Why did we let the media kill boxing?

Excellent thread. The way they downgrade the majority of fighters and hype handpicked few is what's giving the sport a bad image. Yet when you go to UFC or any other sport they hype all talents they have, even ones coming off major losses. Bob Arum does a perfect job keeping his fighters hyped regardless of how they looked in previous fights.

 

The UFC pays the media to cover them and write positive things, just look at fightnews. They don't report about any MMA besides the UFC, it's because they are paid to do it in a very positive light.

The media is also very lazy, instead of looking up real facts and writing well researched pieces it's easier to write "Boxing is dying" "Another Black eye for Boxing" Boxing has always been **** on by the media, it's been dying since the bare knuckle days.

 

Some of us without bad memory problems remember when "the media" was touting Michael Grant as the next big thing, several boxing experts said that, and they would have been right had Grant been competing in an earlier era. Unfortunately for him, in today's crowd there's a few guys who can bust him up. It's ironic that the same boxing experts were doing their best to deflate the "hype" of the guys who are currently on top of the heavyweight division, while the next big thing is practicing shooting hoops.

 

I still think 95% of the problem is with the ABC belts. Take that away and even the media will get in line

 

1. Abc titles
2. Cherrypicking
3. Promoters

all need 2 be fixed if the media's gna change their mind about boxing

i think we need sum more megastars as well, but then again the media makes those

 

I think the heavyweights are better now because Don King has been more or less knocked out of the loop.

 

The Valuev plague is still there and it has Don King in charge which makes the division look even worse with a circus show holding a legitimate world title.

 

True, I think some people in the Media just say things for shock value they thrive off it, I think those type of analyst's or whatever you want to call them are bad for boxing but as a whole boxing has a load of historian's and analyst that know a thing or two about the sport and should be respected but even they have their biases.

 

I certainly agree that there's a pessimistic view of boxing in the media these days, but I don't think the writers are the ones to blame. Boxing isn't as big as once was, and the media is simply making the conclusions. You can only write about what's happening, making up and hyping up **** as gold is just ain't right, look at the Victor Ortiz situation and how the hype went wrong.

Let the fans write boxing? You could throw objectivity out of the window. I don't think hyping up every fighter like they were hyping Ortiz would do any good, neither starting to talk nonsense of having another golden era, because we aren't. A lot of writers are negative mainly toward promoters, and that is because promoters/businessmen own the sport and writers/analists try to pull it out of it's current state.

 

and can we get rid of catchweight bouts while we're at it?

along with Cherrypicking, the ABC titles and too many promoters catchweight bouts I see also as a problem

as with so many weight divisions, fighting at an in between weight (166, 170, 138.5 etc) seems almost un needed.

**it is true that the media uses the "boxing is dying" card many times, however I think it's been used so much by the media, that it kind of loses it's truth as a legit argument against Boxing.

 

they need to cut down the 17 wt class..

 

It was amazing watcing Ken Shamrock get knocked out by some guy called Robert Berry or somethin who literally could not throw aproper punch.

MMA is for Jiu Jitsu practitioners and Wrestlers, boxing is for world class pugilism fans.

 

Good post. Boxing isn't as big as it once was, wether it's lack of talent and personality of it's fighters, little promotion, the UFC, abc belts, the fact still remains the average fan has lost interest in our great sport, for whatever reason. And most of the guys that the average American boxing fan can identify with and are big sellers, are at the end of there careers and on there way out of the sport, like RJJ, Holyfield, and Oscar.