The negativity with boxing

By Boxing News - 02/21/2011 - Comments

By Simon Hirst: Boxing is a sport that is seemingly on the decline. American fans have lost interest with other sports capitalising on this because the heavyweight division is crying out for a saviour. In England, BBC and ITV don’t seem interested in paying to have boxing. The last fight I remember being on ITV was Amir Khan v Paulie Malignaggi and even that wasn’t live.

All this negativity seems to have infiltrated boxing fans who call themselves experts of the sport. Articles that are ill informed and petty are constantly published and any new fans the sport is immediately subjected to this.

For example, Nonito Donaire scores an excellent KO win in a good fight with Montiel in the second round. Both were rated top ten pound for pound in what was billed a super fight in the lower divisions. Whilst some championed Donaire for his stunning win, some decide to focus on the petty negatives. For example, some claim that Montiel was struggling for weight, whilst others immediately compared him to Pacquiao, which is natural. However, to then slate Donaire and suggest he won’t be as good is just an insult to the great fighters Donaire has beat and will beat in the future.

Opinions are good for debate and I support having them, but to educate and attract new fight fans, opinions must be backed up with solid fact. Also, a balance to the article to show that both sides of the argument have been considered should be included.

How often do we see competitive matches and get a good fight, which is unappreciated and the winner slated because some silly reason. Boxers go into fight and fight hard (Audley Harrison excepted!) and deserve the respect. When interviewed after fights, the boxers don’t give these petty excuses. Using Donaire – Montiel as an example, Montiel admitted after the fight he had never been hurt as much as Donaire hurt him. Not an excuse, a fact and that’s why he lost.

Another bugging negativity is why are prospects viewed by ‘experts’ as the finished article? Recently, I read an article that suggested Frankie Gavin looked unimpressive in beating Michael Lomax over the weekend. Gavin never lost a round and the fight was stopped in the seventh when Lomax’s corner threw the towel in. Gavin battered him to the body and used great promise with his skills to punish Lomax. Is Gavin ready to fight for a World title? No, of course he isn’t. He has had 9 fights and is still honing his skills, adjusting to the professional ranks.

It appears to me as the writer has imagined a world champion in with Frankie and thought would Frankie beat him when he is fighting like this? Well, they’d certainly stand a better chance than Lomax as they are more skilled, but Gavin was slated for having a fight, which stepped him up a notch in level and passing with flying colours.

If ‘experts’ spent as much time supporting fighters and educating readers, both old and new with opinion backed with facts, then articles would make for better reading and maybe more people would take boxing to heart rather than being put off with biased pettiness.



Comments are closed.