to help boxing in any way, shape or form. It only damages boxing when one of it's stars makes comments like these in a public forum. I knew Calslappy was a punk *****, but this takes it to new lows for him.

This is a guy who has gained fame and fortune from the sport DESPITE his actions of not fighting the best for the majority of his career and instead charging his loyal fans money to fight the Tocker Pudwill's of the world. In the past I had a general dislike for Calzaghe for the lack of class he has shown to his opponents with the showboating and such, but now the guy is in personal top five of hated fighters ever. He used the sport of boxing and now while on his way out and he doesn't need it anymore, he kicks it while it's down and kicks us true fans of the sport also. And that includes his own fans, who are also fans of boxing and not just Joe "I'm a ****" Calzaghe.

 

i agree calzaghe is a great champion, but as far as attracting viewers and contributing to the popularity of boxing, give me a ****in break.