Quote Originally Posted by hfahrenheit View Post
Quote Originally Posted by Spicoli View Post
Just hope the door hits his arse on the way out. He's done well at paving the way to leave setting best guys at basically ppv apps per fight, I missed both Crawford and Manny. Just not paying a cost to see basically espn #4. The boxing world will trudge forward just fine as the Frankenstein sport it has always been. I can't see and don't believe a singular promoter in a Dana White fashion is realistic. Plenty of snafus in ufc with weight, violations and big cancellations also. For all his faults Don King ppv still feels like money well spent. He also just had a complete unknown and overmatched guy in top hbo slot. Golden Boy is basically a sausage making factory and big on favorites. Haymon recycles many but has a twisted way of keeping guys in camera rotation, in a fight or calling it you will see them etc. Individual fighters are also responsible for what happens and what doesn't.

So, we don't want the continuity of the UFC? The basic premise of question is this: is it Bob Arum that's holding it up? (Everyone else DOES seem inherently feckless) Will that be enough of a vacuum for a cult-of-personality type + big money (Billions) to come in and fix this thing? Or is Haymon enough to stop it all? (He doesn't seem to have the magic to see any of this through; his success (sic) i think it's just because of the void of anything else happening...)

When will it be dead enough for real change?
I guess I just don't see Boxing needing to emulate some things ufc is doing and believe boxing big picture continuity is already there and has proven to be. Arum was never a in front of the camera showman and as pointed out Top Rank has roots beyond Arum. He's a corner stone and massive player to be sure but personally I do not think mainlining all fighters under one man-promoter has long term thinking in mind. You need competition and rivals in any market and boxing is filled with them. Stand them side by side and ufc is still wet behind the ears and undergoing it's growing pains currently. They got stuck on a 'brand' and got ahead of themselves with huge price ppvs and getting into multiple tv markets with a great though limited number of major roster players and you get a feel of quantity over quality. Unless you're a belt holder the pay is not so great. The ratings are down and with a few biggest 'stars' recently losing badly, joining 'wrastlin, getting popped for peds or causing major shows to cancel or scramble to air them it's time for them to get back to roots. Also as with any sport and entertainment the age demographics change, fans get older. The new espn deal is huge for them and hopefully White keeps his big loud face out of the way and lets some rising talent shine. Boxing for all it's black eyes and flaws is the cock roach of sports..that's a compliment .. it will adapt and isn't going anywhere