When did boxing stop being a mainstream sport?

A: Upon the advent of PPV.

A: Unfortunately, it seems destined to be a nitch sport unless promoters decide to take a loss to try to bring it back to network TV.

 

i would say boxing was never main stream actually except maybe the golden era for boxing.....boxing has had dynamic personalities that were mainstream....

 

It was from the time it started until the 80's.

 

boxing's mainstream appeal declined with the total disappearance of big fights from local cable tv, around the late 80's. the 90's heavyweight scene revived it somewhat, but that is where the "mainstream" appeal was almost wholeheartedly directed, and some would say rightfully so.

 

When the fighters with enertaining personalities in the 90's either retired or are now washed up and out of the spotlight.

 

My thoughts exactily

 

MMA has taken some of the spotlight and that will never change.

IMO it stopped being mainstream right after the peak of Tyson.

 

I agree with your comment. It were specific personalities became mainstream(never the boxing sport as whole).
The last mainstream personality/champion was Mike Tyson (everybody knew he was the champ. No matter what kind of party you were at or which country...they all knew he was the man).

 

You could see Tyson's fights live on UK terrestrial.
There was no doubt that a dominant Heavyweight Champion of the world was the biggest athlete in the world.
Americans fighters like Sugar Ray Leonard and British fighters like Barry Mcguigan and Lloyd Honeyghan were household names

I don't know whether those days will ever come back.Maybe 20/30 years from now.

 

sad but true. :verysad

 

When it went off Network TV, when the best fighters were no longer just Americans.

When it went strictly to PPV,Showtime,HBO.

 

maybe 25 years back

 

I think you're right. I remember Tyson v Spinks. I saw it in a bar. Paid $10 to get in, if I remember correctly. That was the beginning of the end.

 

in the eighties. you had good fights on network tv on a regular basis and not much else to compete with it. cable opened up a huge variety of choices to compete with boxing.