Mayweather IS what's wrong with boxing...

Robinson didn't fight Charley Burley, proclaiming himself "too pretty" to fight Burley. Not too many guys were anxious for a high risk/low reward fight like Burley.

The only guy who Leonard gets accused of avoiding, in his pre-detached retina career, was Aaron Pryor. But Pryor was a jr. welterweight anyway and Leonard more than proved himself against bigger guys. It was later in his career that Leonard started receiving criticism. For the weight thing against Lalonde, for the rematches with Hearns and Duran instead of a champ like Michael Nunn (whom Hearns also said he wanted no part of).

 

The lack of sponsors doesn't come from boxers not fighting champs. The decline of sponsors and network TV started mainly with Ray Mancini-Duk Koo Kim. That was a landmark moment for boxing on network TV and sponsorship, and not for the better.

The networks and sponsors started to turn away after that moment. It didn't help that around this time, we had that awful Holmes-Cobb mismatch, with Cossell criticizing it and calling for the abolition of the sport. Then after Mancini-Kim, Dokes-Weaver I was stopped prematurely because of the Kim tragedy.

Boxing on network TV never really recovered from that. It continued to decline, and now it's non-existent.

 

I could go on for a week talking about the guys that Robinson, Ali and Leonard was said to have ducked.

I will say this since you seem not to be that enlighted on the history of boxing...Did you know that it was common place for Robinson to walk into an arena and say there isnt enough people here, im not going to make enough money and pull out of the fight just before the fight.

 

the WBC, WBO, IBF, IBO, WBA, etc. it what's wrong with boxing. espn not covering boxing is what's wrong. how many times have you watched a big pay-per view fight and see nothing but the results on the little ticker scrolling across the bottom of the screen and none of the announcers even say a word about it, but have a play by play for the women's tennis event, or some damn golf tournament? they can dedicate an hour to something like college lacross, but fail to recognize boxing. even sports illustrated has shunned boxing. after a great 2007, the year-end issue had a couple of sentances about DLH/Floyd and that's it. now that's what's wrong with boxing.

 

New York Times writer Dave Anderson said in SRR's documentary that promoters never knew for sure if Ray would fight until he entered the ring.

He once threatened to pull out of a fight 15 minutes before it started because he found out it was being broadcast in Europe and he didn't get the TV rights for it.

Sad thing is, Ray ended up dying broke.

Ray's actions pissed off so many people that it's believed by some that his draw in the 4th fight with Fullmer, which Ray deserved to win by most observers, was a sort of a "payback" for all the **** Ray put people through.

 

One positive about Sports Illustrated is that for 2007, they picked Kelly Pavlik as fighter of the year.

I think that's a good choice that shows they have someone who has a clue about boxing working there.

It's not like the ESPYs, giving Lennox Lewis fighter of the year in 2001 for going 1-1 against Hasim Rahman, ahead of Bernard Hopkins for dominating Trinidad and Holmes.

 

bra ****ing vo :good

 

that's what killed sports illustrated for me. that was the last issue i ever read.

 

Point being is that NO matter who the fighter is, he isnt going to make everyone happy.

Floyd has fought the best fighters out there, has he fought all the best fighters out there? Of course not, no fighter ever has.

This is a topical floyd hater reply by the way. Now you have tried to turn this into camparing Floyd to guys in the top 10 atg. I was just stating that other fighters have/are doing the same things that floyd is doing. Its part of boxing, and its not really a problem. And it has no effects on boxing having a tough go now, or very little effect. Too many champs, not enough tv, fewer gyms for kids to train at. Those are all problems in the states. In other places around the world Boxing is doing great.

 

Some good and valid points I just read in this thread.

 

well people like mayweather and hatton brings in new fans to boxing

 

**** money, money shouldnt come into it.

The most dissapointing thing about this for me is that Cotto and his people aren't pushing for the fight. Neither side wants it it's pathetic