Boxing and it's marketing.

[donnydarkoIRL]

MMA sucks and I am sorry it's for kids with issues....even more so than boxing.


Oh look at me I have a tribal tat, I'm a bad ass. It's for the Charlie Zelenoff's of the world

Lyle, I'm a boxing fan, but I have to disagree.

MMa is a collection of dedicated, talented fighters competing in a highly physical and dangerous sport.

It does not suck.

Have to agree, although I find MMA boring to watch compared to boxing I still have so much repsect for MMA fighters. They are all round top athletes that are in top condition and who cross train to be able to fight at distance as well as upclose and on the ground.

Ome has to remeber also that their weight calsses are so broad asnd they cut so much weight (upto 40lbs!) that they are ofetn faced with much much bigger opponents.

[yvonne]

You're dead on donny. It seriously annoys that footage of every meaningful fight exists somewhere, but there is no acces to them. Before every ITV Warren card, they show the same fucking 'best of big fight live' program on ITV 4 before it. They have countless hours of boxing from previous stars like Benn and Eubank at their fingertips, and two channels that show jack shit, yet they don't put 2 and 2 together.

As you said, they could make all these fights available a few weeks after the event and actually make a profit without charging extortionate prices, but the7y choose to let the footage rot somewhere instead.

They could easily take advantage of the recent surge of interest in the sport over here due to the likes of Hatton/JC/Khan just by simply showing more fight cards, they wouldnt' have to pay jack shit for them eiether because they would happen with or without TV exposure. All I know is that a lot of mates and general acquaintances locally have been taking an interest lately, and most even watched the undercard on Saturday at the local pub and were entertained. It could be made easily into a fortnightly fixture getting the up and coming fighters in the spotlight, making for a higher number of bigger events in the fututre, consequently making more money for the tossers in charge .But of course all this makes just too much sense for it to actually be implemented.

Anyway rant over, don't know how much sense that made.

I've been watching a lot of mma in recent times.
Last Friday upon watching another card on DVD I asked myself, "why have I been watching so much mma when boxing is the love of my life?" Is it because I'm losing interest in the sweet science? Is it because I'm bored with boxing's matchups? Is it because I find mma more exciting?
I answered all the above questions with a no.
Boxing is my favourite sport, my first love and my fortress. I love boxing like a family member!

The reason I have been indulging in so much mma watching is because mma, somewhere along the line has become more accessible. As I scour my local video stores for boxing footage I come across the same average compilation dvd's. I bout these same dvd's when I was in my early teens and they have yet to be replaced or updated. However, each week a new ufc dvd appears on the shelf, a pride dvd will be found in a bargain bin or a fighter compilation will be released. In recent years mma has been marketed brilliantly (by Dana White) and has become far more accesible than boxing. pike TV allows easy access to most of the UFC's cards and shows, mma tv allows the viewer 24hr coverage of the sport and it's stars! Yet the noble art of boxing increases the implementation of pay per views and high ticket prices. Shows of note only occur in the casino's or the garden, the worlds greatest boxers becoming the darlings of new york and Las Vegas rather than of the world.

Boxing has come through with some fantastic match ups in the past year. Yet attempts by many to publicise these fights (over you tube or by upload) have been foiled by the companies owning the rights to the footage. Yet they never make any attempt to utilse this footage themselves. I would gladly pay to see my favourite fights on a dvd I could watch over and over, if it were supported by and undercard. I would view it as a little piece of history that I would catalog and add to my archive...A friend would come over and say "remember when such and such knocked out whats his name," "oh yeah I'd reply, it was on the bill last April, I have that Bill DVD."
It would not be difficult for the promoter to get the rights for these fights and create a dvd on their card. It would then be profitable for them to sell those dvds. Yet they prefer to allow their undercard fighters to struggle in anonymity without puiblivity or endorsement.....


Ridiculous.

Alright they mate.You really made a great point there mate.A really good thread to get your teeth into!Well done for creating a really good thread.I totally understand your view on that the undercard fights are well worth being published on dvds!

[donnydarkoIRL]

Thanks Yvonne.
It's just, imagine how easy it would be to promote a fighter if we had all senen him on an undercard before. There would be a great deal fewer fighters struggling in obscurity and giving up.

In fact I would go as far as to say it would vastly improve the quality of undercard fights as fighters would strive to impress their greater audience,

[Bomp]

Exactly. Raising the profile of the spoort in general would allow for more events to take place, they needn't be big events either. There are so many boxers out there who aren't just struggling to get exposure, they're struggling to get fights PERIOD. They get a couple of short notice fights a year with little prior notice, they don't have a cat's chance in hell of making it under those odds regardless of talent.

[donnydarkoIRL]

Correct Bomp.

Additionally. If someone could take the responsibility for it's production. If a large show was covered monthly and presented as the UFC cards, I for one would galdly buy the pay per view and most probably a dvd of the fight card.
It would generate publicity, finances and genuine fan interest.