Is Boxing a couple years away from a huge decline?

[ICB]

It may seem absurd right now to suggest this as boxing is the hottest it's been in a long time.

But look at the ages of the combatant's involved.

Hopkins will be gone in 12 months, as will Mosely almost certainly.

J M Marquez, his brother Raphael and Israel Vasquez will all likely be retired within a couple years.

I'd imagine Floyd and Manny are maybe two fights each away from retirement.

Roy Jones will be gone.

The heavyweight divsion will most likely be in a piss poor state as the challenge of David Haye will most probably have been vanquished.

I'm trying to think who the big stars will be in two years time and I'm guessing it will be Dawson, Ward, Gamboa.

Do you think boxing will go through a quiet spell, a noticable dip for a couple of years until these guys establish themselves as household names?

I'm thinking between 2011 to the end of 2012. I wonder what the state of the sport will be like then.

Who do you think the breakout stars will be, and will Manny, Floyd et al be long gone?

Jeez Bilbo your such a kill joy, but seriously i don't think anyone at the moment. Will be superstars like Pacquiao or Mayweather, we still have.

Andre Berto
Chad Dawson
Tavoris Cloud
Roman Gonzalez
Koki Kameda
Amir Khan
Timothy Bradley
Devon Alexander
Paul Williams
Lucian Bute
Andre Dirrell
Andre Ward
Kevin Mitchell
Abner Mares
Yohnny Perez
Nonito Donaire
Yuriorkis Gamboa
Juan Manuel Lopez

ETC.

But yes i agree no one in that list really looks to be superstar material.

[Kev]

It may seem absurd right now to suggest this as boxing is the hottest it's been in a long time.

But look at the ages of the combatant's involved.

Hopkins will be gone in 12 months, as will Mosely almost certainly.

J M Marquez, his brother Raphael and Israel Vasquez will all likely be retired within a couple years.

I'd imagine Floyd and Manny are maybe two fights each away from retirement.

Roy Jones will be gone.

The heavyweight divsion will most likely be in a piss poor state as the challenge of David Haye will most probably have been vanquished.

I'm trying to think who the big stars will be in two years time and I'm guessing it will be Dawson, Ward, Gamboa.

Do you think boxing will go through a quiet spell, a noticable dip for a couple of years until these guys establish themselves as household names?

I'm thinking between 2011 to the end of 2012. I wonder what the state of the sport will be like then.

Who do you think the breakout stars will be, and will Manny, Floyd et al be long gone?

Jeez Bilbo your such a kill joy, but seriously i don't think anyone at the moment. Will be superstars like Pacquiao or Mayweather, we still have.

Andre Berto
Chad Dawson
Tavoris Cloud
Roman Gonzalez
Koki Kameda
Amir Khan
Timothy Bradley
Devon Alexander
Paul Williams
Lucian Bute
Andre Dirrell
Andre Ward
Kevin Mitchell
Abner Mares
Yohnny Perez
Nonito Donaire
Yuriorkis Gamboa
Juan Manuel Lopez

ETC.

But yes i agree no one in that list really looks to be superstar material.

I just think take away Manny, Floyd and Oscar, and you'll struggle to get over 350,000 buys on virtually any card.

Haye Klitschko is probably the only big fight not involving those guys and with that probably taking place within the next year, and Floyd and Manny most likely not that much longer in the sport I can see boxing taking a bit of a commercial nose dive.

I think it's possible that in 2012 MMA PPV's will kick boxing's ass. I reckon the UFC could get 3 or 4 one million buys a year from now on with the right matchups, and outside of Manny and Floyd I can't see boxing having one.

[amat]

It may seem absurd right now to suggest this as boxing is the hottest it's been in a long time.

But look at the ages of the combatant's involved.

Hopkins will be gone in 12 months, as will Mosely almost certainly.

J M Marquez, his brother Raphael and Israel Vasquez will all likely be retired within a couple years.

I'd imagine Floyd and Manny are maybe two fights each away from retirement.

Roy Jones will be gone.

The heavyweight divsion will most likely be in a piss poor state as the challenge of David Haye will most probably have been vanquished.

I'm trying to think who the big stars will be in two years time and I'm guessing it will be Dawson, Ward, Gamboa.

Do you think boxing will go through a quiet spell, a noticable dip for a couple of years until these guys establish themselves as household names?

I'm thinking between 2011 to the end of 2012. I wonder what the state of the sport will be like then.

