Is Boxing a couple years away from a huge decline?

[amat]

Couldn't they have said this a few years ago when Trinidad, Jones, Mosley, De La Hoya and Lewis all were on the decline?

The last segment, the neon graveyard one, of the last 24/7 was great and Liev Schreiber uttered his best line of any series. I believe the quote went something like 'history is a chronicle of replacement' or something like that. It's true and really that's all you need to know.

[Kev]

Couldn't they have said this a few years ago when Trinidad, Jones, Mosley, De La Hoya and Lewis all were on the decline?

The last segment, the neon graveyard one, of the last 24/7 was great and Liev Schreiber uttered his best line of any series. I believe the quote went something like 'history is a chronicle of replacement' or something like that. It's true and really that's all you need to know.

That is a good line indeed.

I do seem to remember the boxing scene being pretty weak about 4 or so years ago though. It's been steadily building in recent years and is almost at its climax regarding the current megafights and rivalries.

Then I think it's going to be a couple years of building up again. It won't be boring or dead, but it will more about prospects for the future.

Kind of like right now, we are nearing the climax of the Lord of the Rings trilogy, maybe just starting the final film 'Return of the King', but once we've finished that we'll be at the beginning of Twilight or something. That's what worries me.

[BoxingGorilla]

They can turn anyone into a star if they try hard enough.

[steady_E]

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.

The fact that I was once hugely in to boxing and now I don't know any of these names rings alarm bells.

I now only tend to watch the fighters you mentioned like Mayweather, Hatton, Mosely, Pac Man and so on. I've lost interest in up and coming fighters.

The problem is this the people here seem to be afraid to talk about anything to do with MMA and the impact it has had on boxing. Anytime somebody tries to start a thread comparing MMA to boxing it gets instantly stopped or sent to the MMA section out of sight. This is usually justified by saying "boxing and MMA are two completely different sports" when the reality is MMA has taken a large audience away from boxing.

I was once so into boxing I'd watch the undercard fights with as much interest as the main fight. Now I'll only watch boxing if it's a megga fight. With the UFC you don't get ridiculous mismatches, there's no bullshit waiting years for two fighters to fight like pac v Mayweather and a loss doesn't have such an impact as in boxing. You can have two great fighters fighting three times in the space it takes to make one match up in boxing. Not mention the undercard fights are just as good as the main card. I could go on all day giving reasons as to why it has adverted peoples attention away from boxing but I doubt the moderators are keen on this kind of free speech. (not all of them of course)

[Kev]

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.

The fact that I was once hugely in to boxing and now I don't know any of these names rings alarm bells.

I now only tend to watch the fighters you mentioned like Mayweather, Hatton, Mosely, Pac Man and so on. I've lost interest in up and coming fighters.

The problem is this the people here seem to be afraid to talk about anything to do with MMA and the impact it has had on boxing. Anytime somebody tries to start a thread comparing MMA to boxing it gets instantly stopped or sent to the MMA section out of sight. This is usually justified by saying "boxing and MMA are two completely different sports" when the reality is MMA has taken a large audience away from boxing.

I was once so into boxing I'd watch the undercard fights with as much interest as the main fight. Now I'll only watch boxing if it's a megga fight. With the UFC you don't get ridiculous mismatches, there's no bullshit waiting years for two fighters to fight like pac v Mayweather and a loss doesn't have such an impact as in boxing. You can have two great fighters fighting three times in the space it takes to make one match up in boxing. Not mention the undercard fights are just as good as the main card. I could go on all day giving reasons as to why it has adverted peoples attention away from boxing but I doubt the moderators are keen on this kind of free speech. (not all of them of course)

Yeah I think this WILL be significant. It's easy for people to say they can create stars but I don't really think that is true.

The true test of a boxing star is revealed in his PPV sales. Take away Floyd and Manny, and with Oscar long gone and no heavyweight scene to speak of who is going to sell?

I just can't see anyone on the horizon who could be a big star.

The guys who appear to be the stars of tomorrow, well let's look at them.

Chad Dawson
Andre Ward
Lucian Bute
J M Lopez
Yuriorkis Gamboa
Tim Bradley
Amir Khan
Andre Berto

Really can you see ANY of these guys being PPV stars?

I just cant' picture it.

I feel there is a real possiblity that once Manny and Floyd have departed, in probably a year to 18 months time we may not see even a 1 million buy PPV for a number of years. Where will it come from?

In the meantime MMA may well continue to grow?

I think the potential is there for UFC PPV's to smash boxing's in 2012 and 2013 unless something phenomenal happens.

