The whole world used to stop and watch....

1) The Division means nothing now, has done for 20 years.
2) The "Baddest man on the planet" isn't the hW Champ anymore.
3) People clammer to the lower divisions in Boxing. 130-160 is king, always has been IMHO.
4) Excluding Joshua, there isn't a fighter up there to invest in.

 

The whole sport has lost a lot since there is no world champion, but several world champions. That's the worst thing that could have ever happened to this sport. Noboyd cares about the world champion (not only in HW, but in any weight) because there's none.

 

Boxing is out there but you have to look for it now. It's not on networks. The boxers have very little marketing. Boxing just isn't mainstream anymore at least in the US. When there was a flamboyant heavyweight, that was usually enough to carry the sport. In the 80's you had a great champion in Holmes but he didn't possess a personality that attracted the casual fan. Fortunately, there was Sugar Ray Leonard. Right now, there are solid boxers but nobody that's catches the public eye.

 

Can't confirm this, but someone else may be able to - I heard the fighting actually stopped in Ireland when the first Ali-Frazier fight took place. If true, it suggests the global impact a championship heavyweight fight used to have. And yes, as posted earlier - it's a matter of exposure. Championship bouts of all weight classes used to be broadcast on the major networks, without cable. Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday nights ... Saturday or Sunday afternoon ... throughout the year, at some point, you'd catch a major caliber fight on ABC, NBC or CBS. You didn't have to look for it, it was there. Then again, the personalities we had back then - not just Ali, but other weight classes as well; we had fighters that non-boxing fans could name. Mancini, Duran, Hagler ... I liken it to the athletes anyone could name even if they didn't like the sport, like Gretzky or Jordan. When the Average Joe/Jane knows who they were, you had great exposure, and great following. That's what constitutes popularity. And sadly, we've lost that.

 

Terrific post!!!!!