Boxing needs a Bolt

[HattonTheHammer]

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.

i dont neccesarily believe in the whole community theory

bruno,benn,eubank were equally loved and hated throughout all working life in britain. You may have a point with the whole asian community thing. They do indeed tend to marginalise themselves and cheer on their boys instead of your ricky hattons or david hayes.

Like yourself jaz i very much grew up around 90s boxing which was a golden era for britain at the time. At the very top of the weights we had the ups and downs of bruno to an undisputed world champ in lennox. We had the great eubank/benn/collins/watson feuds that created endless classic encounters. Not to mention prince naz, steve robinson etc

Naturally a golden era doesnt last forever and just like the heavyweight divisions demise britain has naturally suffered a loss of boxing megastars with the last 8 years really only having brought through 1 name you could genuinely class as household (sounds amazing but calzaghe is still a relative unknown amongst non fight fans)

Your completely spot in that comparing a one dimensional sport such as 100metre running where the fastest guy will always come out on top to the art of boxing and the many many factors you have to take into place is a bit unfair. I do see what dirs is trying to get at in the peice but he has gone about it in completely the wrong manner.

Britain cant single handedly revitalise the heavyweight division thats a problem that america and america alone needs to work on. But we should be hitting better targets than what we currently are the demand for the sport is still very high in britain. If guys like carl froch are going over to america and winning world titles yet not even getting a live slot on british tv then the sport is naturally doomed to fail. The tv companys have no responsibility to consistently promote boxing but the powers within do and something has gone seriously seriously wrong when we cant even see a homegrown lad crowned world champion

[Master]

Every sport needs a Bolt but they are rare and special and we do not normally appreciate them until they have gone.

[El Kabong]

Boxing HAS dominant fighters especially in the heavyweight division! Nobody can touch Wlad and Vitali right now...
#1 People in boxing need to worry about the NOW and not keep looking back to the past! Appreciate what we have, appreciate the Floyd Mayweather Jr.'s, Bernard Hopkins', Klitschko's, Pacquiao's, Marquez's and all while they are still around!

#2 In the heavyweight division it's not that the Klitschko's aren't dominant it's that they have no close competition, when was the last time either of them had some adversity in a fight? Vitali got buzzed by Corrie Sanders in 2004 and Wladimir got cut by Calvin Brock in 2006, that was the last time he had any adversity in a fight. And guys like Sultan and Chagaev basically give up or run away after getting popped a couple times. We can only hope that younger guys can at least TEST these Brothers.

Boxing fans no matter how great boxing is, are always saying "We used to have _____", "Remember when _____"....well I'm telling you appreciate what we have, because some guys are pretty damn good right now and other than that we're stuck with them until something better comes along.

[Nameless]

Boxing doesn't need a savior; It needs fewer promoters, far lesser belts and more tournaments like the one we're having at the moment, all these things that will spark interest and provide the casual viewer with better quality fights.
The big problem now, compared to before is that nobody can point who's THE champion and that it is way too easy to skip from real opponents for a long time; While some paper champions created with some lousy promoter's scissors are pointed by the camera, some real and worthy champions are ignored by the mainstream medias and thefore, the guy who's not a specialist in boxing but could be a potential fan is plainly left uninterested by the pitiful state of things he sees.

[HattonTheHammer]

Boxing HAS dominant fighters especially in the heavyweight division! Nobody can touch Wlad and Vitali right now...
#1 People in boxing need to worry about the NOW and not keep looking back to the past! Appreciate what we have, appreciate the Floyd Mayweather Jr.'s, Bernard Hopkins', Klitschko's, Pacquiao's, Marquez's and all while they are still around!

#2 In the heavyweight division it's not that the Klitschko's aren't dominant it's that they have no close competition, when was the last time either of them had some adversity in a fight? Vitali got buzzed by Corrie Sanders in 2004 and Wladimir got cut by Calvin Brock in 2006, that was the last time he had any adversity in a fight. And guys like Sultan and Chagaev basically give up or run away after getting popped a couple times. We can only hope that younger guys can at least TEST these Brothers.

Boxing fans no matter how great boxing is, are always saying "We used to have _____", "Remember when _____"....well I'm telling you appreciate what we have, because some guys are pretty damn good right now and other than that we're stuck with them until something better comes along.

completely true, if your reffering to every division other than heavyweight

mayweather, pacquiao, hatton, jones, hopkins, marquez, cotto, kessler, froch, dawson -we still have our superstars

but where heavyweight is concerned......c`mon lyle even youve gotta accept its a complete mess

[El Kabong]

The problems with the heavyweights are as follows...

1. There's a lack of PROVEN contenders, there are a lot of very young contenders and very old fighter who are still hanging around, but there aren't very many Young Contenders with experience...Chambers and Arreola have tried to prepare for the Klitschko's as best as they can, but to me they are still very green.

2. When the contenders get their shot, they fight not to lose instead of fighting to win. If you challenge the Klitschko's you make them fight, you make them fight and the fight gets a little more interesting. Waiting to counter for 10 rounds doesn't cut it!!!

3. The young up and coming fighters don't test themselves early in their careers. If you don't test yourself you don't develop a following, you don't make yourself better, you get lazy and you can't handle adversity and being able to cope with adversity is a KEY to being a champion.

....also it wouldn't hurt if heavyweights other than the Klitschko's came to fight IN SHAPE

As a fan of The Klitschko's, I don't mind the "mess", let the other people worry about that, I just want Wlad and Vitali to keep winning

[generalbulldog]

Boxing is only in decline in America, because of the lack of a very good American HW to capture the nation's imagination. America has always had a love fest for that division throughout the years. When they say boxing is dying it only applies to America imo. To capture America's interest in boxing again it has to have a good American HW or HWs. The sport is still wildly popular in many countries. And a sport like MMA is still considered to be a sideshow attraction in those countries and still isn't up to par with boxing's appeal.

Where boxing is a top 5 sport would be countries in Latin America, and a few Asian countries like Japan, Thailand, Phillipines, and get this since China won a few gold medals in boxing at the '08 Olympics boxing is gaining popularity over there. The Duvas are training their Olympic Gold medalists. And of course Manny Pacquiao's success also has an effect in that region.

Boxing is doing fine overall in the world, when people say no one cares about it anymore and that it's dying, it might hold some truth for a certain country in north america, but it sure doesn't apply to the rest of the world.

[El Kabong]

....that's why guys like 'Monk' Foreman and Deontay Wilder had better be managed very carefully and built up to not get upended once they get to where they are contenders.