Saving Boxing
July 8th, 2009
By Pedro Reyna: Boxing was once the #1 sport in America. Much has changed since those days. Many on this website have discussed why is it that boxing is falling while UFC (and other MMA leagues) are rising. There are several reasons why boxing is falling apart, however, the fans have every resource to make a difference in the sport. One may not believe it and say to themselves, “How can I possible save boxing?” Yet, it is not just one person, it is millions of boxing fans around the world that are saying the exact same thing. Millions of fans… and nothing is being done to better the sport.
2. Many believe that Pay Per View events are destroying the sport. Yet, how is it that UFC is striving with success after having every event on PPV as well. UFC 100 is up soon on PPV! 100 PPV events within 6 years! And price to order an event of UFC is very equal to what boxing PPV charges. The huge difference is that UFC packs their fight cards with exciting bouts. Boxing used to do the same, however, now it is only 3 lackluster bouts followed by the main event… sometimes it is only 2 lackluster fights followed by the main event. This needs to change. PPV fight cards need to have at more fights and less talking in between the bouts.
These 2 fixes will definitely give boxing some life. Many say that boxing should be televised more often. UFC is televised on Spike channel and it is mostly old fights… hardly ever live bouts, so that’s not much the case for boxing.
The majority of fans believe that the fighters and promoters are in control, but the fans are supposed to be in the driver’s seat. Without us… they do not exist. They do not eat. They do not pay bills. They do not survive.
“Fans can dictate the sport… so let us speak out.”
38 Responses to “Saving Boxing”
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don’t believe it’s only about the hype and advertisment – it’s much more than that with UFC. This is diffent discipline – more of a overall combat, and some people – and the number is growing – are into this. Simple as that. It doesn’t matter how advertised or not it is – I’ll still be watching UFC, because I’m a hardcore fan, and I’m training mma. So some sort of changing of a guard is happening regardless of the matchups, and ppv and all that. What we’re talking about is groups who are somewhere in the middle and going for whatever is more hyped – to show up and be in the spotlight. And it’s about what people are talking about. So I’d rather say that boxing is losing more notoriety than It would have if… The had say 5 weight classes and one champ per each and had the best guys fighting the best. Now you can do whatever you want, and you won’t get more buys than .5 mil, unless it’s DLH. And DLH is out of it. Pacman vs Cotto will probably get something about it or less – no matter how much they’ll hype it. And I believe UFC 100 might get close to 1.5 mil. This is huge difference. UFC 91 was 1,050 million buys and ufc 92 over 1.2 million – this is a world of a difference and it’s getting deeper. But sure – boxing is not doing itself any favors by poor matchmaking and protecting fighters. I believe fight like Klitschko vs Chagaev wouldn’t go past 100k mark – which is embarassing. And HBO wasn’t even interested in airing this thing
I also think boxing needs better advertisement because that gets the fans all hyped up. Thats why people get all crazy to watch a ufc match. Boxing needs to advertise more and set up better cards. People still love boxing. The only reason it seems like they are leaning more to the ufc is because they have ppv events like every month and boxing has them like once a year with weak under cards. The boxing business needs to stop thinking about the money and start thinking about the fans the people who truly keep this sport going.
Wayne, you’re right.
Multiple organisations and weight classes are two factors killing boxing.
but again – what combat sport doesn’t have it? there is no need to point them. One belt – one champ, 5 divisions, the best fight the best.
I’ve never even heard about any serious initiative to change the situation in boxing… They even introduced and embraced another organization – IBO.
Who remembers the good old 70’s & 80’s when there were only 2 champs. Then Larry Holmes accepted Bob Lee’s IBF heavyweight title. At first no one cared but Larry was the top heavyweight. Suddenly they were 3 major bodies. A few other fringe bodies tried to get top fighters aligned but they died of lonelines and lack of attention.
Then in 94 Oscar still golden as the only US gold medalist in Barcelona gave the WBO recognition by taking the WBO Jr L-weight title, making it four. The journalists who now cry about multiple champs are the ones who first recognized these alphabet titles.
I respect the ring but it was them who gave final recognition to the IBF and WBO after initially stating editorially that they would not. The best thing the Ring did though was starting an int’l panel to make unbiased rankings, regardless of country. This was to upstage WBA & WBC who for yrs were very political bias and seemed anti US.
But wait when Bob Lee founder of the IBF said his organization would be the most honest and with no political connections. But the road to heaven was built on great intentions, just go and check the origins of the many different religions.
Dissatisfied people started their own religion & they kept splitering off into little new ones & today, we have over 1,000. Each feels they are the best and the only direct path to heaven. It’s been thousands of years and we still have not solved religion. Do you think shortsighted, greedy, self centred, self interested, egotists with no vision can save boxing?
The idea of FIFA, FIBA and the ICC (cricket) was again good intentions. But form the get-go the original founders did not tryst each other. Then tey learnt to exist and share the power among themselves but as these sports started to expand, reluctantly they had to let in new members. When these sports became bigger and $ was being made, it was a bitter pill to swallow (read share $).
