The British General Public & Boxing

Most of the general public couldn't give a **** about boxing, and if you asked them who the heavyweight champ was, they would probably say "Mike Tyson". Froch is, in terms of marketability, an absolute zero-sum.

If picking up this belt now means that he thinks he is the new Naseem Hamed, and that he deserves the mega-bucks TV deal and the adulation of the British public, then he is sadly mistaken. That said, boxing is in big trouble if 'national interest' fights like this aren't getting picked up, although I think its obvious that this one evenually will be.

 

But when you make it in boxing and are well known in britain the british public do attatch them selves to it, look at how well boxers have done in the "sports personality of the year" Jc winning, think hatton was 3rd?? Enzo c trainer of year, Lewis won it few years before, or were these in years when not much else happened so easy to give it to a world champ???

 

There is a big difference between spending 5p voting for sports personality of the year, and spending £15 and staying up to 5AM for a PPV.

Whatever year that Calzaghe won Sports Personality of the Year, must have been a quiet year for British sport :yep

 

More of a wow effect at someone British winning something important, I think. It's not like people would normally give a **** about swimming, either.

 

Of my mates Hatton, Froch and Kha nare the only fighters they know. Maybe it's because Froch is reasonably local but Froch became fairly well known after the Pascal fight. I think he's missed a big chance to become a star for the Taylor fight because had he just gone with ITV early then they could have promoted it well and a win would do wonders for him. Instead now it'll probably be a last minute Setanta fight.

 

At the moment Khan and Hatton are the only boxers that any of my mates would be able to name.

Though I think if boxing did get better coverage any good British fighter would become a household name as it is the kind of sport that captures the public.

 

Imagine if Rendall Munroe was on ITV, I believe he would have a lot more fans due to his working class background.

 

Boxing rights are very expensive, advertisers are not interested, they cannot guarantee a full shows worth of action, it doesn't get as many viewers as other sports.

 

The average guy on the street will have heard of Hatton, Calzaghe and Khan. Probably in that order. The problem is not enough boxing on mainstream tv to entice the casual fan.

 

well it really looks like we are a rare breed after reading this thread!
i guess it matters on what influence boxing has had on your life,and whether you were lucky enough to have a dad like mine who introduced the fight game to me at an early age.
most of my mates know the top 3,maybe 4 (khan,hatton,calzaghe and haye).
unfortunately there is only ever going to be a corner of society that are going to be potential fans because of the sports brutal nature.
boxing has one of the richest and longest histories of sports in this country,,so whether they like it or not it will always be around and will never be "prime time",,,,
,,isn't that why we love it??--it is the most intriging and misunderstood sport around and i don't want it to become too exposed,it would ruin it!:bbb:bbb

 

I feel that I'm lucky in that I have one mate who is really into boxing, and with who I can actually discuss the game on an intelligent level.

The rest aren't interested in learning, and I'm not gonna force my beliefs on them (I just drop the odd "Ya don't know what you're missing" or "Boxing is the best sport in the world" comment). It doesn't help that when you get them together for a big fight, it inevitably turns out to be the crock-of-**** fight of the year.

 

There's 3 lads I know who are into boxing and I can have a decent convo with them. One of 'em seems to know his stuff whilst the other two are the casual types who watched JMM-Diaz, Cotto-Margo etc. but these are only guys I know through 6th form. None of my 'main' mates are into boxing.

 

:rofl:rofl

Jesus, when I first read that I thought you meant that you were mates with Khan and Hatton, but apart from them none of the rest of your friends were into boxing.

I need to get more sleep of a night.