The sad story of boxing

[erikwells]

I'm a former boxer and was a pretty darn good one during the late 70's and 80's. Fought at the same tournaments and Junior Olympics (even was a national champion one year) as Mike Tyson, Johnny Tapia and few other world champions. So Saturday night I'm psyched to watch the Gophers play hockey rathet than watch Pacman and Bradly. That made me think how sad the story of boxing really is. Don King and pay per view darn near killed the sport and MMA put the final nail in the coffin. The vultures that surrounded these fighters left them broke financially and broken men. Sad Sad Sad. Just heard my first boxing coach in St. Cloud that took me on to box when I was just 6 has cancer and was given 30 days to live. Everything around this sport is sad.

[swamptiger]

Can't say I disagree erik, but I'm watching it anyway.

Just hope Pacquiao hangs it up after this one - win or lose.

[harvey lee]

Tough one, Goph's for hockey but I will b watching the Bradly and Pacman fight. Probabaly switch between the 2.

I would guess he will hang it up after this one, just want's to reverse that loss to Bradly.

Should be a great fight.

[JBMasterAngler]

I would say Bob Arum has done much more to kill the sport than Don King. King has been irrelevant for the last 10+ years, meanwhile Arum has been pumping out overpriced PPV's with pathetic undercards on a monthly basis in that same time span.

I see it's $60/70 for the pacman fight...seen the undercard, absolute joke! At least Don King put together some really good undercards.

I used to be a boxer also, and never missed a fight on tv, or any live shows here in town. But now, I don't even watch friday night fights on ESPN2.

[DrJuice1980]

You guys are just brainwashed. Boxing is not dead and it will never die. If you arent going to give fighters a chance to watch what they can do then how do you know its junk? Friday Night Fights has been putting together some decent cards, its a shame you've missed out.

I do agree though that these certain promoters are a big blame for the negativity the sport receives. There is no respect for the sport from them only for the money.

[pinkfloyd4ever]

I think that MMA/UFC has hurt the sport though. I'm more of a casual boxing fan, but I think the personalities for Boxing aren't there anymore like Ali, Foreman, Tyson to make the audience want to see them win or lose.

[CANOPY SAM]

+1

The sport just can't stand up to Ultimate Fighting. I always loved watching boxing, especially really dynamic fighters like Tyson, and Sugar Ray, but when it comes to just pure energy and adrenaline in a contest, Ultimate Fighting just wins the spotlight.

Personally, I don't think it has all that much to do with the promoters. I couldn't have cared less who was promoting what when boxing was really interesting. It was the fight, and the fighter that made it exciting.

The combination of martial arts, wrestling, kick boxing, and pugilism in one sport is simply just more interesting then straight boxing. Sorry, but I'd wager most other fight fans would agree.

[JBMasterAngler]

I think the decline in a competitive olympic boxing team plays a big role in it as well. There just hasn't been that dynamic amateur standout to turn pro since Oscar De La Hoya back in '92. Since then each olympic team has gotten worse and worse with each summer games.

[CANOPY SAM]

That might be JB. Do you suppose all those young guys coming up are headed toward UFC instead of boxing?

[JBMasterAngler]

I think MMA is just a small part of it. Boxing was in decline before the UFC skyrocketed onto the scene. The lack of a serious American heavyweight contender is another factor. All those big guys are playing football instead.

One thing that I think would help boxing is if they covered national amateur tournaments. I would totally watch the golden gloves or US championships if they were on tv. These days you can watch high school football or basketball on ESPN for pete's sake!

[harvey lee]

I agree the PPV fights are a bit spendy but like every other sport, the great ones make huge money and the promoter is going to get his cut for putting the fight together.

I watch about 6-10 fights a week and this past weekend, there were some very good fights on the tube. many free fights to watch that are good, just not the top ranked ones.

Saturday night I believe there were 5 fight shows on the tube, had to record the majority as I could not watch them all at the same time.

Showtime, FS1 and another put on some darn good fight cards almost every week.

Saturday evening, there was one card on Showtime that had 3 title fights, no charge.

If you quit watching, you mare missing some great fights. The Canelo/Lara fight coming up will be a great card but, that one will cost. I will probably buy this fight, don't care about the undercard as I want to see Canelo fight. The cost is about the same as a night out, or less.

[BigFish1]

I don't think boxing is even close to being dead. Two of the top three paid athletes in the world are boxers. (Mayweather and Pacquio) And that includes soccer players in Europe. When was the last time an MMA sold out a 40,000 seat arena like Canelo vs Traut did last year in San Antonio. How about 80,000 at Wembley stadium for Froch vs Groves. I appreciate it both sports but you cant compare them. They are totally different. I guess what I am saying is that you don't just have to love MMA and hate boxing. Boxing will stay alive because of Mexican and Europeans interest alone. I agree this isn't the Hagler, Hearns, Duran, and Leonard era, but come on, that was something really special. Harvey is correct, there are some really entertaining fights right now. Once the best fighter in the sport, Floyd Mayweather retires, hopefully we will have champions fight anyone rather then cherry picking opponents. He alone has done more to hurt boxing than anyone.

[harvey lee]

I will say this, in the last year, there have been many fights where the judging was poor to say the least. Some decisions that one just shakes his head as you figure u did not see the same fight the judges did.

Its terrible when 2 judges have it say 119 to 111 and another judge has it 116 to 114 going to the other fighter.

Bob Arum and Top Rank seem to maybe control what goes on in many of these fights.

[JBMasterAngler]

Seen that Chinese heavyweight's pro debut the other day. That fight (and I use that term very loosely) isn't helping boxing any either.

[harvey lee]

I would agree, thought it was one of the worst fights I have seen for some time.

[JBMasterAngler]

Deontay Wilder is continuing the trend of sad boxing stories. I'm sorry, but if your a former olympian, and you have 6 years under your belt as a pro, you should NOT be fighting tomato cans anymore! Very disappointing!