Will boxing ever rise again in the USA???

[holmcall]

And when was the last time you beat your wife?

Boxing has changed into a mega-purse entertainment business, but it has not gone down. Has it changed for the better. No, in my opinion.

[Drago]

i also feel that boxing is struggling, in the Uk the prob is that the tv stations are not backing this great sport, its a real shame because when on terrestrial tv the viewing figures are really good. I do believe that we need a really good american heavy to sort this mess out, i mean if david haye wiped out all the heavyweights in spectacular fashion i still dont think even with he can turn this around. i agree that athletes would prefer to go into other sports because boxing is such a tough lifestyle & i couldnt think of any other sport that u have to have such a strict dedication to.

i feel boxing tho is losing the battle

[TheDemolitionDan]

Boxing is still 2nd most popular around the world and on ESPN they are showing a lot more Boxing and talking about it a lot more than they have in the past. Just last week they showed highlights of a Cruiserweight, and Flyweight fight that I didn't even hear of. Then on saturday they talked about the Ortiz-Maidana fight and the JuanMa and King Arthur fights. It was on the bottomline and they showed highlights. Boxing is picking up again in the U.S.

[Drago]

Boxing is still 2nd most popular around the world and on ESPN they are showing a lot more Boxing and talking about it a lot more than they have in the past. Just last week they showed highlights of a Cruiserweight, and Flyweight fight that I didn't even hear of. Then on saturday they talked about the Ortiz-Maidana fight and the JuanMa and King Arthur fights. It was on the bottomline and they showed highlights. Boxing is picking up again in the U.S.

good news! we all need cheering up

[albsur2006]

I think boxing is probably done being a major sport in America. Pay per view, which is a great idea for big fights and was a great idea back when it started, is the downfall of boxing in America. Promoters and fighters don't care about the sport's health in the US enough to take the necessary measures to bring boxing back to the forefront in the US. Boxers and promoters are pretty much only worried about money.

Boxing won't be a mainstream sport anymore but boxing will never die. Boxing will always be somewhat popular, and whenever there's a truly big fight, it will probably be the highlight of the sports weekend and a big money making event. But it's never gonna be like it was in the 80s and early 90s unless a bunch of stuff changes.

[Kev]

Boxing is still 2nd most popular around the world and on ESPN they are showing a lot more Boxing and talking about it a lot more than they have in the past. Just last week they showed highlights of a Cruiserweight, and Flyweight fight that I didn't even hear of. Then on saturday they talked about the Ortiz-Maidana fight and the JuanMa and King Arthur fights. It was on the bottomline and they showed highlights. Boxing is picking up again in the U.S.

If you mean that boxing is the second most popular sport, sadly that's not even close, boxing isn't even in the top 10 most popular sports either in viewing figures, money generated or number of participants.

[TheDemolitionDan]

Boxing is still 2nd most popular around the world and on ESPN they are showing a lot more Boxing and talking about it a lot more than they have in the past. Just last week they showed highlights of a Cruiserweight, and Flyweight fight that I didn't even hear of. Then on saturday they talked about the Ortiz-Maidana fight and the JuanMa and King Arthur fights. It was on the bottomline and they showed highlights. Boxing is picking up again in the U.S.

If you mean that boxing is the second most popular sport, sadly that's not even close, boxing isn't even in the top 10 most popular sports either in viewing figures, money generated or number of participants.

I saw a poll on ESPN...or some sports outlet a few weeks back, so pretty recently, and they had Boxing as the 2nd most popular sport worldwide and that poll had about 800,000 people vote.

[Kev]

Boxing is still 2nd most popular around the world and on ESPN they are showing a lot more Boxing and talking about it a lot more than they have in the past. Just last week they showed highlights of a Cruiserweight, and Flyweight fight that I didn't even hear of. Then on saturday they talked about the Ortiz-Maidana fight and the JuanMa and King Arthur fights. It was on the bottomline and they showed highlights. Boxing is picking up again in the U.S.

If you mean that boxing is the second most popular sport, sadly that's not even close, boxing isn't even in the top 10 most popular sports either in viewing figures, money generated or number of participants.

I saw a poll on ESPN...or some sports outlet a few weeks back, so pretty recently, and they had Boxing as the 2nd most popular sport worldwide and that poll had about 800,000 people vote.

lol an ESPN poll like the viewers of that American Channel make up the whole world

The whole world is a big place my friend and you'll suprised what some of these countries like to watch.

The most popular sport hands down is football (soccer).

Then follows Cricket, Hockey (field hockey suprisingly), tennis and I believe volleyball.

Also increibly popular are Formula One, Table Tennis, Basketball, Horse Racing, Rugby etc.

