Boxing will never die and is currently not in the process to do so, but it's not rising either. This is really because of the HBO/PPV style that just dominates boxing. What Boxing has to do is to switch to the prime time networks such as CBS, NBC, FOX, and ABC. PPV is really overrated as to the money it can generate. Most PPV fights are really only bought by the hardcore boxing fans and not by the casual ones. And although that can amount to a lot of money for fights, it's really poor for the growth of the sport. This includes HBO where quite frankly a lot of people don't have, but in my opinion fights on HBO are a much better option then PPV since the amount of people exposed to the fight is much greater. If the fights are placed on prime time it'll make Boxing much more popular then it is today. It'll expose new people to boxing along with helping the casual fans grow a great love for the sport. It's immediate results would be able to generate the same amount of money as PPV's with commercial contracts, but it's about the FUTURE. The future for boxing would look much better. It'd finally expose the sport to everybody and turn the sport from underground into a popular event. It'll really only take 2-3 BIG fights to do this. A network like NBC can have an event once a month and smaller events can take place on their smaller networks such as Versus (copying the NHL format). The sport would be so much better off in this format, and in the end make boxing as popular as it deserves to be.
talk to the promoters... The promoters are the ones who put the price tag on their fighters. If a network isn't meeting their expectation and they think the fighter can make more, they'll take it to PPV.
If the promoters weren't ******s and stopped thinking only about their immediate profits they would realize prime time TV is always the best way to go.
