
Originally Posted by
IamInuit

Originally Posted by
generalbulldog

Originally Posted by
IamInuit
I can't believe I"m saying this but I do agree with Arum, although it was him that was partially at fault for helping to move boxing to premium cable. He has a point especially on the NFL. I was thinking the NFL could make a killing money wise if it was on premium cable and it's playoff games and SB was on PPV, but it would fuck the sport in the long term.
From a business standpoint, I suppose it's genius. In the overall question as to why boxing has taken a back seat it is a kind of "which came first the chicken or the egg" scenario. Look, their is something wrong in pugilism when broadcaster's like HBO and Showtime are deciding who fights whom.
I just got done reading a Sport's Illustrated article about Rocky Marciano a few days ago. And Rocky was particularly upset with boxing being taken out of high school and the colleges as a sport, this happened in the 1950s. That to me was another blow to boxing. Sports like football, basketball, and baseball are at the high school and college level everywhere in America. They have a system to introduce and produce talent, meaning they are already scouting the youngsters and introducing them to the sport. Boxing doesn't have that luxury anymore. And with the litigious nature of the US, I don't foresee it being a high school or college sport again.
Just imagine some soccer mom suing the high school district because her son got beaten up and embarrassed in some gym wars?
So the decline in boxing in America imo was a combination of things like it being removed from HS and colleges and add to the fact it was completely removed from network television and you have a niche sport.
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