Quote Originally Posted by jamiebhoy View Post
I agree with a lot of what you are saying there Jaz, I think the problem is that people remember what boxing was like in terms of coverage in newspapers and television back in the good old days.

When I was in my 20's there were fights on TV all the time, there was no Foxtel,Sky, Cable etc . ITV ran the fight night show and the BBC had boxing on too.

The very good point you make is the marketing of ethnic fighters and how it's very much based on their success. How many of the young Asian guys tuning in to watch Khan will do the same for JMM,Pac etc.

It's a point proven on this very sight that we see certain people post only when a certain fighter is in action ( I don't need to name the fighter right !!) When these guys are not in action or have walked away there will be a great gap in those ethnic groups unless the start to embrace the fight as a whole.

I also know that some of the casual fight fans I know use the argument that they no longer know who's who with all the different belts and weights so that's another reason they lose interest.

Nice response Jaz.
As I'm only just in my 20s I can't really talk with any experience of how it used to be, but I do get that impression, although on my degree in a brief lecture in sports journalistic trends, they pointed out that all sports had been pushed further back in the paper bar major sporting events (see major fights, the ashes, 6 nations & other sporting tournaments) due to football.

I do think marketing things to ethnic groups serves some purpose, & that people will buy a fight outside of that involving a star like Oscar, Floyd or Manny, but its left the difference between the superstars & the rest even bigger. For example, whilst Manny Pacquiao has brought many fans on board who will also now support Nonito Donaire or Brian Viloria, they are generally not interested in becoming more knowledgeable about the sport, more going on about how great their fighters are.

Also the focus on a big fighter can mean that fighter gets all the fans. Floyd has basically hoovered up a lot of the major support among the young, black community, but in doing so has meant that other excellent black fighters like Paul Williams or Chad Dawson can't get fans outside the boxing community because the ethnic 'star' spot is already taken. Andre Berto looks like he might next fill this void largely through getting himself seen with rappers & such. It's because of that marketing that Zab Judah is a more well known name amongst these young people who they need to buy the fights than Shane Mosley. I kid you not.

I think Pacquiao has now reached the stage where people who are say Khan fans will shell out for his fights, but I think if JMM was not up against PBF the casual sports fan would have no interest or single fighter fan wouldn't have an interest. Ironically even if he loses, I reckon his next fight will bring bigger exposure off the back of his antics on 24/7. As much as part of me hates these catchweight fights, with all the endless belts right now they serve the purpose of bringing the best together, which will be the only way to get the public back interested.