When did boxing go downhill?

[habZ]

crappy promotions to every fight doesnt help.

[butterfly1964]

i believe the confusion about the title is the problem. they need to get rid of every boxing association, except one and use that as the actual claim to the crown. nobody cares about boxing because everybody now claims to be the champion. they need to first clear up that mess.

[Verstyle]

when tyson left. he was fantastic. but it suxs that boxing is based on the performance of the heavyweights

[Rockin']

$50...
I doubt it will last forever..

Rockin1, TV has been around since like the 1940's hahaha

No way has tv ****ed it up..

PPVS! **** PPVS!

Do your research before spouting your opinions. Television killed boxing at the grass roots level.

What person is going to go out and spend his hard earned money on a club show ticket when he can sit home and watch some other fights on the television for free.

No money coming into the club shows at the beginning levels means that there will be less fighters that are able to earn a living, thus depleting the sport of its skilled fighters.

Do some research and i believe you will come to the same conclusion.


Todays sport is hurt by the alphabet f-cks. 4 champions per division or more is not easy for the general public to follow.

Aswell, the promoters have hurt it by not using their stable of fighters against another promoters fighters. They do not want to lose that belt that their fighter may have won. With this comes less superfights and less excitement for the general public.

The promoters and alphabet f-cks hurt it now, but the television is what started boxings decline.

Rockin'

[Derranged_]

As was discussed in previous threads ppv and pay networks like showtime and hbo has contributed to the decline in boxing.

PPV, HBO, and showtime alienate potential new fans to the sport because of several reasons. The first reason is not everyone wants to pay extra on their cable bill for premium channels or pay an excessive $50 just to watch 2-3 championship level fights. Another reason why people cannot watch these fights is because not everyone has a cable box in which to order the ****** ppv.

Finally, my last reason why ppv and HBO are contributing to the decline is that, many sports bars find it unprofitable to order ppv because they are charged a different and more expensive rate than residential users would. Therefore, many sports fans who would otherwise become more interested in boxing do not, because their local sports bar can't afford the ppvs or hbo costs.

Let me give you guys one example before I sign off. I don't have a cable box because its too expensive, so whenever possible I try to go out to a sports bar that sometimes has ppv boxing. So last month I went out to watch the Castillo-Corrales fight and couldn't find one ****ing place in the boston area that was having the fight! If that isn't evidence that ppv is ruining boxing than I don't know what is.

[Rockin']

If you take a look at the whole picture, not just in the last 30 years since the invention of numerous titles, it was the television that began the decline.

PPV is just a branch from the killing tree.

What we need are more local boxers and shows that the local people can follow as they come up in the ranks. There are so many fighters that will never get exposure or a fair upbringing in the pro game because they are not working under a certain promoter. Fewer promoters= fewer fights= fewer fighters= lesss revenue through the entire sport = us having to pay the ppv price tags to see an excellent match up.

Rockin'

[Derranged_]

If you take a look at the whole picture, not just in the last 30 years since the invention of numerous titles, it was the television that began the decline.

PPV is just a branch from the killing tree.

What we need are more local boxers and shows that the local people can follow as they come up in the ranks. There are so many fighters that will never get exposure or a fair upbringing in the pro game because they are not working under a certain promoter. Fewer promoters= fewer fights= fewer fighters= lesss revenue through the entire sport = us having to pay the ppv price tags to see an excellent match up.

Rockin'

I disagree with you on this one Rockin'. Television helped bring boxing to the masses like the radio did before it. I hope now, that you won't say boxing's decline is due to the radio! My point about ppv is that, prospective fans do not know about big name fighters like a Floyd Mayweather, Vitali Klitscho, Manny Pacquino,etc. because these guys no longer fight on cable tv networks like fox sports net, espn, telefuturo, etc and almost exclusively fight on ppv or hbo and showtime.

Rockin, I think if these fighters fought on basic cable stations like espn there would be a resurgence in interest in the sport. Just picture this for a minute; Hatton vs Mayweather or Vitali vs Rahman or Corrales vs Castillo on "Friday Night Fights."

[Rockin']

In the 30's and 40's boxing was thriving. With clubshows and local talent being developed by the many promoters that worked the area.

Then came the tuesday,thursday and friday night fights on television. While it did bring the boxing to the masses it made people prefer to stay home and watch the fights on the television, thus hurting and eventually killing the local promoters pocketbooks and hurting the depth of the fighters at the grass roots level.

By saying that television helped the sport you are looking at it soley from a fans point of view. When was the last time you heard of a local club show going on in your area. If you are from Boston as your name states, then you would know that Boston was a good place for the local club shows back in the day. Now a days you will never hear of a local club show going on. Ofcourse, unless you are extremely close to the game.

Its cool that you disagree, but I full believe that if you were to do some thorough research on the subject that you will find that it was indeed the television that began boxings decline.

Rockin'

[bassing68]

Read my post about pay per view and the posts about the WBA< WBO,etc.

Boxing's biggest downfalls are too many divisions with too many "champions". Now add pay per view. Would you watch football, baseball, or basketball if the majority of games and best games wewre pay per view and if there were 6 football champions??? Hell no.

The best thing boxing can do is go down to two divisions and put all their fights on cable not pay per view just like all other sucessful sports.

[bassing68]

Boxings downfall began with the creation of the television and then the many fights that were broadcast during the week.

I know what you are thinking already, tv did not bring about boxings downfall. I watch them on the tube every chance that I get. The television, with the comforts of sitting at home watching killed the local club show.

With the television now showing up to 3 nights of fights on the television in the 1950's the club shows began to take a hit in attendance and gate receipts.

With this, the local fighters began to find it hard to find a place to ply their trade and make a living. The promoters also found it hard to make any money promoting these bouts. But moreover, the general public no longer made pilgrimages to the live bouts opting instead to sit at home and view the bout.

T.V killed the local boxing star!!!!!!

Rockin'

How do you figure this??? Baseball, football, basketball, NASCAR are on TV all the time. Have they decreased like boxing? No. There goes your argument. TV keeps the fans informed and allows to follow the sport. You can not follow it too well without it. Too much pay per view, too little TV exposure and too many titles/divisions.