Boxing is bigger in Europe because the U.S fans have too many options!
December 29th, 2010
By Allen Hmiel: Boxing fans in Europe seem to flock to every big match in droves. The German and English fans support Arthur Abraham, Felix Sturm, Marco Huck, and the Klitchkos aggressively. The English fans loved Ricky Hatton and Joe Calzage now follow and support Amir Khan, Carl Froch, and David Haye. Look at the support Mikkel Kessler received in Denmark. Huge sellout crowds in Europe display the European fans love of boxing and love of their fighters.
American Champions have no appeal to the main line American sports fans. Andre Ward, draws nothing in Oakland and is a virtual unknown in his own country. Bernard Hopkins isn’t a draw as old as he is. Timothy Bradley and Devon Alexander have to go to Detroit to fight each other and no one knows who they are. Kelly Pavlik is in Rehab and his career is regressing and he didn’t draw when he fought anyway.
Yes, Boxing is at a steep decline in the US and Europe has a distinct advantage in the number of fans that support boxing and the list of European fighters in the rankings is significant and well deserved. European fans seem more passionate and appreciate their fighters more and support their fighters efforts all the way. As boxing slowly fades away from the mainstream fans in America, you will soon see Europe becoming more and more the center of the boxing world. The Klitchkos have shown the American cable networks they can survive and prosper without them. It is sad to see Boxing dwindle in the US but hats off to the Euros and their fast gaining dominance of boxing!!
19 Responses to “Boxing is bigger in Europe because the U.S fans have too many options!”
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Opinion, the most well known athlete on the planet is david beckham, i rest my case
The reason that boxing is not so big in America is because you do not have any fighters that can sell tickets. If another Tyson come along it would be huge again.
How can American teams be called world champs when they only play each other and nobody from other countries!
America got where it is today financially by staying out of WW2 until the last minute, they sat it out lending money to the UK right up to the point they thought they wouldn’t get paid back then jumped in, finished the job and went home to collect the interest and revel in the fact European industry had blown itself to smithereens.
The long haul is already over, China will one day usurp America and they will drop off to become Northern Mexico.
Americans are soft, they have great military weapons technology so like to think they’re hardy and resilient, but nothing is further from the truth.Americans are fat lazy Hams, their sports heroes are all by products of slavery, survival of the fittest Afro Americans who are slowly falling into the same junk food BK lounge mentality that has seen white America turn to lard.
Ameican boxing is in decline because the USA has such few stars, considering the state of US boxing as little as 20 years ago it’s easy to see the difference.
Americans in general are fair weather people, with no stomach for the long haul, for all the flag waving and hearts on chest there’s no overseas support for their stars, in fact their stars are also too lazy to fly overseas. Have a look at Ricky Hattons fight against PBF and you’ll see more Brits than Americans at the fight, the Americans were too lazy, stuck at home flicking between the 500 channels they need to stay amused.
If America rules the world in everything how come the dollar has just about lost half of its value against the Aussie dollar?
Why is it that the Government has to bail out all the fatcats on Wall st.
Must be a great place to live if you are a banker
The Yanks only like to go if they can watch cheersleaders and eat HotDogs shouting … Germans like the Beer and Sauerkraut ….and the Pommies just like hot beer and a punch up afterwards.
NONSENSE!!!!
This is a silly point. There are as many sports in the UK and Europe and boxing gets just as little air time
The reason the European guys get a good following is because they are much better than anything America has to offer (which is why you end up with jokes like Lacey and Pavlik being touted as great)
Americans have a taste for girly sports like American football where the guys have to wear full body armour to make sure they dont break a nail. Nothing like the MEN who play rugby.
Good article america is still the central for boxing. They all want to fight in Las Vegas cant see that changing. If the boxer is from england they can get 90000 at wembley and so on for germany and denmark. But Las Vegas is the show town.
Prefer it to change to wembley as wont have to wait up until 3.30 am to watch the fights but if you love boxing its worth it!!
who’s the most well known athlete on the planet ….. ALI. I rest my case.
Boxing is the greatest sport on the planet. there are no ali’s , mike tysons or jack jhonsons in any other sport. Without these names expecially ali the world of sport would just not be the same.
HOW BIG IS AMERICA?
The White European are doing a beat down on American Blacks that is why the media is making excuse for blacks that they Play B-ball and football yet they been playing these sports for years. The Truth is boxing is now global because of the fall of communism
Other sports in America aint no excuse Britain Football is our most popular sport and we play a host of sports MMA, Rugby, Tennis, Golf, Snooker, F1 racing, Rally and rest of europe too allot also play alot more games like Kickboxing, Drag Racing, Bmxing. mountain biking, snowboarding, skateboarding and alot more.
I think Europe have a wider range of sports that are bigger than boxing and we still make time for boxing because we are good at it.
The reason America are like they are now is because no one is coming through the ranks and europe are excelling with it.
I hate it when countries try take stuff away from others by making excuses, America suck at all sports europe participait in therefore they stop playing so much and dont want to see there side lose.
American boxers should fight the Mexican way. Of course, not the style of Marquez who is shunned by Mexicans.
American boxers should fight like Morales, Barrera, Julio Chavez Sr, and the rest of Mexican action-fighters…..
Main reason Boxing is down in USA:
We only watch what we win at !!!
thank the Klitschko’s , Joe Calzaghe, Manny Pacquiao, Amir Khan, juan manuel marquez, Jean Pascal and Sergio martinez for making us lose and realizing Boxing is the euro game now
soon all the big fights will be in europe instead of Las Vegas … Mayweather is the only big draw left.
THE BOXING IN AMERICA IS DEAD….DEAD
American fans are attracted to sports they’re the best at, that’s why they skip boxing.
I agree that we in America have many options. But the sport is suffering because of the mismatches that are the norm in boxing today. There are very few competitive fights anymore and promoters are not interested in the well being of the sport. Also, diluting the weight divisions with so many different organizational champions does nothing to bolster the championship image.
Europe and other countries are finally getting the opportunity to showcase their fighter since America is suffering from diminished interest in the sport.
The top three promoters in the sport are the ones that eventually will kill it. You can sell fixed fights for a while to the casual fan, but at some point the hardcore boxing aficionados will turn away from it in disappointment.