Ive been thinking for some time now, is the standard of Boxing getting worse. Ive been around to long or my feelings are justified.I remember in the 60s old trainers telling me the games dying ,and me thinking, silly old cunt. Yet looking at it in an openminded way I think it has. Id like to hear your views on it before I give you mine
I am more of an outsider with boxing, I enjoy it and keep up with it through the web. But I have very limited hands on experience. Anyway from my point of view the sport is dying in a way. Boxing for a while now has not been getting the athletes that it once did. Because of the lack of acceptance with the mainstream media there is a lack of acceptance with the public (speaking for America). With the monies available through other sports kids are turning to them for their outlets instead of boxing. I think that the problem is reflected by the number of “world champions”, elite, and contenders we dont see from America. America was once a hot bed from sheer volume of boxers produced, but that volume is slowly declining. Through the lack of facilities in the US.
Just my opinion, take it or leave it.
Ty Ill take it
it’s an inner city sport, I can see that around where I am even And nowadays you have all these fu’in do-gooders wanting EVERYBODY to have an education. There aren’t enough kids in the getto going to the gym like there used to be. Probably the best thing for a trainer to do is find raw talent in college boxing programs.
I have no idea what I’m talking about. lol. But yes, it seems like the sport isn’t where it once was. Then again, no sport is, really. Too many kids getting fat sitting on the internet.
I do stick to my guns with my first comment though. Boxing isn’t a sport for middle America. Those kids are pampered these days, taking crap like TKD and karate, not to mention the new school of thought revolving around “there are no losers” since it’ll hurt their esteem. You can;t even play f’in dodge ball in American schools these days cuz someone might get hit. Kids are fuckin panzees nowadays. No way a sport like boxing will get positive press ever again.
Well shit, guarantee ya my boy due in 6 weeks will be hitting my hands by age 2… not that I neccessarily want him to be a boxer, but he will learn how to defend his ass in the schoolyard. And yes, he’ll get his ass tanned when he’s bad.
Fuckng do-gooders are ruining the world. no strap in school, kids talking back to teachers, fucking world’s falling apart.
Where’s my zoloft?
:coolclick:
Got to agree with ya Von Milash. In America it seems everybody is too busy trying to be PC (Poitically Correct) with each other. We are raising soft generations that do not know anything about hard work and discipline.
I agree, boxing is slowly spiraling down. I am not sure exactly why , I think its not just one thing, but a combination of several things. a weak heavyweight division hurts the sport .I feel that a strong heavyweight division appeals to non - boxing fans thus boxing gets more air time on the networks and sparks interest in the younger generation . everything being $49.00 PPV hurts the sport. Also the young crowds are into this UFC thing , they have about 18,000 fans at any given event and they are all between 18yrs -30yrs . Also i dont see any big amateur stars to spark interest like Delahoya did .. I would love to hear you thoughts
Me And Kids At My School Want To Start A Riat Till The Sissy Officials Lets Us Have A Boxing Program,
But they Wont Let Us Because Its “To Dangerous And The Insurance Is To High” I Say They All Should Die
You Would Think If There Was A High Enouph Demand They Would Start One But No Success Yet
But This Year There Arnt Very Many Touph People They All Little Freshman And The Lower Class Men Then Me Are Just Like Them It Seems Like The Generations Of Sissy Our Coming In Like There In Like 20 Years Will Be No Touph People. ;D
This Reply Is Really Nothing To Do With Boxing Except Now Days People Are To Afraid To Strap On Gloves And Stick To A Sport Were You Get Punched In The Face For Fun Or For A Living And Were You Actually Have To Work Out And Not Sit On There Fat Arses All Day But Hey This Is My Sport And Im Sticking To It I Love The Sport And Im Shure I Always Will
been thinking about this thread for a while now…
two main problems, IMO
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no heroes or vilains in the game right now. No new Roy Jones Jrs., Mike Tysons, Sugar Ray Leonards, etc. Thus, the average public doesn’t care about two unknowns, even if they are ranked, whereas old housewives who didn’t even like boxing watched Tyson/Holyfield. Every schoolyard kid talked about haglar/hearns, leonard/hearns, etc. Boxing need a new icon, doesn’t matter which weightclass, it needs one.
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PPV is killing sports like never before.. Nowadays you get to see fights only well after they’re overwith, unless you’re willing to pay for a f’in cable box and then ppv. Thus, few fights are made readily available to the mainstream public. At least big fights used to be on HBO once in a while. Not anymore.
