Why can't American fighters sell the same amount of tickets as UK fighters?

[Batman]

You young fans and casuals don't know how infuriating it is after 20 years of constantly putting up with - "he needs to prove himself in the States," "not a true champion until you fight in the States," "padded record British bums," "needs to fight an American," "America is the only country you get a fair shake," "Americans can't leave home they'll get robbed," "corrupt UK judges/refs," "he's not a real world champion until he fights in the States"...

And the coup de grace, the one thing all these ignorant blowhards always had as a trump card was - "America is where the money is at!!!" Game set and match. It was true, Britain couldn't compete financially with America, so to expect a fighter to travel for a paycut didn't make sense.

However, the minds of jaded, casual and young fans have been so badly polluted with "America is the bestest," that still to this day, even with the economic situation being turned on its head, Britain being the worlds hot bed for tickets sales and TV figures, Brit stars are expected to pander to American fighters. British fans, not just Americans, believe AJ needs to PROVE himself in America, give Wilder all his money, chase, chase, chase a man that offers NOTHING other than he is American. Utterly pathetic.

Hope this helps.

Not really what I was asking Fenners, I was on about boxing in America on a domestic level as well as the big international stage, look at Haye v Bellew, just a few months back they managed to make a big deal of Burns v Crolla, Jesus we even had Okolie v Chamberlain, do the Americans not enjoy these domestic dust ups or are they only interested in the big fights or do they take place, sell tickets and get put on TV but we don't hear about it?

As you said the trump card was always 'America is where the money is at what has changed, is it just not as popular, are they still hungover from Floyd?

[Primo Carnera]

@Batman, The thing is , in the states , the crowds don't come together in their droves for domestic or top fights. It's a culturally different thing. yes, there have been some Stadium fights, but few and far between. Usually with an "Immigrant" fanbase , (Mexican , Puerto Rican) . But for the Major part , the money for the big fights is generated by the TV companies (Like the UK) but Atlantic City or Vegas etc. more than the volume of fans.
This is just my opinion , but it would be better if somebody Stateside could either confirm or shoot down this theory.

[Fenster]

You young fans and casuals don't know how infuriating it is after 20 years of constantly putting up with - "he needs to prove himself in the States," "not a true champion until you fight in the States," "padded record British bums," "needs to fight an American," "America is the only country you get a fair shake," "Americans can't leave home they'll get robbed," "corrupt UK judges/refs," "he's not a real world champion until he fights in the States"...

And the coup de grace, the one thing all these ignorant blowhards always had as a trump card was - "America is where the money is at!!!" Game set and match. It was true, Britain couldn't compete financially with America, so to expect a fighter to travel for a paycut didn't make sense.

However, the minds of jaded, casual and young fans have been so badly polluted with "America is the bestest," that still to this day, even with the economic situation being turned on its head, Britain being the worlds hot bed for tickets sales and TV figures, Brit stars are expected to pander to American fighters. British fans, not just Americans, believe AJ needs to PROVE himself in America, give Wilder all his money, chase, chase, chase a man that offers NOTHING other than he is American. Utterly pathetic.

Hope this helps.

Not really what I was asking Fenners, I was on about boxing in America on a domestic level as well as the big international stage, look at Haye v Bellew, just a few months back they managed to make a big deal of Burns v Crolla, Jesus we even had Okolie v Chamberlain, do the Americans not enjoy these domestic dust ups or are they only interested in the big fights or do they take place, sell tickets and get put on TV but we don't hear about it?

As you said the trump card was always 'America is where the money is at what has changed, is it just not as popular, are they still hungover from Floyd?

Sorry about that, but I can't believe people that visit a boxing forum everyday are surprised to learn British boxing is thriving compared with the US. When I read all the comments slagging off Hearn and domestic cards and what not I just assume everyone knows how promoters/TV companies/sanctioning bodies/commissions etc work (apart from clueless Master).

