The "Decline" Of Boxing - Your Opinion

Wladimir Klitschko, Vitali Klitschko, David Haye, Jean Marc Mormeck, Joe Calzaghe, Bernard Hopkins, Roy Jones, Oscar De La Hoya, Floyd Mayweather, Shane Mosley, Ricky Hatton, Manny Pacquiao, Juan Manuel Marquez, Rafael Marquez and Ivan Calderon should all rank in the top 20 all-time, in their favoured weight class. And then you have guys who should still build their reputations, like Kelly Pavlik or Miguel Cotto, along with people who are truly past their best yet still active, like Holyfield.

Honestly, the quality is out there.

People are very quick to attack modern boxing. I'm sure partly because of ignorance and perhaps also because of the depth of quality in the 1990's. Whatever followed that era was going to look poor in comparison. But I do think there is a lot of quality around today and that a lot of people are undeservedly harsh towards it.

 

This era is a step below the 90's, you admit that. Yet you call it ignorance when people say boxing is in a general decline and below the quality of former eras. Are you insinutating that the 90's was better than the 80's, 70's, 60's, etc? If the answer is no(which it is), then it's pretty obvious that this era is well below the likes of past eras.

 

............I would agree that this decade has suffered in comparison with the 90's. It's also true I think that the 90's suffered in comparison to the 80's. I think most would have to agree with that. The trend there is pretty clear.

I think it's funny that those mocking the opinion that boxing as a whole has declined (in terms of talent pool) and calling us "old *******s hiding behind black-and-white-tinted glasses" or some such are usually too young to remember what any other decade was like, and don't study historical figures in boxing. Therefore, how can their opinion on any of this possibly matter?

Boxing IS suffering a dearth of talent. It's not because people are less tough now or don't want it as much, I don't buy any of that crap. I believe the decent talent is being rushed more now, for one thing. Can you picture a relative neophyte like Andre Berto making as big a national name for himself 20 years ago given what he's shown or whom he's fighting now? Not a chance.

Another thing that is continually bemoaned is a lack of trainers. I think it was an interview with Saoul Mamby I read where he said "there are no trainers anymore; nowadays, someone's uncle throws a towel around his neck and they call him a trainer."

While this is a bit simplified of course, I think there's something to that.

 

The ignorance comment was to do with people not actually bothering with the sport because of the lack of manistream attention it gets. How many of these people attacking the sport go well out of their way to track down a guy like Arthur Abraham? I'm not saying people who think boxing is in a decline are ignorant, I'm saying that their ignorance may be what leads them to think it is on the decline.

That works both ways though. As recent threads have shown, a lot of posters on this forum have little or even no interest in modern boxing.

 

Boxing decline imo is when they started putting gloves on.

 

The human race is getting weaker

so of course the standard of world class boxers has dropped in 2008

 

The decline of boxing as a spectator sport, or level of competiton? They do go hand in hand

 

I think there's talent, just lack of accessibility.

It's not promoted like MMA is. Hard to find free boxing and fighters you will see regularly and can warm up to. The Contender didn't do it.

 

I read an article that made a strong case the the 90's heavyweight era being the second best in the history of the division behind the 70's. Very well constructed and some great points.

 

Where do I start? There are many reasons that the sport we all love here on this forum has declined. Let me try to sort them out the best that I can-
1.Boxing has lost its mainstream coverage. There are many reasons for this. The most telling reason boxing doesnt get mainstream coverage is that they have lost the average sports fan, the guy who was not necessarily a boxing fan but a sports fan in general. That guy would tune into the fights in the 70s and 80's not now. When the average sports fan stopped watching, the mainstream sports media stopped covering. Why do I think this has happened? Well the corruption and prolification of sanctioning bodies are the main culprit. There are 17 weight divisions and a champion for the WBO, WBA,IBF, WBC, WBF etc. No one knows or can keep track who is champion and of what division. That turns the average sports fan off. And when a sport loses mainstream coverage and exposure, less men want to participate in such a tough sport especially if there accomplishments go unnoticed, hence the lower numbers of active boxers nowadays.
There is another big reason that boxing has declined. Fighters don;t fight as often like their predecessors did, so they dont develop into complete fighters as much. With less boxers around that makes for less opportunities to fight. Then you throw in the stringent regulations the boxing commissions have now and that effects how active a fighter can be. The cost of putting on local club shows, once the training fields of contenders and champs, has grown sky high because of insurance costs and medical regulations. So there is less club shows as a result. If a fighter has a tough ten round bout nowadays and gets cut or something, they put him on medical suspension, when years ago the guy would be fighting again the next month. Fighters get sick of this **** too. They dont want to bust their ass in a sport if they cna only fight 2-3 times a year. It dont develop them as a fighter and it sure as hell dont pay the bills.
Well guys I could go on and on, but I think I youched on some main points.

 

Good post, but break up your paragraphs, makes it easier to read

 

Seems the right thread to pose this question. Could this catastrophic blow to the economy -- with staggering job loses in the U.S. -- be the catalyst to bring fighters back to the gym, like the crash of '29?

 

Probably not Back in the Depression there were tons of fighters and bouts everyweekend, especially in the NORTHEAST I dont think that there would be enough work to go around to make boxing a serious option. They might try MMA first as well.