Are PPVs ruining boxing?

[Dropanuke]

Make golf ppv, basketball, tennis, athletics, ice hockey let's piss everyone off.

What a dumb arse person you are.
No wonder nobody responds to you

Please piss off.

No can do!

[J_Undisputed]

Stream it like the rest of us do. When they can guarantee a knockout or a masterful performance, I can guarantee i'll find the money to pay for it. In the meantime, these matches are horrible and you're either paying to see one guy put on a showcase against an outmatched/rehyped opponent... or 2 guys that profess bad blood but fight like its about the money.

Just my opinion, but:
Canelo/Angulo was only worth paying for in Mexico - everyone knows Angulo was going to wear down and floyd didnt put much wear and tear on Canelo, but no matter who won, the Mexican people won. I liked watching the fight but i wouldn't pay for it.

Martinez/ Cotto- One hasn't fought since he beat Junior and accumulated ring rust and injuries and the other one has looked better recently but that wont erase how many miles and wars have been put on him over the years.

Pac and Bradley- many of the people buying this aren't doing so for an intriguing match up. They are paying for pac to right a wrong. Bradleys not a bad guy, but the bad taste his gift decision left in the mouths of fight fans can only be washed away with justice.

Floyd /Maidana- People will pay for the chance to see if MM can land a miracle punch or to have something to talk about Monday morning around the water cooler. How many of us think that a.) maidana would drop Mayweather with one punch B.) could land the succession of punches that would put floyd on his back for 10? c.) that this fight could go either way? based on what maidana did to "all flash and no cash" broner....

PPV hasn't been about boxing or sport in a while. Its shrink wrapping animosity, shticks, the next guy trying to do the impossible and slapping a 50 dollar price tag on it. It's a a sad reality that everyone knew that people knew Tyson fights would last 2 rounds but pay the money anyway. Why? because you know you were going to see a knockout or see someone else pull off a rarity and last till the end of the fight taking brutal Tyson punches for 12 rounds. It was a win-win. Boxing doesn't offer these type of deals anymore. I missed the days that right before a big PPV, i'd start pacing and get nervous, run to the the bathroom 2 twice because I didn't want to miss anything. Sit on the edge of my seat the entire time. I'd have all my friends over and everyone had a drink in hand and i'd find a sucker bet me that I couldn't call the outcome and the punch that would end it.

Now, I sit and watch the fights in front of a laptop jumping from feed to feed, and the most action happens when the chick catches me drooling over the top rank girls and tries to kills the streaming window.

[generalbulldog]

2 reasons why boxing became a niche sport in the U.S. The 1st major reason was that boxing was taken out of high schools and college in the mid 1950s, what this did was limit the sport to future participants. The 2nd major reason for its decline was that top level fighters urged by their promoters began gravitating towards fighting on HBO and Showtime exclusively instead, which are 2 premium networks with a small subscription compared to the big boys like ABC, NBC, Fox, CBS, which is free network tv. And that's how boxing is in the state it is in now, hardly any future participants in the U.S. and hardly shown to the casual viewer or sports fan.

American football and baseball are the top 2 most participated sport and the 2 most watched in the U.S. The 2 sports are supported at every level, especially during high school, plus they are shown on network tv, where the casual viewer and casual sports fan can watch without paying a dime.

Another example, compare boxing to MMA, where the basics of the sport which is wrestling is participated at the high school and college level, plus MMA is actually free on network tv for most of its fights, minus the big PPVs. MMA would be in the same state as boxing if wrestling was taken out of the high schools and colleges and if MMA went strictly to HBO and Showtime, but Dana White is too smart for that. Yes, many boxing fans may hate him, but the man ain't stupid.

No sport can survive without replenishing its fan base and future participants. Boxing within 60 years, coming from being the no. 2 sport behind baseball at the time in the U.S. in terms of popularity and participation to its current state as a niche sport. It is what it is.

[Silkeyjoe]

No they are not. What is ruining boxing is rival promoters not willing to do business and corrupt organisations fixing rankings and hiring corrupt judges. Thats all thats ruining boxing.

In MMA the best fight the best. Why isnt it the same in boxing?

[IamInuit]

Maybe eroding. I do think boxing will look quite different within the next decade. If boxing was a plant PPV would be its root and the symbiotic relationship between promoters and broadcasters the over watering gardener.

They are now overcompensating in damage control for the exit of Floyd and Manny by increasing the dose.

