would you agree with the statement that

[Master]

There's a good chance that he was innocent, if he was then it's a great misjustice... I don't know about it being one of the greatest tradgedies in world history mind you.

I thought it was worse than dropping the bomb on Japan

I am getting the impression that you are being sarcastic.

[IamInuit]

Agreed. That was one of the biggest shams ever. I think there was a certain amount of decline because of it but imo the much bigger decline started when the took boxing off network tv, The final nail imo was ppv.

Yeah boxing leaving NBC was crucial, but also Boxing leaving USA was a hit...USA had Tuesday Night Fights and they had some really good fighters come through there. All the big time names fought on USA early or late in their careers...that was a big thing.

UFC has gone the opposite direction basically staking out Spike, FX, Fuel, & Fox....brilliant, brilliant move by them & they'll prosper for it. Boxing can come back around, but it's swimming against the current at the moment.

Indeed I remember looking forward to Abc's Wild World of Sports. Practically every fight I watched on the networks for free back then would have been ppv today

[Master]

We have the same problem when it all went to sky with Benn and Eubanks and the BBC and ITV giving up. Hatton was the closest big star on the satellite network but even he gained his mainstream support through terrestrial channels as has Khan.

[IamInuit]

We have the same problem when it all went to sky with Benn and Eubanks and the BBC and ITV giving up. Hatton was the closest big star on the satellite network but even he gained his mainstream support through terrestrial channels as has Khan.

Over here I think it started with Leonard/Hearns and what was then called closed circuit TV. Ray then went on to be the first fighter to earn 100 million in a career.

[El Kabong]

lets face it

K2 destroyed boxing ... they've made it unwatchable

people would rather watch Tyson spar at his current age than watch a K2 fight

Well why don't you whine about it

[Master]

El Kabong you were away when TysonBomb joined the forum, you two will get on like a house on fire.

[Jimanuel Boogustus]

Please don't make this a Tyson v Klitschko thread.

[IamInuit]

Please don't make this a Tyson v Klitschko thread.

lol

[El Kabong]

El Kabong you were away when TysonBomb joined the forum, you two will get on like a house on fire.

I know the type.... its like Mike Tyson invented boxing and God himself couldn't beat Tyson in his mythical "prime"

[TysonBomb]

Please don't make this a Tyson v Klitschko thread.

not the conventional klit vs. tyson thread

i mean, come on ... tyson eating breakfast is more entertaining than a klit fight

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IdsvQO5MKAo

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gVIwz8rP-g4

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ollo3wYILAI

[Andre]

Boxing started its sharp decline after Mike Tyson left the sport?

Boxings decline started after he went to prison. There is no doubt Tyson being unfairly convicted and sent away for no reason is one of the biggest tragedies in the worlds history.

Oh well.

The right management/prison promoter would have put leg iron Mike in with Ike Ibeabuchi
(another raving innocent)

[El Kabong]

Please don't make this a Tyson v Klitschko thread.

not the conventional klit vs. tyson thread

i mean, come on ... tyson eating breakfast is more entertaining than a klit fight

Well I hate to disappoint you, but Tyson is finished and he's not coming back so you should probably stop watching boxing or quit whining like a little twat

[Spicoli]

Agreed. That was one of the biggest shams ever. I think there was a certain amount of decline because of it but imo the much bigger decline started when the took boxing off network tv, The final nail imo was ppv.

Yeah boxing leaving NBC was crucial, but also Boxing leaving USA was a hit...USA had Tuesday Night Fights and they had some really good fighters come through there. All the big time names fought on USA early or late in their careers...that was a big thing.

UFC has gone the opposite direction basically staking out Spike, FX, Fuel, & Fox....brilliant, brilliant move by them & they'll prosper for it. Boxing can come back around, but it's swimming against the current at the moment.

Indeed I remember looking forward to Abc's Wild World of Sports. Practically every fight I watched on the networks for free back then would have been ppv today

I really do think boxings network visibility has been the highest its been in some years. ESPN, NBC returned, hbo and Showtime. FOX Deportes, Telemundo, FUEL shows lots of 'classics'. PPV today is garbage mainly based on a single name but for all his wrongs Kings SET put on some of the best cards of the early-mid 90's. Losing the free networks was a blow but seeing it return on a Saturday afternoon a few weeks ago gives us hope. Everyone in boxing loves a good comeback.

[tysonesque]

Boxing didn't go into decline after Tyson was washed up, but the heavyweight division sure did. Even Tyson's detractors can't argue with that.

During his prime in the late 80s, Tyson put heavyweight boxing back on the map big time and became the first boxer since Ali to transcend the sport. Even after he began to fade and it all started going wrong with the loss to Douglas, he was still a huge draw and people were probably more intrigued by him than ever. Seeing how the seemingly invincible Tyson would respond and come back from that loss was fascinating, even though he was clearly in decline.

It will be a very long time before we see another heavyweight champion like Tyson. He was exciting and formidable in his prime and still fascinating even when he was a shadow of his former self, both inside and outside the ring. Even though Tyson was only a bit part player in the 90s because of his prison sentence and ban, the heavyweight division was still pretty tasty though.

The lower weight divisions have been great in recent years, but the heavyweight division stinks right now. It's dead and the worst I have ever seen it by quite some distance.

[Violent Demise]

El Kabong you were away when TysonBomb joined the forum, you two will get on like a house on fire.

I know the type.... its like Mike Tyson invented boxing and God himself couldn't beat Tyson in his mythical "prime"

God would beat him. But only by SD