[HattonTheHammer]

Nope and it never will be

We all claimed the same thing after the decline of tyson, holyfield, lewis, jones etc - pacquiao and mayweather filled the boots as no doubt others will once they are long gone.

Boxing will always have its world class athletes, it`ll always have its nice guys, bad guys, it`ll always have mega fight showdowns

No fighter makes the sport of boxing what it is, not ali, not tyson not anybody - boxing will always be the main combat sport for at least 90% of the world

[Rantcatrat]

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.

The fact that I was once hugely in to boxing and now I don't know any of these names rings alarm bells.

I now only tend to watch the fighters you mentioned like Mayweather, Hatton, Mosely, Pac Man and so on. I've lost interest in up and coming fighters.

The problem is this the people here seem to be afraid to talk about anything to do with MMA and the impact it has had on boxing. Anytime somebody tries to start a thread comparing MMA to boxing it gets instantly stopped or sent to the MMA section out of sight. This is usually justified by saying "boxing and MMA are two completely different sports" when the reality is MMA has taken a large audience away from boxing.

I was once so into boxing I'd watch the undercard fights with as much interest as the main fight. Now I'll only watch boxing if it's a megga fight. With the UFC you don't get ridiculous mismatches, there's no bullshit waiting years for two fighters to fight like pac v Mayweather and a loss doesn't have such an impact as in boxing. You can have two great fighters fighting three times in the space it takes to make one match up in boxing. Not mention the undercard fights are just as good as the main card. I could go on all day giving reasons as to why it has adverted peoples attention away from boxing but I doubt the moderators are keen on this kind of free speech. (not all of them of course)

Yeah I think this WILL be significant. It's easy for people to say they can create stars but I don't really think that is true.

The true test of a boxing star is revealed in his PPV sales. Take away Floyd and Manny, and with Oscar long gone and no heavyweight scene to speak of who is going to sell?

I just can't see anyone on the horizon who could be a big star.

The guys who appear to be the stars of tomorrow, well let's look at them.

Chad Dawson
Andre Ward
Lucian Bute
J M Lopez
Yuriorkis Gamboa
Tim Bradley
Amir Khan
Andre Berto

Really can you see ANY of these guys being PPV stars?

I just cant' picture it.

I feel there is a real possiblity that once Manny and Floyd have departed, in probably a year to 18 months time we may not see even a 1 million buy PPV for a number of years. Where will it come from?

In the meantime MMA may well continue to grow?

I think the potential is there for UFC PPV's to smash boxing's in 2012 and 2013 unless something phenomenal happens.

Sad to say it, but being an american PPV star is very difficult these days. Chad Dawson can keep wining, but it will be difficult for him to develop a fan base like Pacquiao or Floyd because of his style. Of the fighters you mentioned, Juanma Lopez, Lucian Bute, and Amir Khan, if they are matched well, could grow into big boxing stars. Bute fills up the Bell Stadium in Montreal routinely and JuanMa has a large Puerto Rican following. Khan same. I would throw Saul "Canelo" Alvarez in there. He's 19 and already a household name among boxing fans in Mexico.

[boozeboxer]

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.

The fact that I was once hugely in to boxing and now I don't know any of these names rings alarm bells.

I now only tend to watch the fighters you mentioned like Mayweather, Hatton, Mosely, Pac Man and so on. I've lost interest in up and coming fighters.

The problem is this the people here seem to be afraid to talk about anything to do with MMA and the impact it has had on boxing. Anytime somebody tries to start a thread comparing MMA to boxing it gets instantly stopped or sent to the MMA section out of sight. This is usually justified by saying "boxing and MMA are two completely different sports" when the reality is MMA has taken a large audience away from boxing.

I was once so into boxing I'd watch the undercard fights with as much interest as the main fight. Now I'll only watch boxing if it's a megga fight. With the UFC you don't get ridiculous mismatches, there's no bullshit waiting years for two fighters to fight like pac v Mayweather and a loss doesn't have such an impact as in boxing. You can have two great fighters fighting three times in the space it takes to make one match up in boxing. Not mention the undercard fights are just as good as the main card. I could go on all day giving reasons as to why it has adverted peoples attention away from boxing but I doubt the moderators are keen on this kind of free speech. (not all of them of course)

You are a muppet. You want to have a conversation about the current state of boxing when you don't know who Dawson, Ward, and Gamboa are?

I'd say bugger off to the MMA forum.

[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.

[Mo Frazier]

Maybe a slight decline in ppv numbers, but certainly not a decline in talent. Hell, when Larry Bird and all those legendary cats retired, who knew Michael Jordan was lacing his shoes about to take over the league in a few years. The talent will always be around, it's just a matter of the names getting out there, which will happen in due time.