Why does boxing continue to repel fans?

[yoitsdan]

Well the only time you see UFC is on Spike:TV every now & then when they have their show and when they replay old fights.
Pride is only shown on FSN, I think and most of what they have shown in the past is about a year old.

On the other hand, there is also soooo much boxing on regular TV at least here where I'm at. (Los Angeles, California USA)


Thursday 1/4/07- boxing on the 'VS' channel, they'll replay a classic fight and I'll record it.
Thursday boxing on ESPN:Classic, they'll replay a classic fight if I don't already have it I'll record it.
Friday 1/5/07- I will come home tune to 'ESPN:2' and watch The Peterson Bros. kick off the new year. Then I'll flip the channel to 'Telefutura and watch Jose Armando Santa-Cruz kick off the new year. Then I'll flip the channel to 'Showtime' and watch the conclusion of the Super Middleweight tournament between Mendy vs. Hanshaw.
Thats 3 channels with at least 10 fights not on PPV.

Also look at your boxing calendar, HBO or Showtime hasn't had a PPV since Nov. and they won't have one probably untill March:MAB vs. JMM.


Jan. 5
(Showtime): "ShoBox" tournament final: Anthony Hanshaw vs. Jean Paul Mendy ; Jose Izquierdo vs. Nick Casal.

(ESPN2): Anthony Peterson vs. Juan Garza ; Lamont Peterson vs. Juaquin Gallardo plus 1 more fight.

(Telefutura): Jose Armando Santa Cruz vs. Luis Arceo plus about 3 more fights.


Jan. 6
(Showtime): Samuel Peter vs. James Toney, WBC heavyweight eliminator; Jose Antonio Rivera vs. Travis Simms, 12 rounds, for Rivera's WBA junior middleweight title; Roman Karmazin vs. James Obede Toney


Jan. 11
(Versus): Almazbek "Kid Diamond" Raiymkulov vs. Antonio Pitalua ; Anthony Thompson vs. Robert Frazier.


Jan. 12
(ESPN2): Cornelius "K9" Bundrage vs Chris Smith plus 3 more fights.


Jan. 19
(Telefutura): Henry Bruseles vs. Wilfredo Negron ; Francisco Lorenzo vs. Rocky Martinez plus 2 more fights.

(Showtime): Juan Manuel Lopez vs. TBA ; Victor Ortiz vs. Marvin Cordova .

(ESPN2): Randall Bailey vs. Anthony Mora plus 3 more fights.


Jan. 20
(HBO): Juan Urango vs. Ricky Hatton ; Jose Luis Castillo vs. Herman Ngoudjo.


Jan. 25
(Versus): Ulises "Archie" Solis vs. Will Grigsby plus 1 more fight.

Jan. 27
(HBO): Jorge Arce vs. Julio David Roque Ler ; Kelly Pavlik vs. Jose Luis Zertuche, ; Vanes Martirosyan vs. TBA.

And Febubary looks to be as good as Jan.

Yo all this is good for us, I'm talking about the mainstream. UFC 66 grossed $110 million, and boxing should be making that kind of money, it really is kicking boxing's ass. What I think is that the big fights should be shown on national networks for free to re-establish the fan base.

Well then who the hell pockets the $110 mill. cause I just read that UFC fighters are REALLY underpaid. Now I'm confused?

The money is re-invested in new contracts, its still establishing itself to monopolise the other organizations. It is huge, and like top tier boxing, top tier ufc fighters make 6 figures in fights.

[Lords Gym]

If your talking about not drawing new fans to the sport… your average people on the streets .. its because there are no real Good Heavyweights ! You need the Tyson's and Holyfield’s in order to get that outside interest. This generation of Heavyweight are fucking boring and Green in general . no real talent. no conditioning , no work ethic. no skills. everyone is out there trying to throw the hardest punch they can, and when they mis , they want to hold and tie up ,cause they got not center no balance Look back at Holyfield vs. Foreman 1991 .. You got Big George 42 years old in there , and he never hold s once the entire fight . You got Holyfield throwing 4 5 6 punch combinations and never a clinch . Fans want to see a good talented competitive heavyweight division and it aint there! HW’s s that can throw combination punches , HW’s that can stay in the pocket and who are conditioned well enough to keep good sustained offense pace going. Even old George could keep a good pace and that’s at 42 years old George would destroy the HW’s fighting today on sheer work rate alone.

