The heavyweight division needs excitement

[aburwell89]

Sportsmen always struggle with interviews, it is not their strength, you have to look at the attitude and how they conduct themselves in the ring, going into the Maccarinelli fight Haye was cool calm and collected and in the ring he got the job done, he is not a tv personality he is a boxer, apart from a few guys boxers aren't always the best guys when taking one to one outside the ring, and i am sure it is very similar in a lot of other sports.

I think you're missing the point. People want superstars. Haye, despite all of his talents as a fighter, is not a superstar. What makes a superstar depends entirely on how they approach it. Ali built up hype by running his mouth and being funny while doing it, Tyson built up hype as his career progressed by acting invincible and crazy. Shit, even guys like Foreman who in my opinion had the personality of a rock in his early years had star power because of how he conducted himself.

Do you have to be a superstar to be a great fighter? No, but it's that " it " factor that packs arenas and gets people excited.

Funny but I am pretty sure the O2 was packed out, and an army went over to France to see him beat Mormeck, and the fight with Maccarinelli got lots and lots of Hype, what was it 3 or 4 pages in the ring magazine, not bad for an English fight, so hey he must be doing something right, and I can't believe you mentioned George Foreman, surely he is generating the same type of entertainment as Haye, punching power, didn't you just contradict yourself mentioning him

I was speaking from a personality stand point.

Also, I'll have you know that I could ask 100 people in my neighborhood if they know who David Haye is and I can pretty much bank on 95 of them not knowing, and the other five only having a faint idea.

That's not star power.

[jmbtandy]

I know where you are coming from but the media has a lot to do with that, not necessarily the boxer in question. Most British people when asked to name current UK boxers will struggle to get past Joe Calzaghe and Ricky Hatton. Everyone who is a boxing fan knows who he is, all over the world. I am currently in camp over in the states and the Haye v Macc fight was on nearly everyones lips.

[aburwell89]

I know where you are coming from but the media has a lot to do with that, not necessarily the boxer in question. Most British people when asked to name current UK boxers will struggle to get past Joe Calzaghe and Ricky Hatton. Everyone who is a boxing fan knows who he is, all over the world. I am currently in camp over in the states and the Haye v Macc fight was on nearly everyones lips.

The goal is not just to attract fight fans. No matter how good or bad the scene is, they're going to show up or tune in regardless. The goal should be to take it a step further, to put the sport on an international stage and get as many people interested as possible. The days of everyone talkling about fighters down at the local bar or pub aren't too far gone you know, and regardless of how pessimistic some boxing fans are, there's still plenty of room for boxing to come back to the level it was once on.

[jmbtandy]

I know where you are coming from but the media has a lot to do with that, not necessarily the boxer in question. Most British people when asked to name current UK boxers will struggle to get past Joe Calzaghe and Ricky Hatton. Everyone who is a boxing fan knows who he is, all over the world. I am currently in camp over in the states and the Haye v Macc fight was on nearly everyones lips.

The goal is not just to attract fight fans. No matter how good or bad the scene is, they're going to show up or tune in regardless. The goal should be to take it a step further, to put the sport on an international stage and get as many people interested as possible. The days of everyone talkling about fighters down at the local bar or pub aren't too far gone you know, and regardless of how pessimistic some boxing fans are, there's still plenty of room for boxing to come back to the level it was once on.

Of course, that's why I say the media needs to step up, still using Haye as an example, someone watching the fight with Macc or Mormeck would surely want to watch more. Sometimes it needs a big challenger to come in to make a fighter well known, Benn v Eubank or Bruno v Tyson, If Haye fights Klitschko win or lose he will get the attention because people know the potential excitement of that fight would bring.