What changed in America? Nothing. You need to look at what changed in the UK

[TitoFan]

Plenty has changed in the U.S. regarding boxing. Ali and company used to routinely grace the covers of mags like Sports Illustrated and such. Boxing was a bigger slice of the sports pie in the U.S. Enter UFC, X-Games, and a variety of new-fangled sports aimed at the Millenials.... and the slice of pie shrinks. My earlier point about the U.S. only being interested in sports it dominates still holds. If it can't dominate a sport, it loses interest. Plain and simple. Meanwhile, boxing has always held a special place in the UK. Only difference now is that it's finally getting better after a lot years of mediocrity. That'll tweak the interest of most any country.

[Fenster]

Floyd and Pac have been on the cover of Sports Illustrated in recent years.

We have sports called Snooker and Darts that get much more TV viewers than a regular "world" championship boxing night here. Boxing is considered fringe in this country too, compared with Football, Rugby, Cricket, Tennis, Golf, Formula One.

Not all UK "world" champions are big stars or pack out venues, it depends on the fighter and who represents them.

Billy Joe Saunders, for example, is well known by Americans on here yet small fry in Britain, whereas Josh Warrington (yeah, who? Most of the UK fans here wont know him either) has a huge following regularly packing out arenas (20,000+ for upcoming fight).

[TitoFan]

You said nothing has changed in America. I gave you several reasons why that is simply not true. Pac's and Floyd's covers in SI can hardly be compared to the many times Ali and company made the cover. Also, the coverage in those days was infinitely bigger than it is today. An Ali-Frazier fight might grab 5-7 pages in SI. Boxing in general nowadays barely gets a column, if that much. In terms of what has changed or not changed in America regarding boxing over the years, I'm gonna go out on a limb and say I probably have a time and geographical edge on you.

If you claim boxing is "fringe" in the UK also, you're obviously in a more privileged position than I to assess that. The U.S. has golf, tennis, and car racing too. But I'm not using those to make my case for boxing being fringe in the U.S. American football, basketball, baseball, hockey, and the aforementioned UFC and X Games have taken up most of the sports pie. I would venture to say that boxing's percentage of the pie in the U.S. is probably significantly smaller than its percentage in the UK, no matter how "fringe" it may be in the UK.

Boxing was bigger in the U.S. back in the days of Ali and company. Now, you go to any sports web page, and it's relegated to the "Other Sports" category. Let me tell you what's across the top of the MSN sports page in my computer:

NFL, MLB, NBA, NHL, NCAA BK, NCAA FB, Golf, NASCAR/Motors, Tennis, Soccer, MMA/UFC, and.......................... More Sports.

Had the Internet been around before, pretty sure Boxing would've had its own category.

[Fenster]

I don't disagree with your points, Titofan, I said about the Sports Illustrated thing because batman asked what changed since "Floyd," I agree 100% boxing was far more popular in the 70s and 80s and 90s.

I also agree with your point about America not supporting underdogs, "failures" like small nations do. Britain LOVES a glorious loser/trier. Words like "journeyman" and "bum" have a different connotation in the UK (far less demeaning).

Things like race are a huge factor in America compared with Britain.

Let me tell you whats across the BBC sports page right now - Football, Formula One, Cricket, Rugby U, Rugby L, Tennis, Golf, Athletics, other sports.

I'm not saying boxing is a small sport in the UK, it does great numbers, i'm just offering some balance, as in it competes with plenty of more popular sports, I understand not as much as the US, just like I understand in the UK you can basically drive anywhere in one day whereas that's impossible without a plane in the US.

[TitoFan]

I just wish boxing interest in the U.S. right now was more like the interest in the UK. As everyone in here, I love boxing and have for a long time. It irks me to see boxing relegated to "curling" status in the U.S. And now that the U.S. won a gold medal in that... it probably moves past boxing in the conga line.... LOL. U.S. fans are a bit frivolous. That bit about them not being interested in any sport they don't dominate is a big one as far as I'm concerned. I was really hoping they'd make it to the World Cup this year, just so the typical U.S. fan would be more interested. Of course there's some like Lyle and myself, who will follow the proceedings no matter what. But many U.S. fans will only watch when the U.S. is playing and has a realistic chance of winning. I find it much more "noble" to maintain interest even when you're not dominating.