[sexydarin]

And to add another point, please get rid of the alphabet titles. Boxing only needs one belt for each weight class. One champion and not a hodge podge of lesser champions.

[Punisher136]

They played up the ibragimov/austin fight as a guaranteed blockbuster mtach that would catapult the winner into the heavyweight division spotlight. That fight was about as action packed as bingo night in a retirement home. The only difference is somebody won in bingo.

[RozzySean]

If your talking about not drawing new fans to the sport… your average people on the streets .. its because there are no real Good Heavyweights ! You need the Tyson's and Holyfield’s in order to get that outside interest. This generation of Heavyweight are F****** boring and Green in general . no real talent. no conditioning , no work ethic. no skills. everyone is out there trying to throw the hardest punch they can, and when they mis , they want to hold and tie up ,cause they got not center no balance Look back at Holyfield vs. Foreman 1991 .. You got Big George 42 years old in there , and he never hold s once the entire fight . You got Holyfield throwing 4 5 6 punch combinations and never a clinch . Fans want to see a good talented competitive heavyweight division and it aint there! HW’s s that can throw combination punches , HW’s that can stay in the pocket and who are conditioned well enough to keep good sustained offense pace going. Even old George could keep a good pace and that’s at 42 years old George would destroy the HW’s fighting today on sheer work rate alone.

Great point, Lords Gym. CC. I DVR'd Foreman/Holyfield from ESPN Classic and watched it a few nights ago. It's amazing the skill and workrate they both show. A fat and old Foreman had a workrate like Hatton compared to most of today's heavyweights. It's unfortunate that the general public only wants to see heavies, but it's true. Heavyweights create general interested in boxing, even for the lower divisons. Heavyweights bring in new fans and casual fans. If the heavyweight division were better, it would be good for the smaller fighters as well.

[Lords Gym]

They played up the ibragimov/austin fight as a guaranteed blockbuster mtach that would catapult the winner into the heavyweight division spotlight. That fight was about as action packed as bingo night in a retirement home. The only difference is somebody won in bingo.

LOL,, your right hehehe ! There is no charisma out there , just no talent in the HW's right now. . look at that Brock -vs- Timor, HW fight on HBO several months back there was more hugging and snuggling in that fight , then in most marriages . , Briggs -vs- Sergie SHO , and people wonder why the average person dont enjoy watching boxing. Cool Click my brother ! .

[Lords Gym]

If your talking about not drawing new fans to the sport… your average people on the streets .. its because there are no real Good Heavyweights ! You need the Tyson's and Holyfield’s in order to get that outside interest. This generation of Heavyweight are F****** boring and Green in general . no real talent. no conditioning , no work ethic. no skills. everyone is out there trying to throw the hardest punch they can, and when they mis , they want to hold and tie up ,cause they got not center no balance Look back at Holyfield vs. Foreman 1991 .. You got Big George 42 years old in there , and he never hold s once the entire fight . You got Holyfield throwing 4 5 6 punch combinations and never a clinch . Fans want to see a good talented competitive heavyweight division and it aint there! HW’s s that can throw combination punches , HW’s that can stay in the pocket and who are conditioned well enough to keep good sustained offense pace going. Even old George could keep a good pace and that’s at 42 years old George would destroy the HW’s fighting today on sheer work rate alone.

Great point, Lords Gym. CC. I DVR'd Foreman/Holyfield from ESPN Classic and watched it a few nights ago. It's amazing the skill and workrate they both show. A fat and old Foreman had a workrate like Hatton compared to most of today's heavyweights. It's unfortunate that the general public only wants to see heavies, but it's true. Heavyweights create general interested in boxing, even for the lower divisons. Heavyweights bring in new fans and casual fans. If the heavyweight division were better, it would be good for the smaller fighters as well.

your exactly right ! Cool Click

[tuckwopat]

It's crazy to hear my friends say that they watch hockey for the fights, but stay away from boxing because its boring.

[Lords Gym]

It's crazy to hear my friends say that they watch hockey for the fights, but stay away from boxing because its boring.

if you talking about today's HW boxing ... there are more punchs thrown in a hockey match ! more sustained action and cleaner punches ! LMFAO !