Like most things, Boxing goes through cycles...over the past 10 years, we went through the doldrums of the klitchsko era (thank you jesus, it's over!), but on the other hand, we also witnessed the all-consuming brilliance of fmj. Today, boxing has a lot to be excited about....and a lot of it is due to the fresh blood hat has been infused into our sport and a whole different approach by guys like al haymon and some of the hip hop stars who love the sport and want to fix it. All this has already translated into some big-time matchups (floyd-pac, canelo-cotto, fury-klitchsko)...but boxing still has a ways to go to realize its full potential. Here are a few examples that come to mind and indicate the current state of boxing.... First, the plusses. - changing of the guard...no longer is boxing a hbo-showtime oligopoly...with al haymon entering the fray, along with fiddy, jay-z and some budding promoters, we're getting a lot more quality match-ups on regular tv. This is bringing back big audiences and augurs well for the future. face it....hbo and showtime had failed. gbp and top rank had failed. haymon brought ten times as much significance and excitement to boxing in one year than those other dudes could provide in the last 10. This is a most exciting time to be a fight fan...why? i'll tell you why...it's because we no longer have to live with the blue ***** of unfullfilled dream fights. - but it's not just the networks and promotional companies...it's also the media. blogging is biigger than ever and full of great content. sorry, but karceno and dontae are a lot better than ring magazine. they understand the fans and talk sense instead of hating on certain fighters and showing favoritism for others. - fighters seem happier these days too...especially the welterweights. theyr'e FINALLY getting the fights they wanted! they LOVE fighting for a promoter who can provide them the opportunities and the money that are the reason they went into boxing in the first place. - the welterweight and jr welterweight divs are as exciting as ever. last year we had some huge marquee matchups (garcia-peterson, thurman-guerrero, mayweather-pac, khan-alexander, porter-broner, etc)...this year is off to a great start with vasquez and garcia-guerrero. those two divs offer a goldmine of potential matchups over the next few years that could catapult boxing back into the mainstream. - The heavyweights are suddenly exciting again!!...i never thought i'd see it, but the hw's are stacking up as one of the most talent- laden divisions with larger-than-life personalities that promise the drama of big, big ppv extravaganzas like back in heyday of Don King. - eastern european fighters are flooding the market. although most of them are undercard-level talent, they bring a different kind of fanbase to the sport as well as capturing the imagination of fans in the majority white public who want someone to root for. For that reason alone, boxing may become more lucrative and gain high viz. - older fighters are holding it down...floyd retired at 39. hopkins still active at 49. rigo is pushing 36 and still dominant (when anybody will actually fight him). Pac is up there...There has never been a time in boxing history when so many fighters older than 35 were still on top. But more to the point is, more fighters are able to blend the experience and wisdom and perspective of maturity with the reslience and vigor of youth....guys like time bradley are perfect examples of this. Now, the negatives: - Cuban fighters dominate boxing but get no recognition. lara, rigo, hernandez, ortiz, gamboa and barthelmey are all arguably the most dominant fighters in their weight class and probably all belong on the the pfp list, but the average casual fan has never even heard of them. - cowardliness and ducking are back! Canelo, ggg, cotto, jacobs, bjs...wtf? the jmw/mw/smw divs could take a lesson from the jww and ww divs....t's a buncha dudes that talk a good game then want to avoid each other at all costs! but it's not just the mw's...wtf happened at 122-126 lbs? mfkers act like they scared! - boxing coverage on some networks is now shamelessly agenda-driven. it's almost impossible to watch a hbo fight without being distracted by the terrible and biased commentary. good guys like max kellerman are overshadowed by the shameless promotion of house fighters. even showtime is pretty terrible at times...just listen to jeff ryan some time. Only PBC really tries to be impartial...but before you give them props, remember that's what they're SUPPOSED to be! all in all, things are looking up for boxing...the state of boxing is once again healthy with a bright future, which is something i couldn't have said 3 years ago. the sport has turned a corner for the better lately and appears to be enjoying a nice resurgence in popularity. the best thing for boxing is that the haymon empire continues to expand and encompass all the top fighters...that will put an end to boxing politics and fight fans will benefiit as the best square off against the best...of course not all fight fans really want to see that. there are many who would prefer their guy not risk his perfect record against real opposition... i say, let them fight and let the chips fall where they may....either way, we'll all be watching.
A good read. Thank you for a rare example of intelligent insight amid the plethora of casuals rolling out the typical and dull Ward v GGG debate. I salute you, sir!
Why are you saying they are only NOW agenda driven? it has always been like that. lets not look back with rose colors glasses.
just seems a lot more blatant to me these days....for example, i remember when dlh fought quartey and back then george foreman was being criticized for being oscar's biggest cheerleader, but even big george scored that fight for quartey, showing there was a modicum of objectivity...these days, the color guys are pretty open about their preference for certain fighters.
Yep good stuff! 2016 could be one of the best n recent memory. Here's hoping the stars align and we see a lot of the big fights that are out there.
we just had garcia beat guerrero. next is thurman-porter....with a potential garcia-khan rematch looming. the winner would fight thurman in a superfight. in between all that, you still got bradley-pac which will be big, regardless of what people are saying. then the winner of that fight would fight thurman, khan, porter or garcia, who ever ends up on top...and that's just the ww div. other divisions have a lot to offer too!
i hated foreman back then...but now, when i rewatch them old fights on youtube i realize he wasn't so bad.
my uncle was a boxer and he said, back in the day, you had to wait for the next issue of ring magazine or KO magazine to read the results of fights. and when those mags finally came out, the results were old news...like months old. so, if you were in cali and wanted to know about a fight that happened in new york, you had to go to the library and get a copy of the new york newspapers and all that...then the magazines had a monopoly on boxing news, so they would push their own political agenda too...and hype up certain fighters and diss the fighters they didn't like....and a lot of the features would be lame and half-a.ssed. it sucked. today, the game has totally changed. we have boxing bloggers who provide current interviews with fighters, promoters, managers and boxing people... and we get the latest boxing news almost everyday. we can keep up with the results of fights all over the world in real time. i don't know if people really understand or appreciate how things have changed for the better. most people are too caught up in the tedium of their everyday lives to notice much else. bloggers are the best thing to happen to boxing in forever...boxing magazines can't dictate what boxing fans want anymore. bloggers are great...they stoke a grassroots buzz around deserving up and comers. they challenge the status quo and call political bullschit. they sustain the sport and keep fans engaged during lulls. they put pressure on the promoters to make the best matchups money can buy. it's democracy at its finest.