As usual, in everything that involves $, greed , politics and their siblings, always rear their ugly heads. Boxing is no different! Please do not mention MMA. They are no different than NBA, NFL & NHL. They are self contained leagues and not int’l organizations. They change the rules to suit the owners.
For Christ sakes, the NFL is strictly american. The NBA & NHL are always in conflict with the world bodies over players. At least in football FIFA does not allow national organziations to set their own rules. FIFA caters to what is in the best interest of England, Germany, Spain and the rich European leagues; they are not exactly pure!
First, there are way too many classes so lets’s get back to the original 8. However, due to the huge size disparity, we need criserweights. Then maybe add Super Heavy for guys over 225 or 230.
We have divisions separated by 3-6 lbs but expect guy at 201 to fight guys over 230? Marcino, Ali, Louis, Dempsey and Tyson would be giving up huge weight differences if they fought today.
Regarding multiple titles, it is difficult to get those organizations to disband so going forward their titles would only be referred to as regional titles. The only title fully recognized as a world title is the Ring’s that could only be lost in the ring.
A fighter must meet a designated mandatory each year. He can go outside of a mandatory but it must be vs guys in the top 5. Since he can’t face everyone in the top 10, there would be regular box-offs within the top 10 to determine who gets a mandatory. This way we get to see top guys fighting each other and the ultimate top guys getting the mandatory shot. If top ten guys do not fight each other, they move back down to avoid guys ducking people to protect their “0″. If a guy is injured and it is legit, he is given another chance withing reason, after a legit exam but not like Vitali. Many guys have lost titles due to bad luck, injuries or illness because they choose to fight. That is the same in a real world so put the gloves on and fight or work your way back up. The clock keeps ticking!
This may sound too good to be true but I think something like this might work. But I am sure the a-holes would not want it because it may make some sense and if they did, they definitely would find a way to mess it up.
if you want to find the reason boxing as a sport is declining – you don’t have to go any further:) just reading your ramblng and mambling is enough:)) There might be a law: fans have a sport they deserve. And that’s the case about boxing. there is a small group of hard-core fans, and large numbers of people who are “accidental” fans. They used to go and watch Tyson, Lewis, Holyfield, DLH and they buy tickets for Pacman, Mosley, Hopkins etc – but it’s more of a social event for this group then anything else. Now stars are starting to attend UFC events, because it’s becoming omre “fashionable” and more people are actually watching it then boxing. Stars want to be visible – they want to be in the spotlight. If UFC can produce over 1.2 million buys and big fight in boxing is less then 0.5 then it’s just a matter of time:) You’ll see Stallone in the first row for UFC – just a matter of time. You’ll see Rusell Crowe, Brad Pitt there. Or others. Statham is already there, Julette Lewis is a huge fan. This sport is magnetic. Boxing of course will survive – but in different form. You’ll need to be a huge star to make a buck. Guys like Pacman will be always a stars, no doubt. This guy is a phenomenon and a star outside the ring. This is a requirement. PPV for boxing will continue to drop, and UFC will continue to grow – it’s inevitable. Fans of combat are shifting towards UFC (majority) and the minority of hard-core boxing fans will stick to boxing. Plus there is a significant number of people who’ll go for both. me personally – there is not much left for me in boxing. Heavy weight division is a joke, I don’t even watch it for free, but used to be a huuuuge fan of Lewis, Holy (still am). I’ve been watching Bowe vs Golota about 10 times! But it was long time ago. This time aint coming back – there is no one on earth to bring it back.
Mayweather truly is a boxing genius but fighting against smaller men and avoiding real welterwaight contenders isn’t doing him any favours. If he is as good as he thinks and wants us to think he’s the best of his generation he’ll stop pricing himself out of matches against guys with calibre and show the world by boxing, not flapping.
Keep it to the topic in the article.
I think Manny Pacquaio should take over Top Rank when Bob Arum retires.
Alert Alert Alert: Blade is Jason Kim
Are you kidding me The New Golden Boy… we finally got rid of the old one and now we have a new one. Everybody say goodnight to Boxing.
GBP is another alphabet body that’s waiting to happen. God, imagine a fighter coined “Golden Boy Champion”. Thinking about it sends a chill down my spine.
Remove these sanctioning bodies so there’d be only one world champion per division. It would produce exciting fights and no more ducking of fighters. The best will have to face the best.
the only man that will fight anyone in boxing at the moment is mosley!!!!!!!!!!
Lack of action packed fight cards are not happening because every fighter believes that they deserve their own PPV event.
Yes, boxing does have the better athletes. Training for a boxing fight requires more intesity and dedication than training for MMA bout.
Hey Cracker, I love your comment about ODH…I can’t stop laughing…On a serious note, Boxing has the best fighter…I just wish there wasn’t so much corruption…Don King, Gary Shaw, and The Golden girls…Peace
Yeah, my little town in the bay area has closed its doors to the local boxing gym, but now there are 2 other gyms that are strictly for MMA training. They say they have Kickboxing training, but what do they know about boxing. I am sorry, but I wouldn’t be able to stand rolling around on the floor, in tights, with another man. Just can’t do it.
