Is Boxing a couple years away from a huge decline?

It may seem absurd right now to suggest this as boxing is the hottest it's been in a long time.

But look at the ages of the combatant's involved.

Hopkins will be gone in 12 months, as will Mosely almost certainly.

J M Marquez, his brother Raphael and Israel Vasquez will all likely be retired within a couple years.

I'd imagine Floyd and Manny are maybe two fights each away from retirement.

Roy Jones will be gone.

The heavyweight divsion will most likely be in a piss poor state as the challenge of David Haye will most probably have been vanquished.

I'm trying to think who the big stars will be in two years time and I'm guessing it will be Dawson, Ward, Gamboa.

Do you think boxing will go through a quiet spell, a noticable dip for a couple of years until these guys establish themselves as household names?

I'm thinking between 2011 to the end of 2012. I wonder what the state of the sport will be like then.

Who do you think the breakout stars will be, and will Manny, Floyd et al be long gone?

Maybe if you're talking about creating another star like PBF, De la Hoya, or Pac. But that takes time to build with the exception of De la Hoya. But arguably the two deepest divisions in boxing, 140 and 168, are loaded with young fighters at the top. Then you have the Cubans defecting at a good rate. Rigondeux looks special. That Lundy guy looks very promising. Plus, a lot of the usual good fighters like PWill, JuanMa, and Berto will be around. Really only the superstars will be gone. But I do think Gamboa or Rigondeux will make for potential superstars. Boxing thrives off the superstars leading the way so it will need to start looking/creating the next one.

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Originally Posted by blegit

Maybe if you're talking about creating another star like PBF, De la Hoya, or Pac. But that takes time to build with the exception of De la Hoya. But arguably the two deepest divisions in boxing, 140 and 168, are loaded with young fighters at the top. Then you have the Cubans defecting at a good rate. Rigondeux looks special. That Lundy guy looks very promising. Plus, a lot of the usual good fighters like PWill, JuanMa, and Berto will be around. Really only the superstars will be gone. But I do think Gamboa or Rigondeux will make for potential superstars. Boxing thrives off the superstars leading the way so it will need to start looking/creating the next one.

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I definitely think there are some exciting boxers coming through, especially domestically. I think a year or so from now UK boxing will be the hottest it's been in a long time with maybe a dozen or so world class, or borderline world class fighters.

Internationally I'm not so sure. I think the heavyweight division will frankly stink. Haye will have been beat, Vitali might have retired, it could be awful.

I don't think 168 will have the action by then either. Once the Super Six has finished I think we will be left with a couple great fighters and they will likely meet at 175 or something.

Two years from now Froch, Kessler, Green, Abraham I think will have had their swansongs. It will be all about Ward and Dawson imo. I would say Bute, but I can't bring myself to consider that.

Shame, I dislike him purely because I want to be right in my disagreement with ICB and CFH ;D

I think it might have a slow spell not long but there will be a year or two where its slow. Then as other stars begin to become household names you will have more super fights. One fight I see happening down the road that could be a potential superfight is ward vs dawson.

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Originally Posted by Caine3078

I think it might have a slow spell not long but there will be a year or two where its slow. Then as other stars begin to become household names you will have more super fights. One fight I see happening down the road that could be a potential superfight is ward vs dawson.

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Yeah definitely, I think these guys are going to be p4p mainstays over the next 5 or 6 years. The only trouble I forsee though is that they are not PPV stars.

I think Dawson especially will be like Shane Mosley, a great fighter but not a PPV draw. Ward may be bigger in time, but being on ShowTime rather than HBO will likely harm his commercial appeal.

I can't think of any big boxing stars in recent years who weren't HBO fighters, especially Americans.

Couldn't they have said this a few years ago when Trinidad, Jones, Mosley, De La Hoya and Lewis all were on the decline?

The last segment, the neon graveyard one, of the last 24/7 was great and Liev Schreiber uttered his best line of any series. I believe the quote went something like 'history is a chronicle of replacement' or something like that. It's true and really that's all you need to know.

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Originally Posted by amat

Couldn't they have said this a few years ago when Trinidad, Jones, Mosley, De La Hoya and Lewis all were on the decline?

The last segment, the neon graveyard one, of the last 24/7 was great and Liev Schreiber uttered his best line of any series. I believe the quote went something like 'history is a chronicle of replacement' or something like that. It's true and really that's all you need to know.

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That is a good line indeed.

I do seem to remember the boxing scene being pretty weak about 4 or so years ago though. It's been steadily building in recent years and is almost at its climax regarding the current megafights and rivalries.

Then I think it's going to be a couple years of building up again. It won't be boring or dead, but it will more about prospects for the future.

Kind of like right now, we are nearing the climax of the Lord of the Rings trilogy, maybe just starting the final film 'Return of the King', but once we've finished that we'll be at the beginning of Twilight or something. That's what worries me.

They can turn anyone into a star if they try hard enough.

Nah. 50,000 turned up to watch Pacquiao hit a punching bag for 12 rounds.

There is many stars in the making plus the promotion companies will need to create some stars in order to continue make business. New names will emerge, some will get more attention, perhaps it won't be a golden age as what we had lately but there will be enough good talent to fill decently the basket till another golden era emerges.