Who do you think the breakout stars will be, and will Manny, Floyd et al be long gone?

Jeez Bilbo your such a kill joy, but seriously i don't think anyone at the moment. Will be superstars like Pacquiao or Mayweather, we still have.

Andre Berto
Chad Dawson
Tavoris Cloud
Roman Gonzalez
Koki Kameda
Amir Khan
Timothy Bradley
Devon Alexander
Paul Williams
Lucian Bute
Andre Dirrell
Andre Ward
Kevin Mitchell
Abner Mares
Yohnny Perez
Nonito Donaire
Yuriorkis Gamboa
Juan Manuel Lopez

ETC.

But yes i agree no one in that list really looks to be superstar material.

I just think take away Manny, Floyd and Oscar, and you'll struggle to get over 350,000 buys on virtually any card.

Haye Klitschko is probably the only big fight not involving those guys and with that probably taking place within the next year, and Floyd and Manny most likely not that much longer in the sport I can see boxing taking a bit of a commercial nose dive.

I think it's possible that in 2012 MMA PPV's will kick boxing's ass. I reckon the UFC could get 3 or 4 one million buys a year from now on with the right matchups, and outside of Manny and Floyd I can't see boxing having one.

No way! You have to understand demographics and the demographic the UFC has control 21-35 aren't the demographic who stay at home and watch Pay Per View, they go to Hooters or out drinking. There is a peak with that age group rather then a plateau like you get with older people. People who are grown up and want to watch the fight, those are the guys who consistently order PPVs more.

Also those numbers you post are extremely skewed as UFC does many more PPVs then HBO. 2007 was the first year they overtook HBO in PPV sales, That's worked so far but there's still a big question as whether or not that's sustainable. That's the big question and the constant fight for the UFC. It's also why they don't disclose all their PPV buys. 4 million is absurd Bilbo you're out of your mind boxing nor MMA will never do that.

[Zelley]

If you want to predict the future, you dont look at the here and now in the pro ranks at to top of the ratings chart, you look at the young
boxers that have turned pro in the last two or three years and
young warriors like Billy Joe Saunders, Ashley Sexton, Joe Murray
and many others.

If you want to predict the future, you look at womens amateur boxing
and the results of womens boxing in the Pan Am Games and the
results of the 2012 LONDON OLYMPICS. From the 2012 Olympics
will come a new wave of young boxers ready for action.

Attempting to compare MMA and UFC with Professional Boxing
for number of hits of a PPV is a pointless game of mumbo jumbo.

[JazMerkin]

I don't think it is, there's a lot of possibilities.

Dawson needs to find that legit challenge to cross him over, if there was a way to build him and Cloud up that could happen.

Ward & Dirrell both have the potential to become crossover successes (maybe less so Ward with his god-talk & similarity to Mr Potato Head), as long as they fight how they have in their most recent contests.

In fact, the 160/168lbers have a load of great prospects coming through who could be big in the next two years. Daniel Jacobs, Peter Quillin, George Groves, Fernando Guerrero, James DeGale, Edwin Rodriguez, David Lemieux, Matt Korobov and that's on top of guys like Sergio Martinez and Paul Williams who could still be around and bigger fighters.

Equally, there's a number of guys coming up at Welterweight who have possible PPV potential. Berto needs the right test at the right time, against a name like Cotto or Mosley, and he could become a star. Then Mike Jones and Antwone Smith offer the possibility of growing into exciting fighters given their styles, just hope they aren't matched too early. That's ignoring the big one, Saul Alvarez, who could well become the biggest star in boxing if he's managed right.

Devon Alexander, Tim Bradley, Victor Ortiz and Amir Khan all have great potential. Alexander & Bradley should really be kept from talking too much, but they both in different ways represent the American Dream, and this is a great selling point. Ortiz also feeds into this if he can come back from the Maidana defeat, and both him and Khan are fairly good-looking kids with decent enough styles to crossover.

Lopez, Gamboa, Caballero and even Chris John, could provide the new decade's answer to the Barrera, Morales, Pacquaio and Marquez grouping of the last. At least two of those (Gamboa & Caballero) I believe have the frames and talent that could carry them up to Lightweight.

There is one more guy who I really think could become a star and that's Yuri Foreman. I initially thought that Arum was setting him up for Cotto's 3rd belt in a different weight-class, but the more I see the more I reckon that he's aiming for Foreman to become a big star. The whole Rabbi thing could play very well for him.