I think that is a huge factor. Back when i was a kid boxing used to be on TV every weekend and shown on world of sport every saturday. Now its all PPV on sky and such. Its all about business for the networks but its killing the future of the sport IMO because youngsters nowadays do not care for it as much.
scrap those old coots were right! the games been on the down slope for a good while now. i blame amatue boxing. that whole system just brought ruin to the way fighting ought to be fought i say. jack dempsey even goes so far as to say the amateur program and the amateur coaches are what had destroyed boxing in his old book and this was back about – oh, one thousand years ago if my math is right. boxing’s been off for a long time.
I agree and yet disagree …
I agree that less and less people want to be boxers in the so-called developed world, and this is plain to see as it is a very hard way to make a living. As people get richer, better educated and lazier they do not want to be professional boxers. We all hear how our generation is always a bit bigger than our parents (go to a museum and see the size of the clothes, weapons etc in the olden days) so we in the west are simply growing out of the lighter weight classes. This propensity towards obesity is now being reflected in more and more fighters. You hardly ever saw an obese fat heavyweight pre-1960s because you hardly ever saw an obese fat man then, either.
I agree that PPV is killing the long term future of the sport. Kids get heroes and want to emulate them, but the poorest kids (who traditionally are the ones who become boxers) can’t afford PPV.
Another thing that has changed as the fact that prospects are routinely shielded to protect their undefeated status, as the ‘zero’ is so important. Old Timers who became world champion has lost a few fights and were the finished article in learning their trade - it is only recently that people can be so called ‘world champions’ while still learning their trade!
I Disagree because all of ths things I said above really relate to the developed ‘first’ world. Other regions of the world continue to churn out good fighters who are as tough and as good as they ever were. In a separate thread I said why I thought eastern Europe would produce some all time greats in the next ten years.
The sport is as strong as it ever was - the truth is that it is declining in the West. The old timers who say that fighters are not as good or as tough are right BUT ONLY IN THE DEVELOPED WORLD. There will always be the outstanding individual, but as an average, I think that the US (in particular) who have dominated the professional sport for so long, will see their share of champs and contenders continue to drop as the GDP of the country goes up. Whether the average US fan will continue to support and watch a sport in which they are the minority is a moot point.
what exactly is the problem with amateur boxing?
i think it’s also this generation of parants raising non-losers and kids that can’t be told “no” or “you can’t” and have no respect for authority, etc. you really think they’ll let little jimmy take boxing? fuk no.
GDP is one thing but GDP PER CAPITA is oemthing totally different.
MBA guy here. ;D
I think you hit it on the head about ppv/cost and how a kid who would have come out of a lower class upbringing has no influences.
and yes, it is moreso a western dilemma. As GDP per capita gows us, so do standars of living, thus consumption, then comes PPV, then demand falls, no new fighters.
don’t forget aobut the current accound deficit. eventually the loans willbe recalled. then less consumption, less demand, fewer home computers, and then the recesison might generate some new interest. who knows.
I enjoyed your thread X very interesting input, and also think your right on money ! excellent read ! :coolclick:
Its like George Foreman put it, “you gotta have the hunger” and the idea of all the money that the pros are making today has taken over it more than just the hunger for the sport itself. I dont know much, but IMO I think the money is an issue that is hurting the sport.
You can also say that the people involved in the sport are hurting it. Everybody bitches about what needs to be done but nobody does anything about it. If we could have more action then maybe things would change. But the whole system is broke, the only thing not broken is the fighter. Every other part of the system needs to be changed. When something is that broke how do you fix it? It will take a lot of hard work but I am not sure the people that can do it want to.
Ive really enjoyed reading your coments every body has made exellent points. A few facts which have been given to me over the years, you might find enlightening. In Britain in 1970 there were 120,000 Amatuer boxers, competing, now there are 9,000. In the 50s there were more shows a night than there are in a week today. Its the numbers game the more people do a sport, the more coaches who know the sport teach it. So the compition gets more intense, because of the intensety, standards improve because of the competition evolves. I think people are not as tough as the 30s having the 1st World War then the resession,also the 2nd war made for a harder enviorment than us in the present day can imagine. Now have you seen that thread in the General Board, Durans v Hearns. Its a poor tape, and the pair look 2 bob with, what he must have been like at his peak bad tech. Now hang on a minute, when you first saw it for real they were 2 juggernauts at their peak. So it tells me dont beleive what fighters look like on old tapes they can be deceptive. I always remember watching a tape of Benny Lenoard, it was a good tape and I was gobsmacked at what I was looking at. Hed been retired for ten years and He got beat in the fight but for 2 rds he looked awesome. I can only imagine how good He was, hard times breed hard men. Also Amatoer Boxing today has no resemblance to the Pro code whatsoever. They are two different sports. Regards
cc I always enjoy reading your perspectives.
Tell me somebody i was giving cool ones to every one on the thread got to 3 and they stopped whys that