Thread: Characters in boxing

In my opinion

Boxing needs more characters that will make you watch the fight.

I find myself not being able to enjoy or get hyped up for Pacquiao vs De La Hoya as much as I had hoped.

Not the way I got hyped up for Oscar's fight with Mayweather.

And it's mainly because of the personalities involved in the match.


As much as boxing gives you characters you are supposed to hate they are the reasons you get pumped up for a fight especially one they hype.

Watching two nice people go at it is nice, but boxing needs a story to truly be as interesting.

I think it has a lot to do with the media, and I know people are gonna hate me for saying this but its what I feel professional wrestling has over boxing and mma.

And hence why boxing usually or mma wants to get a story much like pro wrestling where you have the good guy and the villain the entertainer and the showman etc

These are things that can sale pro wrestling so well to the public and demographic in terms of adults, even if you know its sports entertainment you are drawn in not because of the matches but because of the storylines around those matches.

When boxing has a storyline like that where there is constant drama such as in a Mayweather build up or a Mayorga build up or Darchiniyan even Malignaggi lately with Hopkins etc


It gets you excited about the fight whether you want to see the trash talk backed up or whether you want to see the other person get beat down and you enjoy it THAT much more when one or the other happens.

In my opinion, Pacquiao vs De La Hoya has no "storyline" to it, like Mayweather vs De La Hoya, or Mayorga vs De La Hoya, or even Hopkins vs. Pavlik.

They are just the p4p number 1 fighter in the world vs Oscar De La Hoya.

I can get excited as a fan from the stand point of the best fighting and names fighting but I can't get excited over the fact of, entertainment.

90 percent of anticipation for the fight is the build up and the 10 percent was the fight itself

In my opinion the build up to De La Hoya vs Pacquiao almost seems forced, so I'm hoping the fight will be better.

Anyway to wrap this up, I think boxing needs more characters to create an interesting storyline to a fight that will make you want to tune in even if you aren't that big a fan of boxing.

I'll do a show on this probably this weekend.

But in the mean time I would like to know your opinions, they will be needed so I can address them in the show Thanks

Majesty

The main thing is to be a good boxer, character is secondary and Haye has it at the heavyweight division.

thats why u gotta love PBF because he was a cocky ass punk who alot of people wanted to see get KTFO but it never happened lol. all the trash talking and pissing his opponent off is wat sold his fights. i miss PBF

Originally Posted by kingfrnk

thats why u gotta love PBF because he was a cocky ass punk who alot of people wanted to see get KTFO but it never happened lol. all the trash talking and pissing his opponent off is wat sold his fights. i miss PBF

As much as I respect PBF in the ring, I really dont have any time for the crap he pulls outside of it. He is really such a stupid individual. He trash talks like a pissed off step child. Its pedantic and embarrassing to see. That Larry Merchant interview after the DelaHoya fight is hilarious. PBF just sounds like a retard!

Mayorga and Toney are much better characters for that kind of thing IMO. Im not dissing PBF as a boxer, because his credentials are great up until 140.

Originally Posted by miles

Originally Posted by kingfrnk

thats why u gotta love PBF because he was a cocky ass punk who alot of people wanted to see get KTFO but it never happened lol. all the trash talking and pissing his opponent off is wat sold his fights. i miss PBF

As much as I respect PBF in the ring, I really dont have any time for the crap he pulls outside of it. He is really such a stupid individual. He trash talks like a pissed off step child. Its pedantic and embarrassing to see. That Larry Merchant interview after the DelaHoya fight is hilarious. PBF just sounds like a retard!

Mayorga and Toney are much better characters for that kind of thing IMO. Im not dissing PBF as a boxer, because his credentials are great up until 140.

yea PBF was kinda annoying but he did wat he had to do to sell those fights and made those PPV numbers high. i wasnt even gonna buy the fight he had with Oscar but i did it wasnt worth it but i just had to see wat happened. now when he fought Hatton that was awesome cause Hatton was coming back at him too.

but a little character wouldnt hurt these days especially since boxing is the least talked about sport now days. i hear more about fukin softball than i do about boxing.

Its kind of a double edged sword.
You need a couple of characters around to get the casual fan watching,and maybe learning enough about the sport to become a less casual fan.
But you dont want it to become WWE
Guys,like Ali and Hopkins are masters at selling a fight
Tysons fights sold themselves
You can spend all day coming up with funny Tex Cobb quotes
No matter what Warren thinks,Hattons flamboyant outside of the ring lifestyle makes him intriquing
I dare you to find me something a casual fan can latch on to about Chageav.
But at the same time,I like watching his fights,but Im not a casual fan

Originally Posted by miles

Originally Posted by kingfrnk

thats why u gotta love PBF because he was a cocky ass punk who alot of people wanted to see get KTFO but it never happened lol. all the trash talking and pissing his opponent off is wat sold his fights. i miss PBF

As much as I respect PBF in the ring, I really dont have any time for the crap he pulls outside of it. He is really such a stupid individual. He trash talks like a pissed off step child. Its pedantic and embarrassing to see. That Larry Merchant interview after the DelaHoya fight is hilarious. PBF just sounds like a retard!

Mayorga and Toney are much better characters for that kind of thing IMO. Im not dissing PBF as a boxer, because his credentials are great up until 140.

If I hadn't already repped you this morning I would do it again.

I agree with everything you said.