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Originally Posted by Bilbo

I'm trying to think who the big stars will be in two years time and I'm guessing it will be Dawson, Ward, Gamboa.

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The fact that I was once hugely in to boxing and now I don't know any of these names rings alarm bells.

I now only tend to watch the fighters you mentioned like Mayweather, Hatton, Mosely, Pac Man and so on. I've lost interest in up and coming fighters.

The problem is this the people here seem to be afraid to talk about anything to do with MMA and the impact it has had on boxing. Anytime somebody tries to start a thread comparing MMA to boxing it gets instantly stopped or sent to the MMA section out of sight. This is usually justified by saying "boxing and MMA are two completely different sports" when the reality is MMA has taken a large audience away from boxing.

I was once so into boxing I'd watch the undercard fights with as much interest as the main fight. Now I'll only watch boxing if it's a megga fight. With the UFC you don't get ridiculous mismatches, there's no bullshit waiting years for two fighters to fight like pac v Mayweather and a loss doesn't have such an impact as in boxing. You can have two great fighters fighting three times in the space it takes to make one match up in boxing. Not mention the undercard fights are just as good as the main card. I could go on all day giving reasons as to why it has adverted peoples attention away from boxing but I doubt the moderators are keen on this kind of free speech. (not all of them of course)

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Originally Posted by steady_E

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Originally Posted by Bilbo

I'm trying to think who the big stars will be in two years time and I'm guessing it will be Dawson, Ward, Gamboa.

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The fact that I was once hugely in to boxing and now I don't know any of these names rings alarm bells.

I now only tend to watch the fighters you mentioned like Mayweather, Hatton, Mosely, Pac Man and so on. I've lost interest in up and coming fighters.

The problem is this the people here seem to be afraid to talk about anything to do with MMA and the impact it has had on boxing. Anytime somebody tries to start a thread comparing MMA to boxing it gets instantly stopped or sent to the MMA section out of sight. This is usually justified by saying "boxing and MMA are two completely different sports" when the reality is MMA has taken a large audience away from boxing.

I was once so into boxing I'd watch the undercard fights with as much interest as the main fight. Now I'll only watch boxing if it's a megga fight. With the UFC you don't get ridiculous mismatches, there's no bullshit waiting years for two fighters to fight like pac v Mayweather and a loss doesn't have such an impact as in boxing. You can have two great fighters fighting three times in the space it takes to make one match up in boxing. Not mention the undercard fights are just as good as the main card. I could go on all day giving reasons as to why it has adverted peoples attention away from boxing but I doubt the moderators are keen on this kind of free speech. (not all of them of course)

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Yeah I think this WILL be significant. It's easy for people to say they can create stars but I don't really think that is true.

The true test of a boxing star is revealed in his PPV sales. Take away Floyd and Manny, and with Oscar long gone and no heavyweight scene to speak of who is going to sell?

I just can't see anyone on the horizon who could be a big star.

The guys who appear to be the stars of tomorrow, well let's look at them.

Chad Dawson
Andre Ward
Lucian Bute
J M Lopez
Yuriorkis Gamboa
Tim Bradley
Amir Khan
Andre Berto

Really can you see ANY of these guys being PPV stars?

I just cant' picture it.

I feel there is a real possiblity that once Manny and Floyd have departed, in probably a year to 18 months time we may not see even a 1 million buy PPV for a number of years. Where will it come from?

In the meantime MMA may well continue to grow?

I think the potential is there for UFC PPV's to smash boxing's in 2012 and 2013 unless something phenomenal happens.

Nope and it never will be

We all claimed the same thing after the decline of tyson, holyfield, lewis, jones etc - pacquiao and mayweather filled the boots as no doubt others will once they are long gone.

Boxing will always have its world class athletes, it`ll always have its nice guys, bad guys, it`ll always have mega fight showdowns

No fighter makes the sport of boxing what it is, not ali, not tyson not anybody - boxing will always be the main combat sport for at least 90% of the world

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Originally Posted by Bilbo

I definitely think there are some exciting boxers coming through, especially domestically. I think a year or so from now UK boxing will be the hottest it's been in a long time with maybe a dozen or so world class, or borderline world class fighters.

Internationally I'm not so sure. I think the heavyweight division will frankly stink. Haye will have been beat, Vitali might have retired, it could be awful.

I don't think 168 will have the action by then either. Once the Super Six has finished I think we will be left with a couple great fighters and they will likely meet at 175 or something.

Two years from now Froch, Kessler, Green, Abraham I think will have had their swansongs. It will be all about Ward and Dawson imo. I would say Bute, but I can't bring myself to consider that.

Shame, I dislike him purely because I want to be right in my disagreement with ICB and CFH ;D

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That was exactly my thoughts when I read the title. UK boxing is buzzing with top up and coming fighters. As one top dog retires globally, another appears and takes his place.

If you wound the clock back 6 years ago we could have probably said the same thing (although in fairness we would have probably been talking the same fighters)

I don' think there will be a huge decline but if you look at the p4p top ten now and look at it say 5-10 years ago it is a lot weaker.