Many of the athletes are now focusing on other sports. Very few kids are saying they want to grow up to be the next light or welter champ. Every kid has their mind set on basketball, football, or baseball. And the few kids that are interested in Boxing are now swaying towards MMA, especially with all these MMA training sites that are opening up everywhere. I have had about 4 MMA training sites open up in my puny lil town.
IT IS WHAT IT IS! Its because all these alphabet organizations recognizing so many mediocre champs that every new boxing fan gets spooked and runs to MMA.EXAMPLE- you watch Paulie malinaggi piti pat for twelve rounds to a UD and bore yourself to death in the process and this was the main event.On the other hand you see a UFC undercard and before the main event youve seen a TKO a choke out lots of blood and a variety of strikes and submissions that will definitely keep you interested and excited.Havent you noticed that maybe 1 out of every 5 fights is exciting. Fighters and promoters need to step up and make talent riched fights happen now! They alredy let MMA in and if they dont adjust in a matter of time you will see Big name boxers transitioning to MMA.
One Hitter Quitter — It is no secret that bad decisions and sorry match-making are killing boxing. This can be said without bringing mma into the picture. I happen to like both sports. When I want to read about boxing I visit a boxing site. When I want to read about mma I visit an mma site.
This article is RIGHT. Sorry the FACTS makes UFC look better because it is organized way better.
I think we need Teddy Atlas to be President of how to straighten up the sport. He seems to be the only boxing expert that actually cares about the future of boxing.
Well said Cheesy and Steve-O! There needs to be only one champ per division. We don’t need this NABF crap and 50 other organizations. Only one champ per division.
De La Hoya, Hopkins, Mosley never ducked anybody. The problem is that, now that they are the big dogs, they are in fear to lose any big name fighters they may have. They must be kicking themselves in the ass after that backfiring of Victor Ortiz. Ortiz was supposed to be the future of GBP fighters… and he turned out to be a complete dud.
Stop trying to defend the boxing format it is dying , save it by having one world champ per weight and make the best fight the best , PBF VS Manny should be when not if , ditto Cotto
I agree with the article. I don’t like good fighters waiting for good fighters to lose before they face them or lack-lustre undercards. GBP may be making the sport like a circus, but Oscar never ducked anyone in his fighting days nor Hopkins or Mosley i wish a little of that rubbed off on thier promotions
Chicken De La Hoya is trying to monopolize the whole game with his promotional company. Chicken is fixing fights however he pleases to fill up his piggy bank.
look at golden boy promotions pay per view fights , the undercards are ridiculous- this guy is ripping every boxing fan off!
I agree to the fullest with this article. These PPV cards that are being thrown at us are a disaster compared to the PPV cards that UFC and other MMA groups put on for their fans! We get now only get 2 lousy fights before a questionable main event, yet, we still pay ridiculous money for these PPV. UFC fans will not hesitate to pay for their PPV because they get more fights and better matches. If boxing can do this… our sport will be back on top. If you don’t believe it… maybe you should stick to tennis or golf because boxing is your sport.
And come on people grow up… we cannot expect to ask for Khan v Klitschko or Calderon v Valuev.
Just like I said before, fighters are afraid to lose, therefore are unwilling to fight the best. For them it’s all about the money because fans like (Ok) continue to hand over their money for garbage fight cards. Like Reyna stated, without the fans’ money… they can’t eat, live and survive like they wish to.
Finally, somebody who understands the real mishaps of boxing. Somebody who understands why boxing has gone into a slump. Advertisement is not being done for UFC, the person that stated (Ok) this either can’t understand what he reads or is simply jealous of the article. We don’t have to be MMA fans to see that UFC is surviving. It is used as a comparison.
also robert guerro and matt korobov are not acceptable pre main fights
good article – fighters do look to protect themselves but defeat is ok.
look at legends who have been beat – ali, robinson, duran, tyson, pep, hagler, louis, barera, morrales, leonard, armstrong, johnson just about every great fighter.
ppvs are poor can anyone name a decent undercard for the last5 years.
also apart from mayweather and john all the top boxers at the min have been beat – pacman, marquez, vasquez, mosley, williams, cotto, r marquez
its kinda true when i order a payperveiw im always like knock him out so the mainevent comes faster, i would like 2 see more than 1 great fight in a payperveiw!
If boxing ain’t dead yet, it could very well be on its last leg. The fighter considered to be the current pound-for-pound (whatever that title means!) is overrated.
I am not a fan of MMA, but I see the point.
One Hitter Quitter did you read it right? “Great fighters are scared of fighting other great fighters cause of fear of losing.” And you say we need more fighter like Mayweather? He’s the best example of a fighter dodging other great fighters so he won’t lose!
Has Been… a sorry sorry shame to boxing! Learn how to read and comprehend.
This sounds more like an advertisement for mma than an article about boxing.
Well, after reading this article, I now have the inspiration to do many things. This was actually one of the best pieces of writing that I have read on this website. Do your thing Reyna! We need more writers like you, just like boxing needs more fighters like Mayweather.