So who's the next "great American hope" in boxing?

[Kirkland Laing]

Andre Ward. If he knocked people out he might be able to sell out his home arena but if he was exactly the same fighter he is now but had a Mayweather/Broner-style mouth on him he'd be a PPV fighter now. Without the hype and the headlines boxing is just two guys beating each other up and to turn fights from two guys beating each other up into events that people will discuss around the water cooler and pay fifty plus dollars to watch you've got to have braggadocio, controversy, arrogance, bad behaviour and so on.

[TitoFan]

I'm not disputing what you're saying... but don't you think the promoting side bears some responsibility as well? I think promoters in general have done a piss poor job in promoting someone like Andre Ward. I also think the division itself doesn't help, in the sense that there's lesser known quality at that weight than at a more popular weight, like welter or middle. But yeah... unfortunately Andre's personality doesn't help promote him. It's refreshing to see someone like Andre, but many fans aren't going to tune in unless he starts acting like a jerk and calling people out.

[Kirkland Laing]

I'm not disputing what you're saying... but don't you think the promoting side bears some responsibility as well? I think promoters in general have done a piss poor job in promoting someone like Andre Ward. I also think the division itself doesn't help, in the sense that there's lesser known quality at that weight than at a more popular weight, like welter or middle. But yeah... unfortunately Andre's personality doesn't help promote him. It's refreshing to see someone like Andre, but many fans aren't going to tune in unless he starts acting like a jerk and calling people out.

Getting him into the Spuer Six and all his fights at home then getting him the light heavy champ on HBO isn't too shabby a job of promoting him. But you've got to have something to promote. A quietly-spoken respectful guy isn't the easiest thing to work with. If Ward had been a total cunt at the start of the Super Six, telling people the rest of the six were shit and he was going to beat the shit out of them then he would have been off to the races. He could have stood in the ring after the Kessler fight and made his mouth go. He'd just beaten the favourite and people would have started to take notice. You'd get a lot of people loving him and a lot of people hating him but they'd all tune in. Unfortunately for him he's not that kind of person, he's throwing away millions by not being a cunt.

[Fenster]

I'm not disputing what you're saying... but don't you think the promoting side bears some responsibility as well? I think promoters in general have done a piss poor job in promoting someone like Andre Ward. I also think the division itself doesn't help, in the sense that there's lesser known quality at that weight than at a more popular weight, like welter or middle. But yeah... unfortunately Andre's personality doesn't help promote him. It's refreshing to see someone like Andre, but many fans aren't going to tune in unless he starts acting like a jerk and calling people out.

Getting him into the Spuer Six and all his fights at home then getting him the light heavy champ on HBO isn't too shabby a job of promoting him. But you've got to have something to promote. A quietly-spoken respectful guy isn't the easiest thing to work with. If Ward had been a total cunt at the start of the Super Six, telling people the rest of the six were shit and he was going to beat the shit out of them then he would have been off to the races. He could have stood in the ring after the Kessler fight and made his mouth go. He'd just beaten the favourite and people would have started to take notice. You'd get a lot of people loving him and a lot of people hating him but they'd all tune in. Unfortunately for him he's not that kind of person, he's throwing away millions by not being a cunt.

Exactly.

Olympic gold medal winner, unbeaten, Super Six champion, WBC/WBA champion, P4P ranked no.3 and has 140,000 twitter followers.

The days of quiet/nice guys becoming stars has gone.

[TitoFan]

I'm not disputing what you're saying... but don't you think the promoting side bears some responsibility as well? I think promoters in general have done a piss poor job in promoting someone like Andre Ward. I also think the division itself doesn't help, in the sense that there's lesser known quality at that weight than at a more popular weight, like welter or middle. But yeah... unfortunately Andre's personality doesn't help promote him. It's refreshing to see someone like Andre, but many fans aren't going to tune in unless he starts acting like a jerk and calling people out.

Getting him into the Spuer Six and all his fights at home then getting him the light heavy champ on HBO isn't too shabby a job of promoting him. But you've got to have something to promote. A quietly-spoken respectful guy isn't the easiest thing to work with. If Ward had been a total cunt at the start of the Super Six, telling people the rest of the six were shit and he was going to beat the shit out of them then he would have been off to the races. He could have stood in the ring after the Kessler fight and made his mouth go. He'd just beaten the favourite and people would have started to take notice. You'd get a lot of people loving him and a lot of people hating him but they'd all tune in. Unfortunately for him he's not that kind of person, he's throwing away millions by not being a cunt.

