Three reasons boxing's declining popularity won't be reversed any time soon

I hear what your saying, but America loves controversy and to be shocked. The average guy needs a sub-plot to get interested in a fight, that's why guys like Tyson was always on PPV, even after his skills deteriorated, the bars I went to see both the McBride and Williams fight, was packed to the point where they had to close the doors.

I could give you an example, this past summer my friends didnt want to see the Winky/Hopkins fight, and said they were going to a party instead that saturday night, but after they watched Hopkins smack Winky in the face at the weigh-in, everyone wanted to come to my house to catch the fight. If you want Boxing to be become mainstream and popular again, there needs to be more excitement, and more enertaining characters to get the ball rolling again IMO.

 

Hmmm...no...that would turn the whole thing into WWF...which is more popular than boxing...

 

Boxing needs something to get the fans away from the UFC and what not, the proof is in the pudding, controversy sells, thats why guys like Golota and Tyson can still out sell a Wlad fight anyday of the week, people want to be shocked and enertained, boxing as whole doesnt have the characters or talent it once had just a decade ago. You want to see boxing become popular again, give me a couple Tyson like characters and see what happens.

 

Erm...it doesn't work like that because guys like Tyson only arrive once a generation...; are you suggesting we should script boxing matches - that would make them much more exciting...hang on...that would be like WWF...but what the heck, people would love it more!:nut

 

And yes, that was being my point exactly. The reason Paris Hilton has grown big, is because people for some reason find her entertaining, even if she has nothing to say. Then she gets more exposure, and 24/7 coverage, which in turn makes her even more popular, either because they like her or hate her.

Turn to boxing - suddenly the value of boxingskills is nothing but a footnote in the whole entertainment scheme. It's more important, if people have some sort of opinion of the person. It could be features not even remotely related to boxing, such as good looks, or "he looks badass"; it becomes a freak show.

To take your example, your friends don't give a rats ass about either Wright or Hopkins, but the fact that Hopkins did something "crazy" made them hooked. Maybe they will love Hopkins from then on, but still dont really care about boxing, or if he sucks or is overthehill or if his opponent is a worthy one. It will be wrestling all over again.

Who really cares if Brett, Morgan or Windy wants to see boxing, if they are only hoping to see some kind of entertainment - like it was a Jerry Springer show.

Isn't it better that those who follow boxing are the ones that really cares about the sport? And not those who likes the superficial aspects that media may attempt to provoke to create entertainment?

Popularity doesn't equal quality, more like mindless brainfood for the masses for the sake of entertainment.

 

Precisely! The problem with boxing is not that there isn't enough money in the sport; it's that there is too much money in very few hands...and too few true fans of the sport and too many fans of a celebrity show...

 

Yes, which is mostly caused by media attention alone. Even we as diehard boxing fans talk about what fighter will be better for exposure or money and whatnot, instead of what fight would be exciting to see, due to style or whatnot(okay, we do that as well, but you get my point).

 

:good

 

I agree with what your saying bro, I'm a diehard fan that could care less if Tyson punches 10 guys in the audience before a fight, I'm watching it either way. The thread starter asked the reasons why boxing is on the decline, I feel lack of talent at the Heavyweight division, which has always been the heart of boxing, and personality as well, which very little Heavyweights have now adays, compared to just a decade ago when you had guys with skills and a personality to boot.

 

I blame it more on the point that most of the heavies are non-US boxers. It could be as you say that the division is fairly weak - I don't really know as I rarely watch the heavies nowadays.

However there are many other interesting divisions - for some reason the small weightclasses are completely overlooked, even though there are a crazy amount of talent and exciting fights in them - could that also be that it is mainly Mexicans, Southamericans, and Asians? Or has it something to do with history of the sport? ie Welter, Heavyweight and MW have by tradition been well followed - even when talent is somewhat depleted.

I think education is the way forward, even for diehard fans such as we, since we can't know it all - or at least most of us can't.

 

This is already sported by consumer pay, sponsors and whatnot. Either we make the consumer pay or the sponsors pay. Or better yet:

If there was more free tv, and better education, then the heat would be on - after all its about exposure - why not make it quality exposure; more insight stories of different boxers who are below the general radar. More info, on boxers outside the boundaries of USA.

I have seen this going on in Denmark - sports that held no interests before(ie NFL), suddenly we saw whole seasons, got well educated commentators, sites, and the popularity rose, as we became more and more aware of the game and its players, which in turn resulted in people having a broader fan of teams they hailed.

So was it because NFL in itself is a great sport? Maybe it is, but it could have been curling really(which happened in Denmark as well, when we did well in the Olympics). It's all about educating the viewers, and their interest will rise. The more they know, the more they get hooked, much like us; the more boxers you are aware of, the bigger the pool of boxers you will follow, and would hate to miss viewing.

Right now all the glory is focused on a small amount of boxers... Which results in alot of circle jerking, because they think that these are the boxers, people want to see fighting.

At least thats my 2 cents...

PS female sports have never been popular, but after the public stations lost rights to PL football, they turned their attention towards - womens handball - and suddenly it was one of the most viewed sports in Denmark, and the clubs became richer, and could afford better and better players - now its considered the best league in the world.

 

I hear that, I could see people thinking it's because there's no American Heavyweights champs, but thats look back as short as a little over 2 years ago, Rahman-WBC, Ruiz-WBA, Bryd-IBF, Brewster-WBO, all American champs, the division was still very unpopular and many of the posters here and other sites, as well as HBO and SHO who's commentators were continually making fun of the division. We need to get the average fan back, that is most important thing right now, there needs to be more enertainment, if you cant do it in the ring, you better find a way to get fans interested by what you say or do outside the ring, Americans dont want to see polite fighters, they want to see rage and violence, give the people what they want.

 

And yes, that was being my point exactly. The reason Paris Hilton has grown big, is because people for some reason find her entertaining, even if she has nothing to say. Then she gets more exposure, and 24/7 coverage, which in turn makes her even more popular, either because they like her or hate her.

Turn to boxing - suddenly the value of boxingskills is nothing but a footnote in the whole entertainment scheme. It's more important, if people have some sort of opinion of the person. It could be features not even remotely related to boxing, such as good looks, or "he looks badass"; it becomes a freak show.

To take your example, your friends don't give a rats ass about either Wright or Hopkins, but the fact that Hopkins did something "crazy" made them hooked. Maybe they will love Hopkins from then on, but still dont really care about boxing, or if he sucks or is overthehill or if his opponent is a worthy one. It will be wrestling all over again.

Who really cares if Brett, Morgan or Windy wants to see boxing, if they are only hoping to see some kind of entertainment - like it was a Jerry Springer show.

Isn't it better that those who follow boxing are the ones that really cares about the sport? And not those who likes the superficial aspects that media may attempt to provoke to create entertainment?

Popularity doesn't equal quality, more like brainfood for the sake of entertainment.

 

How do u figure boxings declining ? A Junior Lightweight bout just drew 400,000 homes on PPV thats unheard of those kinds of buyrates are rare even for some big names from higher weight classes Jones,Hopkins,Mosley,Cotto,Mayweather before he fought DLH,etc. Boxing is fine and we are enjoying one of the finest eras in a long time.