I imagine every single one of those sports has far higher viewing figures around the world than boxing, Formula One aside more people play those sports too, and most of these will gross more money annually as well.

Judo is I believe the second most popular sport in terms of participation as well.

[Spicoli]

Not exactly sure what it needs to rise from.Boxing has been back seated for some time now compared to the days gone by when it was a constant feature on the front pages and prime time matches aired by the networks.I honestly think its more of a media over population and the rise and consistency of many other major sports....NBA...NFL...MLB not to mention the never ending popularity of collegs sports and more bowl games than one guy can count than it has to do with lack of U.S talent.Boxing in the U.S is not going anywhere....and will be here prior to and after MMA has maximized its popularity blowup Imo.The last decade and a half has seen the sport become massivly global and internationalized with the internet and other technologies and to pigeon hole it might result in missing the bigger picture and the sports over all reach now compared to years gone by.

The one pet peeve and worry I have though is the emphasis and ever growing rush to make these 'mega super name event' matches for the juggernauts of the cable world.The division leaping is mind numbing.I think we loose sight of alot of 'lesser' known fighters .....actually stifle learning-discovering or bringing them to casual fans.....and fights that should happen that go by the wayside in a networks clamour to bank on a certain cash cow(s).

[TheDemolitionDan]

If you mean that boxing is the second most popular sport, sadly that's not even close, boxing isn't even in the top 10 most popular sports either in viewing figures, money generated or number of participants.

I saw a poll on ESPN...or some sports outlet a few weeks back, so pretty recently, and they had Boxing as the 2nd most popular sport worldwide and that poll had about 800,000 people vote.

lol an ESPN poll like the viewers of that American Channel make up the whole world

The whole world is a big place my friend and you'll suprised what some of these countries like to watch.

The most popular sport hands down is football (soccer).

Then follows Cricket, Hockey (field hockey suprisingly), tennis and I believe volleyball.

Also increibly popular are Formula One, Table Tennis, Basketball, Horse Racing, Rugby etc.

I imagine every single one of those sports has far higher viewing figures around the world than boxing, Formula One aside more people play those sports too, and most of these will gross more money annually as well.

Judo is I believe the second most popular sport in terms of participation as well.

Soccer I do agree with, it was number 1 in that poll and Soccer is number 1 around the world. Cricket, Field Hockey, Tennis, and Volleyball I can't see.

I see Cricket like Baseball it's very popular, but around the world I don't think it really is. Field Hockey I doubt because I've never even heard of it and it doesn't sound like a year around sport and some countries couldn't play it because of weather and other circumstances, same with Volleyball.

Horse Racing isn't popular like it once was, F1 is very popular around the world, but I think Boxing is more popular...F1 was 5th most popular in the poll, Rugby is like American Football here in the States...it's not really worldwide, but Rugby is more worldwide than Football though. Basketball I would say is more popular than Boxing, but in the poll Basketball was 3rd, shockingly.

[No Contest]

If you mean in popularity, I doubt it will ever get to how it was in boxings heydey when entire countrys would tune in for fights on the radio and such. The quality of fighters from the US is still very high and more competitve than most if not all other countries. This also seems a bit like a needy thread, wasn't 2008 one of the best years of boxing recently, 2007 wasn't too shabby either....rise again...it just hit a lull.

[porkypara]

If you mean in popularity, I doubt it will ever get to how it was in boxings heydey when entire countrys would tune in for fights on the radio and such. The quality of fighters from the US is still very high and more competitve than most if not all other countries. This also seems a bit like a needy thread, wasn't 2008 one of the best years of boxing recently, 2007 wasn't too shabby either....rise again...it just hit a lull.

World boxing is on the up and there have been some great fights over the last couple of years but where are the American stars?

Apart from Mayweather are there any American boxers who you would consider a superstar in there own country.





Cant think of any? (this does not make me happy,but its just a fact)

[Nameless]

To be honest, HW is not a real problem: in Quebec, boxing is HUGE, really, more entrance at the gate for some matches than in NY or Las Vegas for some of the big events and we have absolutely no good Canadian HW, at least, nothing that really flashes. Why does it work? There is a few little shows that you can watch for free on T.V and the sports network are covering it nicely, the sport restaurants (like la Cage aux sports) sponsors big time boxing, especially as Eric lucas owns 2 of it and as he did a partnership with Jean Bedard, one of the owner of la Cage aux sports. There is a couple of matches broadcasted for free and the covering is good.
The lack of big HW in the US is easily explained by the fact that it is easier to be financed at school doing some basketball or football so athletes chose that path instead of boxing but as for the interest, the problem is not in the HW, I really don't think so. Make a few more free matches, talk about it in the medias (not only the specialised ones), spark the interest and it will raise up in a matter of months.