Lots of light in the tunnel though with great fighters coming up around the world. Be good to get rid of these guys to be honest(in relationship to the ppv ?) and people ought not expect replacements. He could make 20 million fighting a ring tailed lemur and that's part of the problem. Guys like Floyd come around once in a generation with few exceptions.

You always hear about that 1% theory in our western economic systems where a small group have all the wealth well its kind of been that way with boxing over this past decade and personified by PPV. The world seems or seemed to revolve around 6 to 8 fighters. That is a pretty constricted market place in this new globally connected world and one that has to collapse on the weight of itself. I think the exit of Manny and especially Floyd might just start boxing back to re-potting itself and establishing a new root base. A few years of short term pain I suspect and ppv numbers start to dwindle and with that boxers salaries. They may try to revamp it but I truly believe its days are numbered and that pun was not intended.

[Beanflicker]

You guys have to realize that with Manny and Floyd gone, you're also taking about a ton of revenue also leaving with them.

Boxing needs it's superstars, it's always been an "attraction" sport. And I just don't see anyone on the horizon that can carry the torch.

Especially now with MMA gaining so much popularity and replacing boxing as the world's premier combat sport.

Boxing is in rough shape.

[holmcall]

Given the puke-provoking undercards, I do indeed.

[fan johnny]

Aren't PPV an extension of the live gate? Live TV needs sponsors to air, Sponsors need the audiance viewership for value to be there. For most non-title fights, people just don't have much intrest in watching. PPV makes it easier for the fighter to get a fair cut of the gate. I think a better model would be to go to POD Casts. I would definately stream Martinez vs Cotto or Provodnikov vs Algieri but would have a hard time buying the PPV. If there were a POD Cast @$5-10 bucks, I would buy it in a heart beat. It's not the PPV that hurts boxing, it's the promoter.

[generalbulldog]

When Floyd and Pacqiao retires, they both will take a lot of revenues and whatever little interest that is in boxing with them. I can't wait for that day. Boxing has to really hit rock bottom for a lot of reformation to take place. It has to get really worse before it gets better. Problem is will boxing rebound with MMA now being the top combat sport in terms of participation and viewership?

[cyclone]

No they are not. What is ruining boxing is rival promoters not willing to do business and corrupt organisations fixing rankings and hiring corrupt judges. Thats all thats ruining boxing.

In MMA the best fight the best. Why isnt it the same in boxing?

MMA doesn't have many top fighters.

The best fighting the best is more like trash fighting trash....for PEANUTS.

[cyclone]

When Floyd and Pacqiao retires, they both will take a lot of revenues and whatever little interest that is in boxing with them. I can't wait for that day. Boxing has to really hit rock bottom for a lot of reformation to take place. It has to get really worse before it gets better. Problem is will boxing rebound with MMA now being the top combat sport in terms of participation and viewership?

MMA is not the top combat sport and you know it..

If they are why aren't they making top money...like boxers...?

[cyclone]

You guys have to realize that with Manny and Floyd gone, you're also taking about a ton of revenue also leaving with them.

Boxing needs it's superstars, it's always been an "attraction" sport. And I just don't see anyone on the horizon that can carry the torch.

Especially now with MMA gaining so much popularity and replacing boxing as the world's premier combat sport.

Boxing is in rough shape.

MMA is in rough shape..save your tears for that shit.

[Mark TKO]

I'd be more likely to pay for double header ppvs

There was a time they'd schedule a UK fight eg Naz, Benn, Eubank etc to be on same night as Holyfield, Tyson, Lewis fight etc...

One payment to get both - I didn't mind that

[Beanflicker]

Boxing is in rough shape.

MMA is in rough shape..save your tears for that shit.[/QUOTE]

Yeah? Are they really?

[Beanflicker]

If they are why aren't they making top money...like boxers...?

Well that's a big advantage that boxers have over UFC guys, that there's more than one big game in town and they have more bargaining power to get the big fights.

But if you're talking public perception, what the mainstream is interested in, it's all MMA.

Before MMA, the heavyweight boxing champion of the world was considered the baddest man on the planet. Even though an elite HW kickboxer probably would have put him in the hospital, kickboxing never took off in a significant way and was never able to compete with boxing.

MMA has stolen boxing's luster. Cain Velasquez would put any top HW boxer in a coma in a real fight, and the public knows this.

Young kids who have dreams of fighting for a living and being the toughest guy on the planet are not flocking to boxing gyms anymore, they're going to MMA gyms.

MMA is taking away public interest and it's stealing a lot of kids who would be potential boxers.