Boxing - name recognition?

[mrhnau]

I've contemplated the recent fate of boxing. With the introduction of MMA, it seems more young people are starting to watch boxing over MMA. Aside from it being a different style of fighting, I thought of a few other reasons. Thought I'd toss them out.

1. Name recognition. I recently checked out the list of current champions on ESPN. While I'm not the most ardent fan, I've watched a decent amount of boxing. I don't recognize hardly any of those names. Heck, I can't pronounce half of them! Do you think the lack of home-grown American talent and American fighters has inclined viewers to look elsewhere? Is internationalization good for the quality of boxing, but bad for keeping a high viewership in the US? It seems that during the peak of boxing's popularity there was not much international participation...

2. Lack of Charisma. Gone are the days of Muhammad Ali and Tyson. While there are some somewhat charismatic figures, its hard when using a translator, and the old "stand nose to nose, then shove someone in the press conference" type act gets old. It more often that not seems just a ploy to drive up interest.

3. Draw of other sports. Aside from MMA, boxing now has competition from the NFL, MLB, NASCAR, Hockey and other sports. Where should boxing fit in? If I recall, at its pinnacle, it was a very popular sport.

4. High school. I played a bit of football. It helped me understand and enjoy watching the game. If I had participated in boxing as a child/young adult, I might have watched it more. I don't know many high schools that offer boxing as a sport. Should that change? Would that more incline the next generation of children to watch it?

5. Pay for view. While it has its merits I suppose, I'm not going to pay to watch some guys I don't know fight. Fights used to be on the big local channels, so anyone could see it. Now you have to shell out $50 for a good fight or get premium channels like Showtime to watch mediocre fights. You could watch ESPN's Friday Night Fights, but you need cable/satellite and you don't get to watch super-stars that want that huge paycheck.

Comments, or additions?

 

[mrhnau]

Thought of another one. Too many belts per division. Too many weight classes. You don't need 4 belts and 3 pounds between some classes. Thats just ridiculous. Just go for 4, or 5 weight divisions. Heavy-weight, Light Heavy-weight, middle-weight, light-weight and way-too-skinny-weight/ballerina-weight. That should be sufficient. There should only be one belt. You are either the champ, or you are not.

 

[JadecloudAlchemist]

I personally like watching both as well as other matches.
I think what people find appealing with U.F.C. and so on is the ability to do strikes both with hands and feet and also do throws and ground work.
It can be some what exciting to see will he get out of the choke or arm bar? Boxing to me I enjoy watching for the technical combos and footwork. I also think U.F.C. is doing better marketing and with transitions from WWE it can take the younger crowd easier.

 

[no_kata]

The biggest problem I see with boxing now are all of the different boxing organizations. You have the WBA, WBC, IBF, IBO and WBO each with their own belt holders. Who is the real champ of each division?

Secondly corruption and greed has helped to kill the sport.

Third - The heavyweight division which headlines the sport is a joke. There hasn't been a good heavyweight since Lennox Lewis and he really didn't have anyone to fight once he got to the midway point in his career.

Last point - Who fights with any heart anymore? Everyone fights to get the win and nothing more. No one leaves it all in the ring anymore.

 

[mrhnau]

The biggest problem I see with boxing now are all of the different boxing organizations. You have the WBA, WBC, IBF, IBO and WBO each with their own belt holders. Who is the real champ of each division?

amen. Get rid of all but one belt. Let there be one true champion.

Secondly corruption and greed has helped to kill the sport.

I'm not sure how much corruption there still is...but I do know it was pretty darn bad in the past.

Third - The heavyweight division which headlines the sport is a joke. There hasn't been a good heavyweight since Lennox Lewis and he really didn't have anyone to fight once he got to the midway point in his career.

A bit of an aside, I was never a big Lewis fan. Never like that "Lets stick out that big paw in an omni-present jab for 15 rounds". I can't stand going to a decision.

Last point - Who fights with any heart anymore? Everyone fights to get the win and nothing more. No one leaves it all in the ring anymore.

You see it once in a while, but its more of an exception these days.

Another point. I'd like to see these guys fight more than once a year.

 

[no_kata]

I would like to see boxers fight with half of the heart as Mike Zambidis. The sport might actually have a resurgence of that happened

 

[IcemanSK]

I think boxing is less popular for all those reasons listed and one more: Coruption! The money that is made by 2 folks banging each other's brains out rarely gets to the fighters themselves. I'm a fan, & I know many pro fighters. I've seen it happen way too many times.