And my opinion on this thread is, if the right matchups are made, you don't need a bunch of characters to force feed us a bunch of crap to sell a fight.

Did we need trash talk to sell us Cotto/Margarito? No, because is was the right matchup.

Do we need trash talk to sell us ODLH/Pac? Yes, because it's not a good matchup, and it's not one the people were asking to see.

I think the important thing to keep in mind is that "having character" does not necessarily mean you're a jerk; it could mean that you're a nice guy, much like ODLH or Pacman. PBF doesn't seem to know how to do anything but be obnoxious once he steps outside the ring. While I can't fault his boxing skills, I can say he would be the last one in the boxing world that I would like to share a meal with.

The problem with the ODLH/Pacman match is you've got two very similar characters getting in the ring together - they've both fought their way to the top, have a vision for life after boxing, and believe that they need to help out the less fortunate along the way. There s no reason for these two to fight, other than money. There are plenty of other fights for Pacman, fights that could advance his career, and ODLH doesn't need to fight anymore, his career is nearly over.

I think this quote really does sum it up well -

Originally Posted by Violent Ds Next Baby Mama

And my opinion on this thread is, if the right matchups are made, you don't need a bunch of characters to force feed us a bunch of crap to sell a fight.

Did we need trash talk to sell us Cotto/Margarito? No, because is was the right matchup.

I have to agree with this. Sometimes, you just KNOW that a fight is going to be a good one. That the fighters are well matched, or that fighter A has a grudge against fighter B. And if that's there, you don't need to generate the PBF style hype to sell the PPVs.

Fess up - who got the PPV for the too-short Pacman-Morales fight just because there was a grudge to settle? As soon as the fight was scheduled, we decided to get it. The promise of a good fight was there, no hype needed. (Or, at least it was until you saw the fight, right? But by then, your money was in and it was just too late.)

Taylor-Pavlik II? It was a fight we all wanted to see. And both fighters had a lot of character, they both had strong personalities and a desire to win.

Calzaghe-Jones? After Hopkins took Hatton, we all wanted to see if Roy would do the same to Joe, even Joe's fans were biting their nails after Hopkins-Hatton. And all four of these fighters have character, too.

It's sort of like the baseball movie quote - If you build it, they will come.

If they build the better fights, we will come.

Without the hype.
Because they won't need it.

Originally Posted by kingfrnk

thats why u gotta love PBF because he was a cocky ass punk who alot of people wanted to see get KTFO but it never happened lol. all the trash talking and pissing his opponent off is wat sold his fights. i miss PBF

Snap out of it!!

Originally Posted by Majesty

In my opinion

Boxing needs more characters that will make you watch the fight.

I find myself not being able to enjoy or get hyped up for Pacquiao vs De La Hoya as much as I had hoped.

Not the way I got hyped up for Oscar's fight with Mayweather.

And it's mainly because of the personalities involved in the match.


As much as boxing gives you characters you are supposed to hate they are the reasons you get pumped up for a fight especially one they hype.

Watching two nice people go at it is nice, but boxing needs a story to truly be as interesting.

I think it has a lot to do with the media, and I know people are gonna hate me for saying this but its what I feel professional wrestling has over boxing and mma.

And hence why boxing usually or mma wants to get a story much like pro wrestling where you have the good guy and the villain the entertainer and the showman etc

These are things that can sale pro wrestling so well to the public and demographic in terms of adults, even if you know its sports entertainment you are drawn in not because of the matches but because of the storylines around those matches.

When boxing has a storyline like that where there is constant drama such as in a Mayweather build up or a Mayorga build up or Darchiniyan even Malignaggi lately with Hopkins etc


It gets you excited about the fight whether you want to see the trash talk backed up or whether you want to see the other person get beat down and you enjoy it THAT much more when one or the other happens.

In my opinion, Pacquiao vs De La Hoya has no "storyline" to it, like Mayweather vs De La Hoya, or Mayorga vs De La Hoya, or even Hopkins vs. Pavlik.

They are just the p4p number 1 fighter in the world vs Oscar De La Hoya.

I can get excited as a fan from the stand point of the best fighting and names fighting but I can't get excited over the fact of, entertainment.

90 percent of anticipation for the fight is the build up and the 10 percent was the fight itself

In my opinion the build up to De La Hoya vs Pacquiao almost seems forced, so I'm hoping the fight will be better.

Anyway to wrap this up, I think boxing needs more characters to create an interesting storyline to a fight that will make you want to tune in even if you aren't that big a fan of boxing.

I'll do a show on this probably this weekend.

But in the mean time I would like to know your opinions, they will be needed so I can address them in the show Thanks

Majesty

Go watch UFC the ultimate fighter if you like soap opera and gossip stuff instead of fights.

I kinda get sick of Mayweather same shit my dad didnt love me and all this crap.

This is why I love Ricardo Mayorga. You'll find no bigger character in the sport than him.

Originally Posted by Hulk

This is why I love Ricardo Mayorga. You'll find no bigger character in the sport than him.

Mayorga now that is a character! but this floyd jr is a fake and studders and pre rehearses his lines.

Majesty,
When you say "characters" do you mean like how you have Alt. accounts as Starr and PGH Angel Eyes?
Or are you talking about different kinds of "characters"?

The best personality in combat sports IMO is Quiton Jackson, that guy is funny.

My favorite in any sport has to be Lebron James, right amount of swager, still funny, and not cocky.