By Dean Gsell: It’s bad enough that there are as many title belts as fighters out there. So who’s the champ? If they had four Super Bowls per NFL season, then pro football would have died a long time ago. Boxing hangs on because the fans sift through Saturday nights waiting to see a flash in the pan.
Once we’ve spotted gold we come back for more until we have financed an investment for the promoter. When that happens the promoter simply fabricates another guy with a belt so it appears there’s challenging match to watch, and we take what HBO or SHOWTIME gives us. By the time they narrow it down to the two best guys left they’re in their late 30s and the battle is watered down and full of excuses.
This is not good for the fans and it’s not good for the fighters. Guess who it is good for? It reminds of a comic book writer creating different heroes and villains to meet at just the right time when the fans can recognize them and pick their favorites. And comic books never write about Batman fighting Spiderman because someone has to lose, and that would affect sales for the fallen; much like having several sanctioning bodies.
Now I do realize that this survival of the fittest theory cuts down on the chances of a holding champ. However there will always be a great one that takes over. It’s this logic that separates MMA fans from boxing fans. MMA records don’t hold for long due to the flood of challengers. We all want champs to defend their titles again and again so we can love or hate them.
I’m sure matchmaking is really complex and the following idea may not be easy, but let’s just say the fans get a say in who fights who based on votes. If American idol can tally votes through online and texting in one week then why can’t boxing? Is it really that out of the question? Give the public a stable of top fighters to pick from and they will flood you with votes, and if the public gets what they want imagine what that would do to pay per view numbers.
Remember the old days when a reporter didn’t even ask the champ who was next because he would call out the next guy he wanted and then they fought. Now days when asked it’s always the same answer. “Well it’s up to my promoter.” The champions of the world bow to the pen and a contract. Changing the system won’t be easy with the old dogs of promoting, but if the Golden Boy can still learn new tricks maybe he can.
Oscar has already been improving the entertainment factor with KO bonuses and fight of the night incentives. It’s time for boxing democracy. So help me out people instead of posting useless comments about Floydiots and Pactards and other irrelevant name calling; post the one single match you want to see most, in a blank vs. blank format. Maybe someone with power will notice. Let the comments roll.
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