Our Aging Sport

[marbleheadmaui]

I'm sure there are a ton of tv friendly fighters out there who just don't get the exposure that would credit the sport.

Maybe but so what? That doesn't explain the aging at the top of the game does it?

[Jimanuel Boogustus]

I'm sure there are a ton of tv friendly fighters out there who just don't get the exposure that would credit the sport.

Maybe but so what? That doesn't explain the aging at the top of the game does it?

Easy tiger.

I guess my post was kinda in conjunction with what Lyle touched on earlier with regards to Fighters/ promoters protecting that '0'...

The networks put to much value on these young fighters with unbeaten records which to me, is a extremely toxic corporate virtue. We know this has had an affect on the casual viewer over recent years; they see this young over-hyped unbeaten guy loose to an unheralded fighter and then all interest is lost and so then the Network are in pursuit of the next Young Network Idol... Which basically to me looks like a downward spiral. Because ultimately, it's TV that governs Boxing.

I also don't like how P4P gets used, like a glorified popularity contest to market the top fighters of the sport. Fighters, fans and networks all pervert the true essence of 'Pound for Pound' to use it almost as a league table, like the Premier League. For example, Floyd Mayweather's fight against Manuel Marquez (Numero Uno) was the biggest perversion of the essence of 'Pound for Pound' from a fighters perspective.

So anyway, I guess the way I see it, the younger fighters aren't really getting the fights they, as fighters need and boxing is suffering because these younger fighters are too overprotected. Also the old guys are hanging tough because they have had proper careers ie tough breaks, hard knocks and they really know how to fight. They are showing true skills while basking in what maybe the only the spoils of a long hard career... Significance.

Andre Ward has had a handful of significant wins in a short amount of time and is currently displaying some of the finest skills boxing has to offer, yet 90% of fans wont have him in their top 5 because they are probably waiting for him to win some more fights... Which is madness. The skills are their now just as they will be when he's 35.

[marbleheadmaui]

I'm sure there are a ton of tv friendly fighters out there who just don't get the exposure that would credit the sport.

Maybe but so what? That doesn't explain the aging at the top of the game does it?

Easy tiger.

I guess my post was kinda in conjunction with what Lyle touched on earlier with regards to Fighters/ promoters protecting that '0'...

The networks put to much value on these young fighters with unbeaten records which to me, is a extremely toxic corporate virtue. We know this has had an affect on the casual viewer over recent years; they see this young over-hyped unbeaten guy loose to an unheralded fighter and then all interest is lost and so then the Network are in pursuit of the next Young Network Idol... Which basically to me looks like a downward spiral. Because ultimately, it's TV that governs Boxing.

I also don't like how P4P gets used, like a glorified popularity contest to market the top fighters of the sport. Fighters, fans and networks all pervert the true essence of 'Pound for Pound' to use it almost as a league table, like the Premier League. For example, Floyd Mayweather's fight against Manuel Marquez (Numero Uno) was the biggest perversion of the essence of 'Pound for Pound' from a fighters perspective.

So anyway, I guess the way I see it, the younger fighters aren't really getting the fights they, as fighters need and boxing is suffering because these younger fighters are too overprotected. Also the old guys are hanging tough because they have had proper careers ie tough breaks, hard knocks and they really know how to fight. They are showing true skills while basking in what maybe the only the spoils of a long hard career... Significance.

Andre Ward has had a handful of significant wins in a short amount of time and is currently displaying some of the finest skills boxing has to offer, yet 90% of fans wont have him in their top 5 because they are probably waiting for him to win some more fights... Which is madness. The skills are their now just as they will be when he's 35.

Very nice post.