Exactly.

Olympic gold medal winner, unbeaten, Super Six champion, WBC/WBA champion, P4P ranked no.3 and has 140,000 twitter followers.

The days of quiet/nice guys becoming stars has gone.

Let's suppose for an instant that Kelly Pavlik would've panned out the way he was initially projected. Or Andre Berto, for that matter. You don't think they would've had a huge PPV following by now, regardless of the fact they're soft-spoken and somewhat humble?

[Fenster]

They wouldn't because they weren't talented enough.

Berto is a nobody. Pavlik would have been much bigger but he quickly got exposed and become a pisshead.

Finding the new SRL is basically impossible.

[TitoFan]

(patiently) Yes, Fenster.... I know. They weren't talented enough. That's why I started with "let's suppose....", ok? It's a discussion. I'm saying that, had they had the talent HBO was assuming they had (OR... had Pavlik stayed on the straight and narrow, instead of becoming an alcoholic)...... there's a chance they would've been huge PPV stars.

My point is, if I may, that it's not completely essential that a star be an asshole like a Tyson or a Mayweather to be hugely popular. It helps, I guess... but it's not essential. Huge talent in a popular division, with a good personality, could carry you also.

That's all I'm saying.

[Kirkland Laing]

I'm not disputing what you're saying... but don't you think the promoting side bears some responsibility as well? I think promoters in general have done a piss poor job in promoting someone like Andre Ward. I also think the division itself doesn't help, in the sense that there's lesser known quality at that weight than at a more popular weight, like welter or middle. But yeah... unfortunately Andre's personality doesn't help promote him. It's refreshing to see someone like Andre, but many fans aren't going to tune in unless he starts acting like a jerk and calling people out.

Getting him into the Spuer Six and all his fights at home then getting him the light heavy champ on HBO isn't too shabby a job of promoting him. But you've got to have something to promote. A quietly-spoken respectful guy isn't the easiest thing to work with. If Ward had been a total cunt at the start of the Super Six, telling people the rest of the six were shit and he was going to beat the shit out of them then he would have been off to the races. He could have stood in the ring after the Kessler fight and made his mouth go. He'd just beaten the favourite and people would have started to take notice. You'd get a lot of people loving him and a lot of people hating him but they'd all tune in. Unfortunately for him he's not that kind of person, he's throwing away millions by not being a cunt.

Exactly.

Olympic gold medal winner, unbeaten, Super Six champion, WBC/WBA champion, P4P ranked no.3 and has 140,000 twitter followers.

The days of quiet/nice guys becoming stars has gone.

I would agree with this up to a point. Unless you have some kid come along with SRL-type skills and a megawatt nice personality and win gold at the Olympics then it's hard to see any boxer making the kind of breakthrough into the mainstream where he's going to get TV and press coverage, endorsements etc. But De La Hoya was marketed that way and had the skills to go with the hype, so it isn't completely impossible for it to happen again.

But basically all boxers can forget about getting any mainstream media coverage and becoming known to sports fans. Ward is a perfect example. Hasn't lost since he was eleven, won the Olympic gold, unbeaten world champ, etc etc and nobody knows him. So really the only way these guys can seriously promote themselves to a point where people get to hear about them is with their mouth/behaviour. Ward needs to start telling people he really is the son of god and as god's son he's unbeatable in the ring, get some bling, punch his wife, maybe shoot his dad in the leg or something.

[DavilaJones]

I wonder though, how difficult would it be for Wards team to contact someone at Nike and say hey listen this is who Ward is and He'd like to endorse your products.

Also another thing, boxing is the one sport that almost all other professional athletes in america like. I don't know why but it just is.

Or better yet call non stop people at sports illustrated to get a feature on him. After all he is the last american to win the gold medal and he is kicking ass and taking names.

I have no idea how these things work but I remember an interview with Archie Moore in which he said almost every night he wrote letters to all outlets of media introducing himself to them and saying why he should be under their coverage.

[Kirkland Laing]

Benavidez was lucky on Saturday night. There have got to be serious questions about his chin now. He went into an Amir Khan-like total body discombobulation. He didn't look too special in the rest of the fight either.

[imp]

Just because theres no great american heavyweight boxers anymore does not mean everything has shifted over to germany or wherever you think it is.
Im english, and the bottom line is the best £4£ fighter on earth is american and that wont change until he retires.
Simples fella.