There is an old saying that boxing is only as popular/good as its heavyweight champion and let's be honest wlad may be consistent by he is never going to reach out to the non-boxing public watching him fight is to dull
There is an old saying that boxing is only as popular/good as its heavyweight champion and let's be honest wlad may be consistent by he is never going to reach out to the non-boxing public watching him fight is to dull
think happy thoughts
The thing with boxing is that it isn't a entity upon itself or a brand (like the UFC), so it's level of popularity is determined by it's current "superstars" and how much interest and revenue they can generate not only from within the boxing world, but from mainstream media and the general public.
Unfortunately, no one ever REALLY succeeded Tyson in HW boxing who could generate near the interest. Lewis gained a lot of steam by KOing Tyson, but he retired shortly after and never really passed the torch. So I would say yeah, heavyweight boxing definitely declined after Tyson. Not in terms of skill, but definitely in interest and revenue.
I wouldn't say boxing in general went on a decline. You forget that the current P4P champ is THE biggest earner in the history of the sport, and guys like Pacquiao are not far behind.
I like this comment. Although obviously it may not appear to be true in retrosoect.
I think the promoters inability to make and promote fights/ fighters has been on a decline for many decades now. There's no myth in fighters now.
I one read a historical account of boxing from the 19th century onwards and the stuff these promoters and their fighters got up to was amaizing.
Maybe TV networks are to blame in more ways than one?
Plus there are so many ways to spoil a good fight, spoil a fighter etc it's too easy to loose interest.
Last edited by Jimanuel Boogustus; 03-01-2013 at 03:10 PM.
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It's always Tyson
Boxing is fine, it's just getting used to new things. Larry Holmes didn't captivate everyone while he was champion either because people thought of Ali the way you guys are talking about Tyson. Tyson was exciting but while on the verge of a HUGE match, I mean mind bogglingly huge matchup vs Holyfield, Mike Tyson got his shit handed to him and that kind of thing is what has hurt boxing. The stars haven't aligned to where we can have 2 undefeated heavyweights clash for the title in a massive showdown like Ali-Frazier I, the torch hasn't been passed all that well, the "next big thing" & "next big fight" either never materializes or someone fucks it up. We've gone YEARS without huge fights, yes we get exciting wins, but we've not had the Immovable Object vs the Unstoppable Force kinds of fights on the biggest stages.
Boxing needs their stars to fight like Corrales-Castillo & Brewster-Liakhovich, that's what boxing needs. Less talking, more action....this ain't the WWE the boxing fans want skill, passion, and determination. We want to be emotionally tied to the results, we want blood, sacrifice, heart, and at the moment the guys with that are either too good for everyone else, or doing that compromises their records. The last great fight I saw that just can't get enough credit is Vitali vs Lewis.....not having a rematch for that fight hurt boxing because it was a result that left an open ending. PPV sales of that fight would have been enormous. Also all these promoters fight more outside the ring then they allow their fighters to fight IN the ring Top Rank vs Golden Boy, Sauerland & DKP vs K2....it's ever so frustrating as a fan to know for a fact that Top Rank fighters won't fight Golden Boy fighters, that is also killing the sport. Professional fighters need to just sack up to their management and take the reigns of their careers, you're the key cogs in the machine if fighter X wants to fight Fighter Y then the promoters should sit down and make the deal happen & if they can't come to an agreement then an independent 3rd party mediator should structure the deal.
For me it is a yes he was the last fighter I truly loved, I like Hatton, Cotto and Manny but not to the extent I loved Tyson.
Do not let success go to your head and do not let failure get to your heart.
Great fights have nothing to do with selling PPV, it's purely down to the star power of the fighter.
Castillo-Corrales II was a massive PPV flop (150,000 buys) even though the first fight won "fight of the year" accolades all over the shop.
That Lennox-Vitali bill was PPV until Tyson dropped off the card.
3-Time SADDO PREDICTION COMP CHAMPION.
#1 I call BS on that
#2 Corrales-Castillo II was a flop because Jose Luis Castillo didn't bother to make weight & right after that Corrales was guilty of the same thing...very unprofessional
#3 Lewis was originally scheduled to fight Kirk Johnson & Vitali was to fight Cedric Boswell...I didn't even know Tyson was even going to be on the card, but I knew that it was by no means a stellar lineup.
#4 99% of the fans wanted to see Vitali-Lewis II because it was a good competitive match and both big dudes came out swinging for the fences....they fought like the title meant something to them & they wanted to entertain the crowd which they did...thoroughly
I think professionalism is the last thing the general public cares about when it comes to the question of whether or not to buy a PPV. Tyson was a convicted rapist and bit a guy's ear off in the ring and he drew well up until he retired. Floyd is also a convicted felon, a guy who more obnoxious than anyone, who has dropped people while they were looking away and he failed to make weight for JMM. But he's the biggest PPV draw in boxing history.
It's all about the star power. When it comes to JLC/Corrales, all us boxing fans knew it was gonna be a war, but the John Q Public never heard of either of them.
1. ......
2. This is very naive - a) to think the general public give a fuck about a few pounds overweight is ridiculous b) even more ridiculous is to think the success of a PPV is determined 24 hours before the event. They spend months selling and hyping a fight. So you think everyone that buys PPV waits until the weigh-in and orders at the last minute? If that's the case (and it's so silly I shouldn't be asking a question) - how did Floyd have a spectacular PPV success with Marquez when he weighed in above the limit?
3. Proves my point. Tyson on the bill it was PPV. Tyson off the bill it was not PPV.
4. Lewis-Vitali was a great fight. However, neither were a PPV attraction. If the fight was such a big deal, one where Vitali crossed over to the American mainstream, then how come he didn't become a big star? That was 10 years ago.
Floyd can fight no-names and do massive numbers. Tyson fought no-names and did massive numbers. Oscar fought no-names and did massive numbers. David Haye and Ricky Hatton, in Britain, fought no-names and did massive numbers. Wlad sells thousands of tickets in Germany. The general public buy into THE fighter not the fight. That's all i'm saying. Fact.
3-Time SADDO PREDICTION COMP CHAMPION.
Not making weight meant it wasn't a title fight
Who was Tyson scheduled to fight?
Vitali was making a good name for himself... the rematch most certainly would have been PPV as would Vitali-Tyson but Tyson couldn't make it past Williams who nobody knew of. Had it not been for injuries and Kalle Sauerland Vitali would have been a PPV staple. Vitali-Arreola could have been bigger if Cris put down the fork for 2 minutes.
no...i think boxing was at a high when Tyson was unbeatable. at a low when Lennox and the klitsko's took over. Klitsko's r dominant, but not very entertaining... and with the heavyweights ..so goes boxing. for some reason, boxing is as big as the heavyweight div is..it's always been like that. forget we had Gatti, DLH, Maqrquez<morales<barrera<roy jones<cazaghi< Pac... if the heavies are't good, boxing loses power.
i hear a bunch of guys saying"poor Tyson, got sent away on a bogus charge"...hey.i like Tyson..but fuk him. remember, he'd KO the fuk out of u if u ever ran into him in the the streets, back then... for nothing. maybe Tyson got sent up on a bogus charge, but u can believe he did something in his life that he should've gone to prison for... it wouldn't surpise me one bit if there one or two people in wheelchairs becuz of something this guy did to them..or someone he ran with did... so don't lose sleep over it.
If only Wlad could fight someone as good as Bruce Seldon for a title![]()
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